In the middle of her master's program, Emily Sharma took a chance on School16

In this interview, we had the pleasure of sitting down with Emily Sharma, an alum of our October 2021 cohort. 

Why did you decide to make a career change?

I applied for School16 while I was doing my master's program in data analytics and business intelligence. The program wasn't motivating me as much as I expected it to. I was looking for a cohort of people who were all in the same space and time as me with their career: looking to leave from somewhere else and get into tech. 

What was it like being right in the middle of getting your master’s degree but already knowing that you wanted to look for a different type of learning experience?

Oh, I loved it! School16 gave me much more of a practical application of being in the workplace. I’d been in the events industry for five years at that point and COVID really did a number on it. I was working a lot with technology, shifting events to virtual platforms for the organization I worked for. I knew I wanted to work at a company that was more tech focused. 

You say your favorite experience in the program was attending the resume workshop. Why?

It circles back to the difference between School16 and the master's program I was in. School16 gave me practical skills and a practical application of what I’d need during the job hunt. 

My cohort members and I showed up to the resume workshop session in whatever stage our resumes were in. We got peer feedback from each other AND the expert level feedback that was on the call. I really liked the collaborative aspect and that we were accountable. I knew I needed to have my edited resume ready to go because I signed up for the workshop and people expected me to show up with my resume!

You received a job offer at Target Tech just two weeks after your cohort ended. What was your application experience like?

I’m a Senior Program Manager at Target Tech. I got the job the very traditional way of applying to the company website. But the big thing that School16 opened my eyes to was using LinkedIn as a tool to get jobs. I engage with it so much now and it's especially useful for my work with developer relations. 

Apply now to School16 here!