Cohort Stories: Meet Sucelyn
vol. 4, no. 60 — guest post by Sucelyn Pojoy
I’ve always been interested in technology but lacked the confidence to pursue any type of tech career. I never thought I was “smart enough” to do well in the tech industry. I thought you had to be some sort of “prodigy” to survive alongside people like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, etc. My limiting beliefs caused me to pursue finance, and although I did very well in finance and was able to find many great career opportunities, I knew deep inside I’d always wonder “what if”.
Eventually the feeling of “what if” grew too strong to ignore and I quit finance to pursue technology.
There are so many reasons why I would love to work in tech. I have friends who work in tech who love their jobs. I am excited by flexible hours, great locations, a variety of career growth opportunities, competitive wages, and the skills you learn from fixing computer hardware/software which can be used to improve your quality of life. Careers in tech are also known for being very financially stable because jobs in tech are always in high demand.
My friends have always encouraged me to pursue a job involving computers and to pursue as many opportunities as possible to gain experience because, as we all know, in order to get hired we need to have experience first before applying to any job. Never having any technical background, training, or education, I decided to enroll in a 4-month technology bootcamp to get a taste of the field, learn about computers, and gain confidence in myself, knowing that I’m smart and resourceful enough to succeed in my new career journey. I had considered college at first, but the cost of leaving my full-time job on top of pursuing an expensive degree was not an option for me. The IT bootcamp was a challenging and great way for me to learn the basics of computer software and hardware, while also learning other necessary skills needed to perform well in an entry level IT position. The experience I gained in the IT boot camp gave me enough confidence to apply to Hack.Diversity, a program that offers a great way to gain real work experience with networking opportunities through the internships they offer. The internship will look great on my resume while also giving me all the tools I need to feel prepared enough to apply to full time IT positions. Although I’m super nervous for the future, I have a really good feeling that Hack.Diversity is going to be a life-changing, positive first step for me on my new career journey.
