{"id":1463,"date":"2017-11-08T13:27:39","date_gmt":"2017-11-08T18:27:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/?p=1463"},"modified":"2023-01-09T11:29:56","modified_gmt":"2023-01-09T16:29:56","slug":"5-steps-landing-dream-tech-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/5-steps-landing-dream-tech-job\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Steps to Landing Your Dream Tech Job"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jessica\u201cIt\u2019s really the coolest thing ever,\u201d Jessica Anastasio \u201916 says of working as a full-stack software engineer at BuzzFeed, a leading independent digital media company that delivers news and entertainment to hundreds of millions of people around the world. The 23-year-old, who was hired right out of Monmouth, was lead engineer on the Tasty.co website, which corresponds with the recently launched iOS app \u201cTasty,\u201d which Anastasio also worked on. Based on BuzzFeed\u2019s popular online cooking brand, it includes more than 1,700 instructional cooking videos and syncs with the Tasty One Top, a new smart cooking appliance. Here, in true BuzzFeed fashion, she shares tips on how anyone can land their dream job.<\/p>\n

1. Follow your heart.<\/h2>\n
\"A
Michael Coghlan<\/p>\n
cute<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Though fascinated by computers and coding, Anastasio considered majoring in graphic design \u201cbecause the culture that surrounds engineering is intimidating, I felt like I\u2019d fit in as a woman designer versus as an engineer,\u201d she says, citing the oft-reported bias against women in the tech industry. Ultimately, she followed her passion and entered Monmouth as a computer science major.<\/p>\n

2. Embrace challenges.<\/h2>\n
\"A
Barcex<\/p>\n
OMG<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Being the only woman in a handful of her core classes was daunting at times, but it taught her the importance of challenging herself. \u201cIt\u2019s just fighting through\u2026 and not letting [anything] stop you\u201d that\u2019s important, she says.<\/p>\n

3. Network, network, network.<\/h2>\n
\"Close-up
Pui Shan Chan<\/p>\n
Win<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI adored my experience at Monmouth, but you will 100 percent not get an awesome, high-paying job if you don\u2019t\u2026 do stuff outside of the classroom,\u201d says Anastasio. Joining ACM\/IEEE, Monmouth\u2019s computer science club, connected her to the larger engineering and computing communities. So too did attending the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, the world\u2019s largest conference of women working in tech, as a student. (She\u2019s headed back this year as a rep for BuzzFeed.)<\/p>\n

4. Get an internship. Better yet, get several.<\/h2>\n
\"A
Eviatar Bach<\/p>\n
LOL<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Attending a career fair early on at Monmouth helped Anastasio connect with several companies, which in turn helped her build the experience she needed to get where she is today.<\/p>\n

5. Be your own advocate.<\/h2>\n
\"A
Ralpharama<\/p>\n
\"A<\/div>\n

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Anastasio was already eyeing her next step when she was hired as a junior software engineer in May 2016. She took the challenging assignments, and didn\u2019t hesitate to ask her boss what she needed to do to advance. \u201cIt\u2019s all about reaching out and trying to put yourself out there,\u201d she says. In less than a year she was promoted to software engineer. \u201cI can see myself continuing up the ladder, but I\u2019m happy with where I am for my age and I feel like I\u2019m on a good path for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BuzzFeed\u2019s Jessica Anastasio shares her recipe for success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":1600,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"{\"x\":46,\"y\":50}","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-back"],"thumbnail":"\"\"","catString":"The Back","issue":"Fall 2017","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1463"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12961,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1463\/revisions\/12961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}