Waldern's education and skill set put
her on her enviable career track. Technol-
ogy has become so important to every facet
of the economy that computer-related skills
of all kinds are in hot demand. That's par-
ticularly true in B.C.'s tech sector. The BC
Tech Association estimates the industry
will require an additional 47,000 work-
ers by 2021, but 30,500 of those jobs will
remain vacant.
There are openings at every level, from
junior software developers and systems
administrators to senior managers and
executives. There are opportunities for a
wide range of aptitudes, including creative
designers, analytical data scientists, logi-
cally minded engineers, and communica-
tions-savvy managers. Companies of every
size, from small startups to multinational
corporations, are hungry for talent.
The number of educational options is
sprawling to prepare people for the widen-
ing array of tech careers. Waldern's alma
mater,
UBC, founded its computer science
department in 1968 and has since been
joined by dozens of public and private
institutions offering programs ranging from
short-term boot camps to PhDs. Some cover
a wide range of fields, while others special-
ize in narrow niches. There are programs
50 BCBUSINESS MARCH 2019
Jennifer Waldern started
in a multidisciplinary
cognitive science pro-
gram but quickly turned
her full attention to
computer science. "I was
worried I was going to
graduate with this multi-
disciplinary degree and
not have a good grasp of
the fundamentals"
