Diversity, Work

Meet our fall 2022 Dropbox apprentices

Published on October 11, 2022

The Emerging Talent team is delighted to welcome our sixth cohort of apprentices to Dropbox. Originally launched in 2018, the Apprenticeship Program (formerly IGNITE) provides opportunities to new software engineers (bootcamp grads or self-taught) for mentorship and hands-on learning. Apprentices are brought on for five months and, if successful, are given the opportunity to join as a full-time software engineer.

To date, we have had 48 apprentices go through the program, with 37 alumni still at the company today!

This Fall, we have 8 wonderful apprentices joining us from California, Georgia, Colorado, Utah, and Pennsylvania. All apprentices will be working within engineering on teams across Core, Platform, Document Workflow and Growth and Data. Find out more about their unique backgrounds and what they’re most excited about below.

Alysha Gilliard

Atlanta, GA

Team: Activation Platform

Where did you learn to code? HackReactor
What industry did you work in before you switched to engineering? I worked as a consultant in the financial services industry.
Why did you decide to make the switch? I decided to make the switch to software engineering during the pandemic. I was unhappy with the consulting lifestyle and wanted to pursue a career where I could leverage my strengths, make an impact, and have fun doing it. Luckily as a consultant, I was exposed to many different career paths, including software engineering. I learned how to code after years of always wanting to, and have never turned back. I enjoy solving challenging problems, building things, and collaborating with other people. For me, it wasn't just one moment that led me to make this career change, but rather the culmination of all my prior experiences.

Fei Yu

Denver, CO

Team: Filesystem

Where did you learn to code? Largely self-taught, but I recently graduated from General Assembly's full stack bootcamp as well.
What industry did you work in before you switched to engineering? I was a teacher and tutor for seven years.
Why did you decide to make the switch? Being a tutor was incredibly rewarding, but ultimately turned out to not be a practical career path. After I got engaged, I found that the scheduling logistics were quite rough on my personal life as well. I wanted a challenging new career that would fully utilize my love of problem solving and incorporate the communication and personal skills I learned in my previous role — so here I am!

Frances Lau

Van Nuys, CA

Team: Channel Experience

Where did you learn to code? App Academy. It was a life-changing experience!
What industry did you work in before you switched to engineering? I was a realtor and loan officer.
Why did you decide to make the switch? Ever since I was a child, I’ve loved designing and building projects that make life easier for myself and others. While I was working as a loan officer and realtor, I built several tracking systems and databases with Microsoft Access to keep myself ahead of the schedule. This is when I fell in love with coding.

Jessica Zhou

Walnut, CA

Team: Team Expansion

Where did you learn to code? Self-taught via online videos/tutorials. I also attended Hack Reactor, a 13 week bootcamp.
What industry did you work in before you switched to engineering? Healthcare — Occupational Therapy
Why did you decide to make the switch? I learned a lot while working in a hospital, but it did not feel like the long-term career I wanted. I wanted to explore a field that could allow me to exercise my creativity a bit more, and also wanted to work in a more dynamic environment with a diverse team.

John Reuben Angcla

Pittsburg, CA

Team: Capacity Engineering

Where did you learn to code? App Academy
What industry did you work in before you switched to engineering? I was undergoing education for nursing
Why did you decide to make the switch? When the pandemic initially started, I was convinced by a friend to build a computer. I built it, fell in love with tech, and jumped into the world of tech. I did research and found a love for coding and decided to join the number one coding bootcamp in my area.

Katherine Jiang

Philadelphia, PA

Team: HelloSign Platform Delivery

Where did you learn to code? Hackbright Academy
What industry did you work in before you switched to engineering? I worked in the healthcare industry as a pharmacist
Why did you decide to make the switch? While I loved being a pharmacist, my job was very repetitive and the system I used was quite outdated. I came across some apps that I added to my workflow to help improve my productivity and efficiency. I was impressed by the simplicity of the apps, so during my free time, I took some courses online to learn how to code. I loved it immediately, but I didn't think a career switch was possible until some friends mentioned joining a coding bootcamp. I loved being able to help my patients, but I knew I could make a bigger impact by creating tools and solutions for everyone to use.

Pamela Tenney

San Francisco, CA

Team: Hardware Team

Where did you learn to code? App Academy
What industry did you work in before you switched to engineering? I worked in education as a High School Science Teacher.
Why did you decide to make the switch? After finishing my MA in secondary education, I felt I needed a new challenge. I started learning to code and actually used some of the code I learned in my classes. I enjoyed the challenge so much, I decided to learn more and change my career to software development.

Serena Sorensen

Springville, UT

Team: HelloSign Integrations (Octopod)

Where did you learn to code? Devmountain
What industry did you work in before you switched to engineering? I come from a Chemical Engineering background.
Why did you decide to make the switch? I decided I loved the software side of my job so much that I wanted to pursue Software Engineering.