To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Kenzie Academy met up with Tim La, a Kenzie alum who currently works as a Software Engineering Associate at Infosys. Tim has found professional success by being consistent, reliable, enthusiastic about tech, resourceful, growth-minded, and especially, a leader. Tim’s leadership philosophy is to “lead people to become better than expected” — and leadership is a special quality he adopted from his father.
Tim’s family is originally from China, and the war in China brought his grandparents to Vietnam from where his family immigrated to the United States. Tim’s father stepped up, led his brothers and sisters to a new country, and became the first member of his family to attend a university in America and abroad. Tim looked up to his father who inspired him to become a leader.
Along with being a leader, Tim has achieved many things in his early tech career so far, from being appointed team lead engineer as a newbie and working with a client in finance, an industry he’s always wanted to work in.
Prior to Kenzie, Tim graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in communication. Communication is broad, and he didn’t know what career path to pursue. He played around with coding and coached ping pong, but it wasn’t until he found Kenzie Academy when he started to grow a passion for tech. He enrolled in the 12-month software development program and his journey has led him to an exciting tech role for a global leader in digital services and consulting.
So, what advice does Tim have to give to those aspiring to build a strong career in tech?