A Chat with Black Professionals in Tech & Cybersecurity
The one speaker, Ian, talks about the versatility of the profession, but the importance of getting your foot in the door for that first job is so essential. They all talk about how versatile their backgrounds are in tech, some of them have a very technical background whereas others have a lot of experience in leadership and management, but overall, they all have found jobs where they get to share their opinions and ideas with no fear. They talk about how essential teamwork is within this realm. Jamie talks about how he is an introvert and how he struggled to put himself out there but quickly realized how beneficial leveraging everyone\\\’s strengths was for his company. Hakeem talks about his struggles of being a black man in tech. He says that once he got a job in tech he stayed put and hoped that he wasn’t terminated because he felt like he’d never get another chance. He says that things have gotten better concerning these fears, but it affected him in his career for a long time. They are all strong believers in mentorship. They believe that mentorship was formative for them and now they implement mentorship into their businesses as leaders. At the end of the webinar, they offered advice to my generation. Jamie talked about how important community is. He emphasized that there is always someone there for you whether it is a friend, mentor, co-worker, etc. and you should show gratitude for who is in your corner. Overall, he wants us to express gratitude. Hakeem simply says to figure out what you want and give everything to get it through hard work. Ian emphasizes how having a good attitude goes very far in this field and how asking questions and for opinions only widens your understanding of things.