Cool Job: I Use C++ To Build Concerts In The Metaverse For Justin Bieber...
Brenda Chen was pretty much clueless about the possibilities of virtual and augmented reality until she tried on a VR headset for the first time in college. “It changed my whole trajectory,” she says.As an immersive extended reality (aka XR) artist and designer, Brenda found her niche designing virtual concerts. “A virtual concert is kind…
Cool Job: I’m Duolingo’s Director of Engineering
The process of learning a programming language is often compared to learning a spoken language: there’s syntax, unfamiliar grammar, relentless practice, and rewarding a-ha moments. Vanessa Jameson, the Director of Engineering at the education app Duolingo, knows a thing or two about both domains. At Duolingo, Vanessa leads a team of engineers that focuses on…
Cool Job: I Analyze Pinterest Data Using SQL & Python
Say you’re looking on Pinterest for a mac and cheese recipe to try: There are so many delicious-looking options, so you start pinning the gooiest, cheesiest photos that you think you’ll come back to later. As an Ads Measurement Lead at Pinterest, it’s Scott Menke’s job to use data analysis to take a deep dive…
Cool Job: I Recruit Pentesters for HackerOne
Witnessing a live HackerOne hacking event for the first time was “mind-blowing,” according to Ariel Garcia, who is now the Senior Manager of Technical Community Programs at HackerOne. At the time, he was working as a Senior Cybersecurity Analyst for an Argentinian financial company, but being in Las Vegas, surrounded by talented ethical hackers who…
Cool Job: I’m Wikipedia’s Lead Product Manager
A key part of any Product Manager’s role is managing the expectations of various stakeholders — from the internal leadership team to the product’s end users. As the Lead Product Manager for the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia, Olga Vasileva has hundreds of thousands of stakeholders to consider. “Our main stakeholder and collaborator…
Cool Job: I’m The Senior Manager of UX & Digital Design at Benjamin Moore...
The way Soren Hamby describes their entry into UX: “Some people aspire to break the internet. I decided that I wanted to fix the internet,” they say. As a queer nonbinary person who has been disabled since they were 13, Soren has experienced firsthand how confusing it can be to navigate some websites and apps…
Cool Job: I Make AI Practices More Sustainable
When you interact with AI in your daily life, you probably don’t give much thought to the humans and machines that make it work behind the scenes — and that’s part of the technology’s allure. It’s thrilling to sit back and watch ChatGPT write a cover letter or listen to Siri read the weather. But…
Cool Job: I’m A Game Designer For “Kerbal Space Program 2”
Working in the gaming industry is not all fun and games, according to Sydney Adams, a Senior Game Designer in Seattle. “It has not been an easy process by any stretch of the imagination,” she says.Sydney, 29, got her start in gaming as an intern at Wizards of the Coast, where she worked on games…
Cool Job: I’m A Web3 Developer & Founded A No-Code NFT Platform
Self-taught software developer Timothy Carambat has always had a knack for building things — from cars, to games, to a Python app that automated his student job in college. “Like any other Codecademy learner, I’m a person of a billion projects,” he says. (Fun fact: Timothy actually learned Python on Codecademy.)While working a full-time job…
Cool Job: I’m the NFL’s Football Operations Data Scientist
Monday morning watercooler chats after a big football Sunday look a little different for Tom Bliss, the National Football League’s Football Operations Data Science Manager. “The fun thing about our group is that we have both a robust data background as well as a football background,” Tom, who has worked at the NFL since 2020,…
