Professional Development Seminar: Career Opportunities outside of Traditional Tech

Do you wonder what you might do with your computing degree if you don't work in a traditional tech company? Actually, there are a ton of options where you can use your computing skills and have an exciting and fulfilling career. This session will feature panelists who can share their personal perspectives and experiences and provide tips on how to find these non-traditional opportunities, including advice on how to succeed and things to watch out for. Come with questions.

 

I am a high school computer science teacher at Francis W. Parker School in Chicago, but that is a recent change... I graduated from UIUC in 2017 with a Bachelors degree in Computer Science. During undergrad, I served as the WCS Outreach Chair and revived ChicTech retreats! I also had an opportunity to volunteer with Girls Who Code in its baby stages. Following graduation, I worked for Bank of America Merrill Lynch for three years, where I worked on full stack web applications for an operations team in Brazil (and also still got to volunteer with GWC). In June 2020, I left corporate America and found my way to Parker; here I can combine my interest and expertise in technology with my passion for teaching and mentoring. Being a first year teacher during a pandemic has been a wild ride, but I'm so glad to be where I am!

Lavanya Iyer is a Scrum Master and Full Stack Web Developer, leading three teams at JPMorgan Chase. Lavanya is also a member of the company's internal Women in Technology organization. Outside of work, she has participated in the Clarifai Champions program, which provides tools and resources for Technologists to become Developer Evangelists. She currently helps organize annual Aspirations Award ceremonies for the National Center for Women In Technology, which congratulate high school women for their achievements in technology. Lavanya feels that Computer Science is helping shape our world into a better place to live in. Literally any profession in the world today needs some aspect of Computer Science in any shape or form. It is up to our generation to increase this influence and solve many of the problems that plague our world today. Lavanya hopes to be a significant contributor towards this goal through her work at JPMorgan Chase and other activities.

Daniela Markazi graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in December 2019 with dual bachelor's degrees in Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE). As an undergraduate student, she created her own computer science class within the ABE Department, conducted multiple research projects, including one in robotics engineering, and held leadership positions in various STEM organizations. Currently, she is an Informatics Ph.D. student at the School of Information Sciences at UIUC. Her research focuses on how technology is designed to contribute to, enhance, and influence social change and development. Outside of the university, Daniela has been working since 2018 as a robotics engineer at the John Deere Technology Innovation Center in Champaign, Illinois.