Sam King
Code the Change
"I view my work as a software engineer and my values as somebody who wants to make the world a better place, as deeply interconnected. Every person, myself included, should have a job that aligns with their values."
Career Roadmap
Sam's work combines: Technology, Non-Profit Organizations, and Helping People
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Biocomputation
Stanford University
Graduate Degree
Human Computer Interaction
Stanford University
Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be a Software Quality Assurance Analysts & Testers:
Bachelor's Degree: Biocomputation
Graduate Degree: Human Computer Interaction
Learn more about different paths to this career
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
Before college, I thought I would end up in politics or medicine because those were the paths that I saw available in public service.
2.
I decided to try out a computer science course. I loved that it let me be creative and that there were so many different job opportunities.
3.
I started Code the Change in order to figure out the connection between computer science and social good.
4.
I'm based in California, but being in tech has led to me traveling all across the US and to Cambodia.
5.
After graduating from college, I worked on diversity and education at Google.
6.
When healthcare.gov was in crisis, I worked on the fix-it team.
7.
I later went to a start-up and worked with Medicaid and other health plans.
8.
I'm currently exploring how to use technology to help politics and social justice.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Myself:
They're depending on you, but you don't know what the answers are.
How I responded:
The stuff that they teach you in school isn’t directly what you’re going to use in the workforce. In particular, academic programs on computer science focus a lot on algorithms - problem-solving, math, programming and artificial intelligence they’re only one part, a lot of the other parts don’t get a lot of attention. Even though computer science programs aren’t perfect, my internships prepared me for going into this career.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I have a lot of people depending on me and I often feel the impact when my team has some type of failure. I wonder what I could have done differently to help my team.