60 Seconds with WITS Northeast Speaker — Shamique Thompson

Shamique Thompson is a Front End Software Engineer at AWeber. She is a panelist discussing Navigating the Workforce After Coding Bootcamps at WITS Northeast.

• Why is speaking at WITS important to you?

After hearing about the opportunity, I knew I had to apply to speak at WITS. From my personal experience, bootcamps are becoming a more and more common route to beginning a career in software engineering. Unfortunately, no amount of bootcamp-ing can prepare you for the transition into a career as a software engineer. I want to speak at WITS because I want people who have completed a bootcamp, or are considering completing one, to understand that it is not an overnight process and you will not immediately find yourself employed, but with hard work and perseverance, you can make the transition into a successful, fulfilling career.

• What inspires you?

I’m inspired by people who aren’t afraid to take the plunge. People who wholly invest themselves in learning and improving without fear of failure. In the past, I tended to take the safe route, when I should have been taking the more adventurous one. I hope I can take this same inspiration of mine and impress it upon others.

• Most useful article you’ve read in the last month.

I think the most useful article I’ve read in the past month is “Lesson I Learned Being a Woman in Technology” by Jun Wu. I’m currently a year and a half into my career as a software engineer, and every day I’m faced with new things to learn and conquer. When I first started out, I was filled with self-doubt and the fear of failure, and quite frankly, I still am. However, after reading this article, I feel inspired to keep pushing up the hill and to not be deterred by failure along the way.

• When you were a kid what was your dream job?

As long as I can remember I’ve always been a dreamer. My mother brought me to this country to make my dreams come true, and I hope that one day I can fulfill each one. I never necessarily saw where those dreams would take me professionally, but whatever I decided upon, I knew I would work as hard as I could to accomplish those dreams.

• Tell us something about your session.

This journey is and will continue to be difficult. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to find a mentor. They don’t have to be a mentor in the traditional sense, they don’t have to have the same background as you, they just need to be there to answer any questions you have, share their knowledge, celebrate your successes, and help you learn from your failures.