4 Ways to Jumpstart Your Technical Career As a Student
At HubSpot, we recently hosted a group of computer science students from Boston University for a career panel spanning various technical roles, from software engineering to product management and design. The attendees posed a lot of good questions, but one of them particularly hit close to home.
One of the audience members asked what she, as a student, could do to jumpstart her technical career. The answers she got from the panel stuck with me and I wanted to share them here.
Engage in extracurricular activities that you enjoy.
Senior Designer Gabriela Lanza said that her experience as a General Manager for the radio station at Wellesley College was one of the best ways for her to learn about leadership, teamwork, and interpersonal skills. These communication skills are now contributing to her day-to-day as a designer embedded directly into a small and autonomous product team.
I can’t echo that enough. My own experience as a writer and editor for the Mount Holyoke News in college shaped the evolution of my career, from my interest in interviewing people and finding the story to crafting it and working on its design and lay-out.
Find a friend group you can make stuff with.
Tech Lead Jen Huang said that her friend group at Dartmouth College was tremendously helpful for developing a passion for technical problems and working on side projects. It is hard to start things on your own so when you are surrounded by like-minded people who like to make stuff, things get much easier and enjoyable.
If hackathons are your jam, great. If not, that’s OK.
Software engineer Rose DeMaio said that she often hears people recommend hackathons as tools for professional growth. While they have their value, she explained, they didn’t draw her in personally. She realized that it was more important to discover something she really liked doing personally, such as a side project or an extracurricular activity, and focus on that. That way she would have a positive and personally rewarding project to speak passionately about time and again, during interviews and networking events.
Step outside your comfort zone on campus.
Once you find that extracurricular activity or side project that you are passionate about, Product Manager Danielle Greco pointed out, become a leader in it to build your voice and push yourself outside of your comfort zone. Some of the best lessons she has learned came from tackling work she might not have otherwise taken on, such as the ZanaAfrica project, an initiative designed to support adolescent girls in Kenya stay in school. This helped her grow her technical skills and ultimately realize that she wanted to move into product management.
What advice would you have given the student? Share your perspective with us.
