Updates and What’s Next: featuring Khalil Kum
Today I am interviewing Khalil Kum, an alum of the 2020 Hack. Diversity fellowship program. The purpose of this interview is to highlight his journey in the tech industry, how Hack. Diversity has influenced him and what he has learned along the way. As a bonus, you can read more about his background in this blog post that Khalil wrote when he was starting out at Hack. Diversity. However, in this interview, we will delve deeper into his experience at Hack. Diversity. We will also learn what Khalil has been up to, his career and personal aspirations, and even his hobbies. Shall we begin…
Background
Let’s start this interview with a fun and thought-provoking question. If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?
If I won the lottery, I would build a school back home in Cameroon. It would include primary and secondary school as well as a university. The best part is that it would be free for everyone. After accomplishing that, I would buy my grandma a house and a car.
Give me a quick description of yourself, as if I knew nothing about you.
I have always liked computer science from a young age. Even back then I have always put myself in a situation to continue to grow. I have been in the tech space for 2 and a half years. After I came to the United States, I enrolled at North Shore Community College for 2 years. To break into the tech space, I joined Hack.Diversity and got my first internship with Grubhub through them. My team at Grubhub loved my work and hired me full-time. I held off my plans to pursue my Bachelor’s degree at Northeastern University and kept working. Currently, I work at DailyPay as Software Engineer II where we do meaningful work as leaders in the Earned Wage Access(EWA) space.
Did you know what you wanted to study/focus on academically at North Shore Community College?
Even though I hated school, I knew what my strengths were. As I mentioned before, I have always leaned toward math, physics, and studies geared toward solving problems. I knew that it was the easiest thing I could do without hating my job. Since my granddad was a nurse and my mom is a nurse, everyone wanted me to follow in their footsteps. Their hopes were for me to become a doctor, but the reality was I hated chemistry, biology, or anything related to the medical field.
However, I was good at math, and physics and decided to focus on my strengths. I also noticed how much you can affect change with software. It is integral to everything, and I realized that I could make a difference in the world.
What was your major, and are you working in that field today?
I studied computer science at North Shore and yes, I am working in that field.
Why did you join Hack.Diversity?
Angela Liu came and did a workshop at North Shore Community College. When I found out that it’s for underrepresented communities in technology, I immediately applied. Prior to that, I didn’t have a network of professionals in Computer Science. My friends or colleagues were in health care and other professions. The career development was also a big motivator to apply. The first time I applied was during my first semester at North Shore Community college and since I did not have the sufficient academic experience I got rejected. I applied again and got accepted into the 2020 cohort.
Career/Goals
What was your first job/internship after graduation? How did you get it?
My first internship was with Grubhub which I got through Hack.Diversity. It was in 2020 and it was during the pandemic. I went through the matching process and interviewed with 4 companies. I received good feedback from every one of them. From the 4 options I thought I had, I received 0 offers; they all canceled due to the pandemic. However, my mentors at Hack.Diversity and the community had one opportunity with Grubhub. We were 9 fellows with the same unfortunate situation, and we all interviewed for the role. I was fortunate to have gotten the opportunity. My team at Grubhub was great. I had great mentorship and learning opportunities. My learning curve was very steep, so it was challenging to start. But after 3–4 weeks, I got more comfortable in asking questions. I got better at collaborating and doing research and kept growing up from there.
How did your time at Hack.Diversity help to impact you for your current career, activities/social network, friends, etc.
I got to meet some really cool people. I befriended people that I can connect with on a different scale. It was very refreshing that I can be nerdy with them, talk about tech stuff, and can relate to them on a whole another level. Career-wise before Hack.Diversity, I was not ready to embark on my professional journey. I was naïve and was not knowledgeable about writing emails, interviewing, or about my technical career. The mentorships, the learning workshops, the advice, the training; all of that combined helped me so much. I told myself I’m going to be a sponge and soak up as much as I can. The first 3–4 months was very pivotal in my maturity. It also helped with onboarding the first weeks at Grubhub.
What are you most proud of from your Hack.Diversity experience?
My ability to get through the program and someway somehow get a job. Taking what they taught me and applying that. Also paying that forward whether that was becoming a member of the ALC, helping others with technical preparations for interviews, or reviewing resumes.
Did North Shore Community College or Hack.Diversity prepare you more for the workforce and the real world? And why
Hack.Diversity prepared me more when I think of it from a holistic view. School is school and you learn whatever the curriculum is. It does not necessarily prepare you for the real-world or at least in my case. But with that being said, NSCC helped me in transitioning from my immigrant background to the American culture. I learned about how people talk to each other and the cultural norms. However, for my most professional growth, I would have to give it up to Hack.Diversity. The program groomed me and prepared me for the workforce and what I should expect.
What is your greatest professional accomplishment?
Being able to grow as quickly as I did in the tech industry. Being able to mentor other engineers in my team and lead projects. My other accomplishment is building and publishing my open-source project.
Closing Questions
What is something people may not know about you?
I like to make music. I like to sing. I have been singing since I was 9. When I am not writing code or solving problems, I am creating music and singing.
Where do you hope to be in 10 years?
Professionally, I want to look back and see how I have grown. I want to stay in a senior software engineer position. I want to lead important projects, mentor others and take on big projects. I also want to preserve the work and life balance. I want to be able to grow professionally but equally make space for personal growth too.
What advice do have for current fellows who want to make the most out or their experience at Hack.Diversity?
I would say that the biggest strength is the community, the mentorship, and the Hack team. Take advantage of everything. This program has been alive for more than 5 years, so they definitely know what they are doing. Ask questions, attend workshops and pair with other fellows. It’s not easy but dig deep. The program is real, and it works. I was taking 21 credits and had 2 jobs when I was doing the fellowship with Hack.Diversity. I still managed to make the most out of it.
Like Wiz Khalifa said, “Make sure you do whatever is that you gotta do. That’s your job”.
Interview conducted by Asmeret Jafarzade. If alums have an interest in being featured in this blog please reach out to me through DMs at this link.
