Meet Tashia, Recent Turing Alum

After COVID dissolved her previous job, Tashia took a step back and decided to dive into the world of coding.

Meet Tashia, Recent Turing Alum

• Graduated from Front End program in April 2021
• Hired April 2021
• Now working as a Senior Software Engineering Intern at Guild Education

Tashia Davis had been working in marketing in the outdoor industry for seven years when COVID hit and her entire team was dissolved. This was the catalyst for some serious self-reflection. It gave her the chance to take a step back and plan her next career move with deep intentionality, something she admits she might have been otherwise “too afraid to do.”

“Don't be afraid to take risks, to be wrong, to not know the answer, and to ask questions.”

She decided to take a calculated risk and come to Turing. Having worked directly with developers on website redesigns, she had learned just enough to be dangerous and found herself asking to take on more technical projects anytime she could. Her interest was clearly piqued, but in its infancy.

“Now I can break down a problem and figure out how to solve it, no matter how scary it may look initially.”

This is the alchemy of Tashia’s time at Turing. It was hard at first, but getting comfortable taking on new technologies has built her confidence and character. “Before Turing, I knew I needed to work on my lack of confidence. I had a tendency to undersell myself, compare myself to others, and not give myself enough credit,” she says. Those confidence issues are a thing of the past. Tashia was plucked by Guild Education prior to even graduating, where she’s on the Search and Discovery squad working in React and TypeScript.

“Turing grads are well-rounded, empathetic, and enthusiastic.”

Guild Education appealed to Tashia on many levels—as a mission-driven, female-founded company committed to unlocking opportunity and upskilling. She had actually interviewed with them once before for a marketing role (that she didn’t get) and believes her prior experience in that field will enable her to be a more empathetic developer. “Turing really takes the time to help students build a foundation, expand into stretch technologies of interest, and prepare for life on the job—and I think it shows.” Indeed here it does as a risk paid off, a second chance to land at her dream company, and an opportunity to help others pursue their own career dreams. If that isn’t some kind of good coding karma, then I’m not sure what is.

Want to find others like Tashia who have built their confidence and are ready to take on new challenges?

Meet more of our people on Terminal

What Tashia's hiring manager has to say about her:

“Tashia demonstrated a number of strengths from her previous career in marketing such as creative problem solving and data-driven decision making. Coupled with the technical and teamwork skills she acquired at Turing, her overall skill set made her a standout candidate for Guild’s internship.”Travis Haby, Lead Software Engineer, Guild Education, and 1507 Turing Alum