Advisor to the white house CTO

Graduating Without A Plan? That's How This Millennial Ended Up At The White House - Forbes

Without taking anything away from this girl's hard work and effort. Do you think that such a role desrves someone more senior or is this just one of those stories of "the right place at the right time"?

This should be considered a lesson I guess for those people that are having a hard time getting into IT. There are more ways, avenues and paths to get into IT, be involved in IT and not necessarily be in a technical role. You can contribute in many other ways.

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Comments

powmia

You really thing the white house CTO knows anything about IT? It's a political position... of course it's about right place at the right time.

W Stewart

They probably gave her the job because it made for a good story with their efforts to push women in science and technology fields. The government contracts all of their real IT work and the white house has very little to do with any real technology. At most, the CTO may advise the white house on what to say to the public in regards to technology matters.

TheFORCE

Yeah I figured as much, just wanted to hear other people's opinion too. They made it seem like this girl knows IT because she has a minor in IT. No wonder we are being outsourced left and right. These are the people that have influence later on on cyber security matters. She probably has a high level clearance too.

snapdad

Her top three skills on her LinkedIn profile are: Social Media, Event Planning, and Blogging. She sounds like quite a technical wiz.

TheFORCE

snapdad wrote: »

Her top three skills on her LinkedIn profile are: Social Media, Event Planning, and Blogging. She sounds like quite a technical wiz.

You are right, I think in order to advise in high level concepts, policies or issues you need to have some technical background or a good understanding of technology. While many people here study for certs orhers move up the ranks effortlessly with no certs fresh out of college.
Again we don't know what her role is, she might be very smart indeed. Sometimes you need luck too.

anoeljr

Good for her. It seems she like she may have good skills for the role she's in. Just because she may not do IT work like many people on this board doesn't mean she doesn't have the right skills for the job. Like I always say, it's who you know.

UnixGuy

Right place, right time, right connections, and how your present yourself.

Shdwmage

Personal opinion here: This administration has a history of hiring people that are into social justice over those with the experience to do the job.

Now I am not saying that is good, bad, or otherwise. Just making a point.

tpatt100

Shdwmage wrote: »

Personal opinion here: This administration has a history of hiring people that are into social justice over those with the experience to do the job.

Now I am not saying that is good, bad, or otherwise. Just making a point.

All of the previous administrations hired people due to their previous connections. Most of the appointments are usually rewards of some sort, then people who are actually experienced are hired as advisers under them.

I also think these high profile positions are better suited for people with soft skills than technical skills anyways.

tpatt100

Ok after reading the article this was more about being at the right place at the right time and who you are connected to which is not a bad thing at all, I got my start and promotion opportunities because of things like this where luck and chance landed me opportunities.

So the lesson here was she took an unpaid position to get experience, once on the inside got inside opportunities because she made a good impression on the people she worked with. A person with influence who she was an assistant to recommended her for a position that opened up. I think this just shows the power of interning and networking which I can't really find fault with.

Though I do think the position was created for fluff purposes but if I was in her shoes? I would take the position, title, gain some more connections and run like hell with the opportunity.

Once I graduated, the only plan I had was to visit my younger brother who had been living in Beijing. A friend of mine said,”The Office of Presidential Correspondence has a volunteer program. It’s unpaid, but you can do it for a few weeks or until you find your next thing.”

I was accepted into the program and a few months later I had a full time job in the Office of Presidential Correspondence as a tech coordinator. I was only 21 years old at the time, but I was supporting all of the office’s tech efforts – including digitizing the White House comment line, improving how we communicated with constituents and supporting the use of data to make policy decisions.

Around the same time, Todd Park had recently been named the White House Chief Technology Officer and he was looking for an assistant. Although I wasn’t interested in being an assistant, I started doing some research into Todd Park and I knew immediately that I wanted to work for him. He is an entrepreneur, a philanthropist and someone I could learn from. I made it through the first few rounds of interviews for Todd’s assistant. A friend who knew other people that were interviewing for the job said, “There are people with incredibly impressive resumes [also interviewing]. If you don’t get it, don’t worry. Something else will come your way.”

On a Thursday afternoon, I received a call informing me that I made it to the final interview. The person said that Todd was traveling and asked if I could come in the following week and interview. That was perfect because I had plans to travel that weekend to visit my college roommate in Denver. I boarded the plane, took my seat, and I looked up to see Todd Park walk onto the plane and sit two rows in front of me.

jeremywatts2005

This is total PR bull. I read the article and was like yeah sure. They are using her as a pawn. Read the story it is designed to promote political agendas. I am sick of the propaganda stories that simply prop up the administrations idea. The position probably does not exist. This is how they manipulate people into believing their agenda is right. Read the blog below she is a political activist and the video is her talking about a march against modern day slavery she participated in.

UVA **** Story Collapses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYcSumTR9D0