Executive Says San Francisco Students Need To Learn Programming Languages
According to a recent report from CB Insights, more investment poured into California last year than the rest of the country combined. Of the $26.8 billion in venture capital investments, 41 percent went to San Francisco companies, including AirBnb, Dropbox and Uber. As tech salaries continue to rise in the city, local job seekers can gain valuable advice from industry experts such as Hema Budaraju, PayPal's director of product for PayPal Consumer Mobile.
What is your background and education?
"I was born in Hyderabad, India. I have an M.B.A. in marketing/strategy from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, as well as a B.E. electronics from Bombay University."
How has your education helped you in your current position?
"My education has always helped me in my various careers: my engineering background helps me think through complex problems in a logical way, and come up with possible solutions. While my M.B.A. helps create a framework to evaluate the solutions, and identify the best path forward. I have a 15+ year track record across enterprise, mobile, and retail applications over a wide array of global products in supply chain and transportation planning, digital books, smartphone applications, a variety of verticals (motors, electronics, fashion), and local commerce at Oracle, Nokia, Amazon, and eBay. I currently lead product management for PayPal Consumer Mobile Apps."
What career advice can you share with students interested in a career in computer technology?
"Every possible field (medicine, law, services, banks, insurance, biotechnology, genomics, etc.) has seen innovation through computer technology. A solid grounding in technology is as foundational as math, science and biology. Invest in learning some programming languages; try building some simple applications on web and mobile; take up an internship or a voluntary assignment as a testing ground for your skill set; talk to professionals in different fields; flex your brains by imagining how you would build some of your frequently used apps, and I can keep going on. The key thing is to invest not just in learning but also by applying your learning."
Randy Yagi is a freelance writer covering all things San Francisco. In 2012, he was awarded a Media Fellowship from Stanford University. His work can be found on Examiner.com Examiner.com.
