Breaking into the Seattle Tech Industry for Veterans

Breaking into the Seattle Tech Industry for Veterans

“If you don’t have tech in your background/MOS, don’t sweat it. It’s not what you don’t have, it’s what you do have,” was the advice from Craig Cumberland, a Senior Program Manager at Google Inc. Cumberland hosted a career development class for veterans interested in breaking into the seattle tech industry at Northeastern University’s Seattle graduate campus Thursday.

Cumberland is a veteran of many companies and roles. He served in the United States Marine Corps on active duty for four years in the late 1980s as a Military Policeman.  He’s been at many of the leading technology companies such as Microsoft, Microsoft Research, Openwave, Tegic/AOL Wireless, Nokia, Adobe, Amazon and currently at Google, working on a broad range of technology products (server operating systems, wireless operating systems, mobile applications, mobile web browsers, developer tools, websites, internal software tools).

“Networking should be at the core of what you do. Making a connection here, may lead to a job out there,” Cumberland advised the room of student veterans and active service members.

From a BA in philosophy to military policeman to product manager, Cumberland discussed his non-traditional pathway and recommended students not hold themselves back by continuing to learn and leverage their experience. A method embodied by Northeastern University’s ALIGN program, created specifically to prepare bachelor’s degree holders for high-demand industries like computer science, regardless of their experience or undergraduate major.

“If you want to be moving forward, you’ve got to always be learning in tech.” – Craig Cumberland

The tech industry requires passion, Cumberland said, encouraging students to keep up on the latest trends and continually train themselves in technological advances, even if programming specifically wasn’t the area you want to pursue.
Craig Cumberland gives advice about breaking into the tech industry with student veterans at Northeastern University-Seattle.Craig Cumberland gives advice about breaking into the tech industry with student veterans at Northeastern University-Seattle.
He also emphasized the increased importance of big data in the tech world and recommend it as an avenue for entering the industry. This month, LEVEL, a 2-month data analytics bootcamp kicked off across four Northeastern University campuses, including here in Seattle.

Cumberland warned against falling into these common pitfalls that can keep a candidate from landing a job in the tech industry.

What will keep you out of tech companies:

  • Doing stupid things online.
  • Stop learning. Tech changes too fast to fall behind.
  • Making enemies. Tech industry is a small world and can’t afford to burn bridges.
  • Failing to network.

“Learn coding. You may suck at it, but 5-year-olds are learning to create apps, you can too.” – Craig Cumberland

A military background is something to be extremely proud of, but Cumberland cautioned about setting expectations with how much the tech industry will understand about that experience.

“There are so few vets in tech it amazes me. You can’t assume everyone will understand what you did in the service,” he said. He recommended veterans and service members get their resume in front of networking connections and tell their story to evaluate how their experience translates.

“There are 180 veterans service organizations in King County,” Victor Jabri, Military Outreach Coordinator and current Project Management graduate student at Northeastern University-Seattle, told attendees encouraging them to take advantage of the community and opportunities available to them.

Monica McNeal from Four Block and Brianne Wain, Wounded Warrior Project were also in attendance and recommended a number of resources, including the monthly Marines For Life networking event as an opportunity for veterans to make industry connection (Marines For Life is held on the 1st Wednesday of every month at Pyramid Ale House (SoDo) from 11:00-2pm. Next, February 3rd).

Attendees also shared personal stories and advice with each other, from salary negotiations, converting contract work to full time positions, and the value of mentorship.

Veterans from a wide range of branched and universities attended the discussion.Veterans from a variety of branches and universities attended the discussion.

What’s next?

February 18 – 12pm @ Northeastern University-Seattle
Service Connected Claims & Pensions: A Practicum for Service Providers (Seattle)
Organized by Josh Penner, co-founder of the Pacific Northwest Veterans Coalition

Tools recommended by Cumberland for anyone looking to break into tech industry:
LinkedIn
Lynda.com
Khan Academy
Statistics and Analysis tools (Tableau, Excel)
MS Word – should be able to write logically
Powerpoint – practice presentation skills
Meetup – for networking and finding niche interest groups

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