Applying the Humanities to a Career in Tech
It’s a common misconception that the liberal arts don’t translate to technical career skills. Yet, for Alita Kendrick, who earned her Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy at Illinois State University, transferring concepts from her undergraduate logic and ethics courses to coding was a no-brainer.
During her time as an undergrad, Kendrick had friends who coded and she taught herself basic HTML and CSS. After graduating in May 2016, Kendrick accepted a position as a program assistant at Northwestern University in alumni relations. She knew she wanted to go to grad school and explored several programs, including the Master of Science in Information Design and Strategy (IDS) at Northwestern University School of Professional Studies.
However, Kendrick was concerned the transition from philosophy to a different field would be tough to explain on applications. To make the switch, she applied to Northwestern’s Coding Boot Camp, an intensive 24-week program that equips graduates with a portfolio of web applications and skills. Kendrick was accepted to the program and started boot camp classes in January 2017.
Coding Boot Camp served as more than a way to bolster Kendrick’s resume. It also gave her the opportunity to make sure that web development and design was something she was truly passionate about, and she was happy to find many of the concepts she learned as an undergrad applied to what she wanted to learn in tech. While the coursework was challenging, Kendrick found it extremely rewarding and felt reaffirmed in her career goals. In the final weeks of the course, she especially enjoyed learning the basics of user experience, because it’s ultimately what she hopes to do as her career advances.
Kendrick explained, “Companies that are succeeding the most have a big focus on the user or customer. That’s what I’d like to be doing in the long-term. I’m really interested in the nonprofit world and down the road I dream of launching my own startup.”
As she finished up boot camp classes, Kendrick also applied to the IDS program at Northwestern. One of the boot camp faculty even wrote her a letter of recommendation. Now, Kendrick is preparing to begin coursework toward her master’s degree at the University in the fall.
She’s moved to a new position within the University’s information technology department as well, filling the role of a systems analyst associate with the alumni development enterprise applications team. As an analyst, Kendrick’s job description includes providing functional application development and serving as a liaison between business stakeholders and developers. In other words, she’s transitioned from a user to a developer.
Kendrick’s excited to start a new chapter in both her academic and professional career. She added, “Whatever I do will be user-centered. This master’s program will only strengthen my knowledge in that area and make me more successful in the long run.”