“Building The Bridge I Never Had”
How one tech company is helping to build a talent-ready Utah
At this year’s Silicon Slopes Summit, Cydni Tetro, co-founder and executive director of Women Tech Council, took part in a keynote panel discussion entitled, “Talent Ready Utah, Building Our Workforce,” which explored possible strategies for increasing awareness among high school– and college-age students of the growing demand for skilled technologists.
“We have to get more into our high schools and into our colleges to create the skills that we need in this state,” said Tetro. “We need Ph.Ds, but we also need people who just take coding curriculum.”
Among the attendants at that panel discussion was Josh Knell, CTO at BestCompany.com, an industry review site headquartered in Pleasant Grove, Utah. For Knell, the remarks of Tetro and others on the panel served as a wakeup call for tech companies in the valley to start looking to the next generation as torch-bearers for the tech movement.
“After the summit, I wanted to start introducing technology opportunities to people of a younger age,” said Knell.“If I can have even a small impact on a few students who go on to have successful careers in tech, I couldn’t ask for anything better than that.” Knell’s initial plan was to go to where the students were, reaching out to local school districts to offer his services as either a teacher or teacher’s aid. He was eventually asked to speak to an Intro to Technology class at Pleasant Grove High School.
Knell opened his lecture by asking the students to raise their hands if they saw themselves working in technology after graduation. When only a few students raised their hands, “I was shocked!” Knell said. “I resolved at that moment to do as much as I could to show high school students how awesome a job in technology could be.” With that, Knell pivoted from his original strategy: rather than going to the students and telling them about how great tech jobs can be, he decided to bring students directly to his office in Pleasant Grove and show them.
A Win-Win Solution
In Knell’s mind, a high school internship program was win-win for both BestCompany.com and the students themselves: BestCompany.com builds relationships with the community, while the students learn how to program actual websites. When Knell got in touch with Orem school district representatives in charge of internship opportunities, he was surprised at how accommodating they were to the idea of a tech-based internship.
“They only asked I commit a minimum of four hours a week to the program,” he said. The limited time commitment made the program an easy sell to BestCompany.com leadership, which Knell described as “pivotal” to the success of the program. “I think they already recognized the value in increasing tech knowledge in our community,” Knell concluded.
With approval from his executive team and a few select school districts, Knell began accepting applications and conducting interviews. Although his goal was to excite as many students as possible about the tech industry, Knell knew he would have to start with a few dedicated disciples before he could really spread the word. “My hope is that the interns we have worked with will carry the message to their friends at school, and get others excited enough to say, ‘man, I want to learn how to program! That sounds awesome!’”
When I asked Knell to describe his ideal candidate, I expected him to identify students who had already begun experimenting with code or programming, or whose strengths were in science and math; however, a candidate’s actual programming or academic background took a backseat to something else:
“I look for passion,” Knell said, “and then some familiarity with computers and code. The goal of my interviews is to gauge a potential intern’s excitement level; I only place a small emphasis on coding ability.”
Meet the Interns
For Joseph Golightly (Knell’s first intern), a senior from Mountain View High School, the internship was one of his first introductions to the tech industry, and gave him valuable insight to a potential career path. “My only computer experience [before the internship] had been with Microsoft Office and Adobe programs, as well as a little scripting in GameMaker,” Golightly said. To account for his first intern’s limited computer experience, Knell assigned him some introductory CSS and HTML courses through Codeacademy. Over the course of the internship, not only did Golightly gain proficiency in CSS and HTML, but he also “discovered that [he enjoys] computers as well as coding.”
Knell’s current intern is Moroni Sena, a junior at Orem High School. Sena has an extensive technology background, including participation at The National SeaPerch Challenge for underwater robotics while in junior high. He also recently completed an intensive nine-week coding course with Code to Success, a free technology bootcamp for students to improve their STEM knowledge over the summer. For Sena, the intership was less about discovering what he wants to do for a career, and more about refining his skills and expanding his knowledge:
“I have learned so much from my internship,” Sena reflects. “How to be pixel perfect with my web developing, how to stay on-task and focused. Being an intern at Best Company is the best thing I’ve done for my career so far!”
In addition to coursework in coding and web design, each intern was given a project that involved translating a Photoshop Document (.PSD) file into a webpage. The project was designed to help the interns think critically about their coding decisions, while also working collaboratively with the rest of the tech team.
When asked if they would consider participating in an internship like this again, both interns were emphatic in their assent. “Absolutely!” said Golightly, “Best Company’s tech team was very welcoming, and quite possibly the best mentors I could’ve had. It was great being able to experience the type of workplace I hope to work in for my future career.”
Sena expressed similar thoughts: “I would love to intern again—especially at Best Company! What I have gained from this experience is worth more than money.”
Moving Forward
“If I had had the opportunity to take an internship at a tech company when I was in high school, it would have made a world of difference,” Knell reflected. “I am building the bridge I never had. A lot of companies talk the the talk, but few are walking the way in ways of internship and outreach. This needs to be a sustained effort from small business to massive corporation.” Knell hopes the members of the Silicon Slopes community will someday have more internship positions than local schools can fill.
“We have the opportunity to bring the new generation under our wings and organically grow our talent,” Knell concluded. “I would love to see Best Company, along with other tech companies in the valley, become a local brand for technology growth in our community.”
