Women in Tech (LITERALLY!)

It’s my 6th week into the coding Bootcamp at MC, and the Java language is finally starting to sink in. Making coding analogies, puns, and jokes are becoming a common occurrence among my coding cohort, as well as successfully debugging our coding errors on IntelliJ.  

As a novice in the Tech field, I am learning to navigate my way around and realizing that the job search process can be isolating. Although LinkedIn and eJobs – my new best friend – are great resources, finding your own niche and having mentors are even more crucial.  As a result, I stumbled upon a great support network called : 

Women in Technology, aka, (WIT): with “the sole aim of advancing women in technology — from the classroom to the boardroom.  WIT meets its vision through a variety of leadership development, technology education, networking and mentoring opportunities for women at all levels of their careers. WIT has over 1000 members in the Washington, D.C./Maryland/Virginia metro region.”

So, a friend of mine from the Bootcamp brought up WIT and encouraged me to attend their “Revamp your Resume, Perfect your Pitch, and Let’s Get Ready to Work” meeting-workshop on Thursday, Oct, 10. And boy, am I glad I went!!!

Here I was thinking that I knew all about resume writing (since I had been writing a bunch of them for a while now), but the tips and advice that WIT offered were invaluable, amazingly accurate, and enhancing. For example, 

Did you know that you could get a google voice phone to connect to your ACTUAL phone number? This practice is highly recommended as you go into job searching because you don’t want your personal information out there for every company and recruiters to know.

The same goes for your email address: create a new email address specifically for receiving job notifications. I would also suggest connecting that email to your LinkedIn and now eJobs accounts. 

As for your home address, putting something down such as “DC Metro Area” is perfectly acceptable. 

WIT also had us sit down with expert recruiters who helped us practice our elevator pitches. This can be nerve-racking, but having the practice was very empowering because each one of us sitting at the table offered constructive criticisms, and we elevated one another whenever someone felt doubtful of their skills and assets. 

At the end of the night, I felt energized and reassured in my path into the Tech field, which the WDCE at MC opened up to me. As a result, I have also decided to attend the WIT Job Fair on Nov 14, and the Technica 2019 – And these events are FREE for ALL!!!

Oh, and did I mention that WIT offers a discounted membership for students?? And Technica will be providing buses and rides at several local colleges, so sign up for more info!