Kathyleen Beveridge

About her:

  • Undergrad at Santa clara
  • Did a Finance Bachelor’s degree
  • Mission Statement: “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but rathere to live passionately”
  • First job was an investment banker from 1995-1996
  • Went back to Santa clara to pursue a carrer in tech
  • First tech company was Qualcomm
  • Had a short stint at HP
  • Now at Thermo fisher Scientific (biotech)

    Company Mission Statements

  • HP: “Create technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere”
  • Qualcomm: “Inventing the tech the world loves”
  • Thermo Fisher Scientific: “Enable our customers to make the world a healthier, cleaner, and safer place”

    Commonalities:

  • All of them use tech for the good of the people
  • Supply and demand; these tech companies aim to provide a service that people are willing to pay for

    Thermo Fisher Scientific

    World leader in serving science.

  • Greater than 100,000 colleagues
  • 7000 R&D scientists/engineers
  • $1.5B invested in Reaserch and Development
  • Greater than $40B in revenue

Kris John: Software Engineer - SRE, DevOps

How it started:

  • Livermore High School, enjoyed STEM courses
  • Enrolled at UCLA for Electrical Engineering
  • Focussed on Communication Systems and Computer Networking
  • First Comp Sci Class (CS 31) Failed

    Research:

  • Center for Embedded Network Sensors
  • Networked Informechanical Systems (NIMS)
  • Introduced to the Linux Operating System, Software Development Life Cycle (LEARNING LINUX IS A MARKETABLE SKILL)

In 2008, Finished Graduate School, stock market had crashed. In 2010, systems engineer at a start up, GPM. NBC Universal in 2012, NBC Universal, Streaming media infrastructure. In 2014, worked at Qualcomm. Worked DevOps and stayed in the company for 6 years Currently working at Twitter.

Continuous Learning -Highlights

  • CCNA Training
  • Machine Learning and Deep Learning (Qualcomm)
  • Self Taught Python (Udemy)
  • Data Structures, Algorithms
  • Twitter University (basically showing you the ropes to working on twt)

Some Projects I Worked On:

  1. Streaming Media Infrastructure for the 2012 Olympic Games
  2. Analytics Infrastructure Projects (LocationSmart, Qualcomm)
  3. Twitter Projects
    • New DataCenter Deployment
    • MigratingHome

Student Q&A

Have you used AGILE and how has it been good? KJ: It depends what company you are in, they have their own variation. Notably, QC uses AGILE to plan out the quarter’s work. KB: AGILE is very useful for working in short, productive sprints.

Are you still working at Twitter even amidst current events? KJ: No, however, I am moving to work at Mystic Labs. Half the entire company was layed off. JM: When companies shuffle leadership, it’s good to look for jobs before the layoffs actually happen. That’s why KJ has a job lined up.

Is Machine Learning useful in the real world? KJ: It’s good to learn how to use Python libraries adn other machine learning frameworks. KB: Data scientists acutally work to combine data libraries. One of the products my division sells is a service that predicts demand for what certain products will be.

What do you think is the most important skill to have in the tech industry? KJ: The one that I have found is the most useful over time is continuous learning. In school, you are learning how to learn, and everyone has a differnt way of doing even the most basic things. We need to adapt. Another good skill is to not be super concerned about things you see in the news. To be resilient. If you are resilient in tech, you will prevail in terms of jobs. KB: Adapting is key. Carrer paths are not always linear, and my personal career path has been more of a zig-zag. The best people I have worked with listen to the requirements and they translate it in a way that technology can fufill.

What are the biggest challenges in the tech industry and how did you overcome it? KB: I have spent near than 14 years at QC and they work wtih semiconductors. And semiconductors were in a phase of aquisitions. You need to be able to adapt. KJ: Interviews nowadays are ridculous. The interviews are more of a series of timed tests now, and you don’t know what the problems are. You need to be able to pass those tests, and those tests are HARD. You will need to solve the problems using code, and the code has to work.

??? KJ: It varies across the industry. When talking to the company, often you have the option to negotiate, after all you have the skills they want. However some companies are less lenient.

What happened at Twitter University? KJ: Twitter is not the only company that does this. Often times their methods and software are proprietary. You need to be able to be effective at your job so they teach you in the ways of their company. Companies often have their own build tools, and you have to be able to navigate the tools and use the tools.

How do you think leearning how to code helps in a buisness setting? KB: I would say that learning how to code is a way of thinking. It greatly helps your problem solving and critical thinking. When I interview, it’s for critical thinking and problem solving, why did you reach the conclusion? Learning how to code helps you think more methodically.

How will you use continuous learning in your next job? (Question aimed at KJ) KJ: My next role makes me intrested in things like blockchain tech.