Software Engineers don’t look like me until they do.

Hot girl summer would not be complete without me sharing some big wins and even bigger announcements. These past few months have been exciting, challenging, and eventful to say the least. Thankfully, I’m happy to report my life has been completely redefined in major ways due to accepting my first full-time role as a Software Engineer for a local Austin, TX tech startup!

As an African-American single mother with a non-CS degree, this huge leap into tech brings forth so many new opportunities and gains. While some of us know the saying “it ain’t no fun ‘less we all get some” let me break it down for the folks at home who don’t know what that means. Outside of coding, a lot of my goals revolve around tech outreach and specifically motivating underrepresented groups in tech. So it is with my purest intent to write this piece in hopes to motivate others who may feel that Computer Science jobs are out of their league while also cheering on recent grads who are just a few more code tests away from landing their first CS job. Below are some helpful quick tips to keep in mind when you’re ready to join in on all the fun:

1. Have clear goals about what you want and what you don’t want
   Stay on your path and master your craft! There were many recruiters who looked at my previous background and education then settled on me being purely a designer although my goals aligned with doing both design and development. Stay the course, don’t settle.
2. Know your worth
   Have a plan. An outline so to speak of the job title you desire, the pay you desire, and all the other intricacies you are wanting from your next position. Write it out. Now ask yourself if you actually believe you can acquire all the things you wrote down. If the answer is no, then that is the same energy you are giving off to the recruiter who is viewing your resume, or browsing your online portfolio, or better yet sitting across from you in an interview.
   I struggled with this myself at the beginning of my job search. I wanted a certain job title and pay but I didn’t truly believe I had accomplished enough to actually land that job. So, I went back to the drawing board and revamped my website, resume, blog, business cards. You name it, I improved it until I exhibited a certain quality that I knew employers I valued would take notice in. Also, in…