Taylor Barnes
Associate Chief of Staff
Pumpernickel&Rye, our Toast Community for Black and African American Toasters, recently hosted a virtual panel for students identifying as Black or African American and/or students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the U.S. The event was an opportunity for our Pumpernickel&Rye members to share their experiences about building careers in tech.
Here are a few soundbites from the event:
“From when I was a kid, I was always into technology and computers- I even did a bit of programming. I went to college for computer science, and then did a brief stint in management consulting for a year and a half, which was totally untechnical, but after that I realized that I missed computer science and coding. That was really where my heart was at. So I came back to tech and I’m so excited to make products that our customers love and that really have an impact. I love visiting local spots and seeing the Toast kiosk and the Toast handhelds. It's really cool to work on something that I can see my favorite restaurants using.”
Cyrus W. – Staff Software Engineer
“I did not always know I was going to be a techie. I was a theater kid and I actually have a degree in advertising. I ended up in the tech space because when I graduated in 2011, the economy was dealing with a recession, a lot of my friends were taking unpaid internships, and I ended up in a recruiting coordinator job at Microsoft. I realized that I enjoyed the tech space and the different people I was able to work with so I’ve been in the Talent Acquisition space ever since.”
Baillie B. – Senior Program Manager, Talent Acquisition
“I actually started in the financial services industry and did not think I was going to end up in tech. I had a couple of internships and then I started working in customer marketing and social media. However, it wasn’t until I interned with Peloton when I learned that there were so many non-technical roles within the tech space. Usually when you think about tech, you think of software engineers, product managers, and essentially a lot of roles that require you to be able to code or work with technical products. When I learned that there were also great roles within customer marketing, like what I do, and an opportunity to connect people with the great technology that you use, I thought it was awesome. I love that I'm working with so many different teams through cross-collaboration.”
Carrisa A. – Senior Associate, Community
“I’ve had opportunities to project manage, hone my communication skills, and expand my organizational skills. I also embrace the beauty of bringing different teams together by making authentic connections with people who are always willing to help you get to the next level. I have also worked to make sure I’m not afraid to advocate for myself, step outside of my comfort zone, and challenge myself.”
“I think one thing that is really important is to stay true to yourself and what you want out of your career. Often you'll hear the only way to advance is to go into management but that’s not for everyone. I actually managed others for about three years and it was a really interesting experience that I learned a lot from, but realized I just really loved building, creating, and coding. That’s what fuels my fire and what I want to be doing every day so I’m big on advocating for people to not be afraid to carve out their own path and stick to what is meaningful to them.”
“I have worked hard on how to keep a strong sense of self. Entering a new organization, it can be easy to want to just assimilate but your individual perspective is important.”
“Imposter syndrome is real in the tech space. Owning who you are and also being open to exploring and using some of the resources to help find what you like to do is super important. For me, my secret sauce when I started in tech was my openness to want to learn more. I'm a curious thinker; I'm not afraid to ask questions and set up that time with people to learn more about what they do to see how their role fits in the bigger picture and how we can work together, especially in this virtual environment.”
“Learning has been really important for me. I love learning new things and especially as an engineer, the tech space changes so rapidly and there's new technology to keep up with. It’s extremely important to stay informed about what's happening in industry, establish what new skills you may want to be picking up, and when you have opportunities in your roles or on projects to try out new skills and learn new software and new systems, take those opportunities. Also, don’t shy away from the opportunities to collaborate and ask for feedback– you don’t have to wait for a formal project or review.”
“You will encounter moments where you feel like this space isn’t built for you and you don't know how to break in. When this happens,show up with informed curiosity. Go in and ask those questions and do some research. Also, work on coaching yourself to draw parallels between your experience and your desired future role. If you can articulate the skills you have that align with a role you’re looking to get into, you can articulate it to a recruiter or hiring manager and then leverage your research, tenacity, and curiosity to pick up the rest in seat.”
“Before I joined Toast, I had some meetings with some people who work here and I was able to learn more about the company culture, expectations, and gather any advice before I started. I asked all types of questions because I wanted to learn not only about the good but also about the areas for improvement, the reality. I now have those conversations with people who may reach out to me. I'm always willing to share those resources.”
“Many tech companies have employee resource groups that you can join where you can find a community to engage with for networking and meeting people across the company. It also gives you a broader pulse on how your community is doing at the company and finding opportunities to either get more involved or just to continue to help you feel connected.”
*We love any chance for a great bread pun
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