In October 2024, we interviewed our volunteer Jen Sipila. Jen is a senior software engineer at The Knot Worldwide, based in NYC. She's been at The Knot for over 6 years and worked at a few small startups before that. Jen attended a coding boot camp, The Flatiron School, and studied iOS development.
Enjoy our interview with Jen!
How did you learn about Pursuit and in what ways do you volunteer with us?
I first learned about Pursuit from graduate Jocelyn Boyd, we met through a Women in Tech group and she told me about Pursuit.
What inspired you to start volunteering with us?
When I first found out about Pursuit I really loved the mission and the curriculum seemed great! I have such vivid memories of the time between graduating from my own boot camp and getting my first job. There were a lot of ups and downs during that time, and I love helping fellows during that transition.
What’s been a highlight of your volunteering experience with us so far?
Definitely getting messages from fellows after they get their first jobs. I love hearing their success stories. I also love meeting new engineers and hearing their stories.
What’s been your journey to becoming a Software Engineer?
My journey has been very non-traditional. I have a degree in design, went to art school, and worked as a scenic design assistant on Broadway before officially transitioning to tech. I love learning about cutting-edge technology and problem-solving, so tech was a great choice for me.
Are there any key experiences or key mentors that impacted your career or shaped your approach to leadership?
Yes, I had one mentor who I met when working as a designer in a small start up prior to transitioning to tech. He told me that I had a great mind for coding and he asked me to do code reviews with him and participate in technical discussions before I officially knew any programming language. Hearing this and having his confidence in me was what I needed to pursue my tech career.
How do you define success, and what does that look like for you?
I believe success is meant to be shared. Working with a team on a project and getting to see a positive outcome with your collaborators is the best feeling. I’m mostly interested in arriving at any sort of success with other people and not alone.
Are you working on any personal projects you’d like to share about?
I have one very old app currently in the App Store called “I am Rover” that allows you to see NASA’s images of Mars. I’m currently rewriting it in SwiftUi and doing a major overhaul on the UI/UX. Hopefully it will be done by early next year.
What tech trends are you following now? What are you excited about?
I’m super excited about VisionPro. I took a course in VisionPro and it was fun to study and figure out completely new libraries that have barely been used by anyone before. Also Apple Intelligence is going to be a major improvement for both users and developers.
What advice do you often give Fellows or would you give to junior developers?
Keep track of all of your accomplishments, big or small, in a doc. You can even start before you have your first job. Keeping a list of things you’ve done, learned, and accomplished can give you motivation when you need it and really help you advocate for yourself when you’re on the job and have discussions around promotion. Even facilitating conversations or teaching someone something should be considered accomplishments as they are important parts of becoming more senior as an engineer.
What’s one thing — either work-related or not — you learned in the last month?
I’ve learned how to implement accessibility on a calendar component, making it usable to folks using screen-readers on iPhone.
Is there a particular philosophy or guiding principle you live by that’s shaped your career and personal decisions?
Something I’ve been working on for a while that I think is really important is being comfortable with not knowing things. In tech, there is so much to learn and know. When you have a learners mindset at work you can absorb a lot more from those around you. I try to look at it like a game where I ask, “What new thing am I going to learn today?”
