Moneda Moves (130): Takeaways From Pivoting and Skilling Into Tech

Que tal, mi gente? At Moneda Moves, we believe that the stories we tell about our communities matter, and that’s all the more reason to use this weekend to learn more about Juneteenth and Black history in the United States. June 19 marks when some of the last enslaved people in the US, in 1865 out of Galveston Bay, Texas, learned that they had been freed. This was more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was made. Further, it wasn’t until December 1865 when the government officially endorsed the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States. That said, a Fast Company article astutely notes:

“The history of institutionalized racism and economic disenfranchisement continued for at least a century through the Jim Crow years up until the Civil Rights Movement.”

Please continue to learn about Juneteenth, just as we are, into the weekend.

In the last week, we were pleased to host a panel alongside The Latinista and Olive on skilling and pivoting into tech. In this newsletter, we are excited to bring you takeaways from the event.

Skilling and Pivoting Into Tech Event. Credit: Apertrue Photography, Daveed Holmes

As for our week at Moneda Moves, we activated in our hometown of Chicago, Illinois this week where we hosted a panel alongside a panel of experts to talk about what skilling and pivoting into tech looks like, and how to find a well-suited role within the industry. You can also connect with these experts below:

Darion Whitten, Principal Technical Recruiter, Olive

Maia Singletary, Creative Technologist, Self-Employed

Les Coronel, Financial Analyst, Google

Here’s a few of the most salient takeaways they shared with us:

Whitten shares his insights as a recruiter in tech. Credit: Apertrue Photography, Daveed Holmes

1. Leverage your LinkedIn to connect to the role you’re pursuing

   Everything from your headline to your skills listed on LinkedIn matters. Whitten, who’s been a recruiter at several big tech companies including Amazon, Facebook and Google, says that your LinkedIn is a great source of information for people in his position. If the experience in your LinkedIn can connect the dots from the role you currently have to the one you want, that will catch the attention of a recruiter.

   Other LinkedIn perks to take advantage of are certifications and courses available directly in the platform. This lets recruiters know that you are advancing your learning in the direction of the role you want to hold. Coronel took a programming language course ahead of her current role at Google and says it’s helped her greatly in her position.

2. Connections go a long way (mentors and sponsors)

   Having people speak great words about you holds a lot of power in the space. Though it may not be new advice, the message still holds: Connecting with the people in the industry will pay off. Additionally, having mentors and sponsors in the industry will be of great benefit. As a reminder: A mentor will advise you and a sponsor will advocate for you from a position of power.

3. Keep strategically shooting your shot

   Before Coronel got an offer at Google, she shared that she interviewed multiple times.

   “Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get an offer,” she said. “At least you had that practice…next time, you’re going to be better.”

   Whitten suggests researching the company’s values and mirroring them in your interviews with story-based examples from your previous experiences. He advises structuring them in alignment with the STAR method: specific situation, task, action, and result.

4. Finding the right role for you means assessing yourself and the role itself

   For Whitten, finding a role that’s the right fit has everything to do with assessing your strengths and weaknesses. Once you identify what you’re good at, it’s all about finding a role that reflects your strengths. The goals is to find “more of what you love and less of what you loathe.”

   Just as important as assessing your own strengths is taking a look at the company and what it has to offer. When Coronel had her tech job interviews, she recalls interviewing managers as much as they interviewed her.

   You also want to make sure you’re looking for an organization that’s going to support you in growing yourself said Singletary, whether it means experimenting or exploring different technologies.

5. The benefits of working freelance

   For some tech employees, like Singletary who is a developer and creative technologist, “I found it hard to sell myself as just one thing.” Despite having started working for tech companies, she chose to work for herself to have the freedom to choose her projects that suit her many talents as a multi-hyphenate individual. Today, Singletary can be working on anything machine learning projects, to data visualization or web-related projects.

Are you trying to pivot or grow in the tech industry? Reach out! We are receptive to further programming. But until then, we hope you’ve found the advice useful.

---

Thank you for joining us! Until next week, catch us here on Moneda Moves.