After two months of writing and editing, I'm happy to announce that I was able to share my MuleSoft journey on MuleSoft's blog site. If you are interested in following my career progression in MuleSoft development or wondering how to break into MuleSoft development, feel free to check out the article here.
It was an amazing opportunity to be able to share my integration journey with developers all over the world. However, this experience led me to reflect on the difficult times or the snags along my software engineering journey. The experiences along the journey have formed me into the developer that I am today. At this point of time, I have 9 years of software engineering experience, 5 of them in software integration. Things are looking up. It seems like I have finally found my stride in my career. However, it wasn't always that way.
Reflect with me as I look back on a tough time in my career and how I received inspiration from a group of women in tech at Facebook. Below you will find a repost from my first blog site, where you are more than welcome to check out the original post here.
Facebook Kept Me in Tech: Original Post
About a month ago I had the opportunity to attend the Girl Develop It Meetup in Wilmington, DE. This Meetup was about how Women could break into the Tech Industry. Being that I have been in the tech industry (academia and professionally) since I was 15, I still found it to be very useful and a way to network with female techies in Wilmington.
So how does this relate to Facebook?
A year ago a fantastic recruiter from Facebook reached out to me to apply for a software development role at the company. We discussed it over the phone and she invited me to a Women in Tech event at the headquarters. Excited about the opportunity, but sad inside from a horrific event at my last job I forced myself to go.
The event consisted of a panel of women software engineers and managers at Facebook, followed by a networking reception (AND AMAZING FOOD!). What made this event so special? It was the women! Not only did they acknowledge the challenges in tech but they shared their experiences and how they continue to bring value to Facebook. During the networking event I was able to be honest about my feelings in my career and without judgement, I received advice on how to make it better. One piece of advice that has stuck out to me was "Never let anyone stop you from pursuing tech. Keep on going." or something like that.
The next day I met my friend, Robin Brewer, PhD for a full day visit. During that visit I met again with the recruiter. Again I was very candid about my struggles in tech. What was most surprising that she was understanding and still asked for me to interview with the company.
Although I didn't get a position at Facebook that experience changed my outlook in tech. Can the technology industry be somewhat difficult? Yes, but I realize I have a lot to offer! I write this not to get interviews from Facebook, or to just attract individuals to my blog but as a Female developer that has struggled to stay in this industry and has sought out help from others in the field. It is important to check out a "women in tech" event by a company or a meetup event. You never know where your next opportunity lies, people you can bounce ideas off, and who can be encouraging
Conclusion
Thank you for reading to the end. As you can see, my time in the tech industry has not been easy but with endurance you can make it through the tough times, with the hope that navigating in this industry becomes easier.
I plan to start providing a mixture technical software integration posts and software engineering personal experiences. My hope is that all my content encourages and inspires you to make your mark in the tech industry. If you are interested, please do not hesitate to let me know. To get the latest posts, please subscribe to my blog in the footer below!
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