Lateef Idris finished DPI’s tech workforce training program in the spring of 2023.
Name: Lateef Idris
Current job title: Project coordinator, Tech Launchpad, Kennedy-King College
My job is to make sure the tech students here at Kennedy-King know about all the opportunities that are available to them. If it’s a networking opportunity, if it’s an event, if it’s a scholarship or internship, making sure that they’re aware and pushing it on them so they can take advantage of it. Students can always reach out to me via email, or they can just come to my office. There’s no such thing as a typical day for me.
I also plan and help coordinate events. For example, there’s this ChiCyberCon conference in March. We’re trying to get as many students as possible who are into cybersecurity or have an interest in it to attend — it’s free for students. We just want them to come out to see what the tech field actually looks like.
A lot of events are more career-based: make sure that they know how to apply for a job, how to show up for a job, that they’re prepared.
We’ve had a few events where DPI has come. It’s always nice going to events and seeing you guys there!
Previous career: Freelance videographer/photographer.
When did you finish your training in DPI’s software development program? May 2024
Why tech? Why DPI? My mom was watching the news or something. I’m not sure if it was an ad, or there was some coverage of the training program. She told me I should apply for it.
Since I was doing videography and graphic design, my mom knew I was into tech, working on computers. But I had very little coding experience and, honestly, very little interest in it.
But I said, let me just give it a shot. I didn’t have too much to lose.
During the Intro to Software Development course [which precedes the formal training program], there was one project where you basically had to create your own website, and I thought, this is good for my business, because this is something I can make for myself. That kind of got me in a space of, coding doesn’t have to be this daunting task. This is something that I can use creatively, to make stuff for my own business. At that point, it was like a switch went off, and I said, OK. This coding/software stuff, it’s actually pretty cool. It’s actually pretty creative. And that supercharged me to really take it seriously.
I still do videography on the side. Somebody just reached out to me from a church. They’re trying to get more of their content online, so they’re trying to get videos to talk about the different lessons. We’re trying to figure out how to use AI to create lessons for the church.
Which skill from your previous career or background helped you the most in your current one? After college, where I got a degree in animation, my first job was at Comcast as a technician. I got to learn a lot about customer service, getting into different environments, not knowing what to expect and just problem-solving. Looking back on it, that job gave me a really good base of problem-solving that I think transferred over to coding and tech.
Another thing I learned in college was how to learn. That’s kind of underrated, because usually when you’re starting off at something, you’re not good at it. Getting over that hump is very important. I feel like I’ve become very comfortable knowing that I don’t know something but still being able to push through.
What was the most important thing you learned along the way? At DPI, I really got comfortable talking in front of crowds. In college, that was something I was horrible at, and I progressively got better at it, especially working at Comcast, where I had to go to people’s houses and talk to them.
But DPI was a huge jump for me. They have different activities to get us comfortable talking to people, and my soft skills definitely improved: talking, communication, working as a team.
I remember the first riverside chat, I was so nervous, I was like, I’m just not going to say anything. By the last few, I thought, this is an opportunity for me to learn how to just be confident. Over time I definitely saw the improvement.
The community that develops among each cohort also seems to be very strong. Were you surprised by that? I was very surprised. Probably a couple of weeks into the program, I felt like DPI did a really good job of picking the right people for the program. I saw it more through that lens: that they just picked the right people to come together.
And we were all pivoting. It was a life-changing experience that we were all going through together. I think that just made us bond a little bit more as well.
What do you like most about your current job? I like being able to help other people who look like me and come from the communities that I come from. The tech industry is so huge right now. There are so many opportunities that I just want to make sure everybody can get in on it.
And I’m still in tech. I still get to learn about different tech opportunities, different tech trends.
Where do you see yourself in five years? I don’t know, to be honest! Obviously, I like working here at Kennedy-King. We have a really good mission that we’re working toward, and I’d like to be a part of that.
But I also have my own goals. When I was at DPI, one of the things I wanted to do was UI/UX design. Our final project was to develop our own app. After the class ended, I kind of stopped working on my app, but I still have ideas for other apps that I’d like to do in the future. So maybe in five years I also have my own startup?
What advice do you have for people considering a shift to a tech career? Don’t get discouraged. Tech can look pretty daunting at first. Coding can look extremely daunting. I feel like a lot of people look at programmers and software developers as these nerds, where you have to be a super-scientific person with a doctorate. But if you spend a few months devoted to it, you’ll be able to learn. Everything we do nowadays is with technology, so you’re slowly learning it anyway. You just have to learn the behind-the-scenes stuff.
*Catching up with former DPI Workforce trainees
Author: Jeanie Chung