Transitions in your life finally take you to your destination. In terms of his professional life, Byron Jenkins, a software engineer and content developer, agrees.
Yet, the Philadelphia native’s career initially began in boxing. Every day after school, he would train in boxing because his father was a trainer. Jenkins stopped being actively involved in the sport after seeing a fatal incident.
He began researching the technology sector, mainly software, as his interests changed. Jenkins had doubts about how well computers worked, but he was confident in the prospects they offered, such as the ability to develop apps, games, websites, and services.
“During elementary school, my technology teacher brought in a dated Mac and I had a ton of questions, so I always had curiosity in technology,” Jenkins. “Once I got into high school, my school didn’t offer any coding courses, unfortunately. From there, I had to use external resources like Code Academy and eventually, I decided that I wanted to pursue my bachelor’s degree in computer science rather than computer engineering. Personally, for me, I wanted to focus on the software side of technology.”
Jenkins’ interest became action as he began to move in the direction of his goal. He obtained positions at TD Bank as a technology intern and at Temple University as a teaching assistant for iOS Application Development while pursuing his bachelor’s degree in computer science there. Later, in 2019, he transitioned from earning between $19 and $25 an hour to earning $70,000 a year as an IT Developer III at TD Bank.
Jenkins felt as though his growth was limited despite having a paycheck. His job had stagnated, he had returned home, and the COVID-19 pandemic had further upended everything. He suffered from depression as a result of his struggles.
Jenkins’ personal and professional lives saw some difficulty at one point, but he handled it well and his enthusiasm for computer science remained unwavering.
He started working as a software engineer for Capital One in New York City in 2020, earning a yearly salary of $127,000 plus a $15,000 sign-on bonus and relocation benefits. Jenkins attained the position of senior software engineer in a little more than two years. He currently earns $158,000 annually.
Jenkins spends time producing content for social media to inform his fans about computer science in addition to carrying out his responsibilities as a senior software developer. In addition to the lack of diversity, he is also fighting gatekeeping of the keys to success in the sector.
“I started content creation in the middle of the pandemic where I was bored with work and I was depressed,” he openly shared. “During applying to other companies, I would use the content that I created as an additional body of work to the applications because the first thing I think about is, ‘[Which] applicants provide their social media platforms as an additional reference in their application?’ That’s something that I believe that sets me apart from many other applicants.”