Girls Who Code Upskill Series Fireside Chat

I am a data science student who’s been involved with Girls Who Code since high school. To start the Spring 2026 Upskills Series, Girls Who Code hosted their first event, the Fireside Chat event featuring Dr. Tarika Barrett and Tomesah Harrison. It was such a pleasure to attend, here are the notes I took during the event. I was mostly listening and following along, but I noted down key quotes/moments that stuck out to me.
Fireside Chat Image

Panelists and Speakers

  • Tomesah Harrison, Metlife
  • Dr. Tarika Barrett, CEO of Girls Who Code

Thank you to the many Girls Who Code staff members for their contributions to this! I didn’t get everyone’s names, but I saw you all in the tech-check and in the emails, and you were all so very helpful and kind.

Student Testimonial

They started with a student testimonial, which is something I gave! Surprise!
Izzy Hasabella, who I had the pleasure of meeting at the Girls Who Code Meetup in Los Angeles, reached out offering the opportunity to speak at the event. We workshopped a testimonial together via zoom for a little less than a week, based on what I learned from the Fall Upskills Series! It was wonderful, and the team was very welcoming to me. I was nervous to give the speech, but it went well, without any issues. I had taken a break from promoting the Girls Who Code College Loop at Moorpark College at Club Rush to attend this event, which was exciting.

Fireside Chat - General Questions

  • “You have to control what you can control, which is your skillset; your mindset, your behavior” (Tomesah Harrison)
  • ” We want to hear about the “So what?”, the journey”, essentially stating a “show not tell” model of application; “how did I take this one simple thing as an action and sew it all the way through?” (Tomesah Harrison)
  • “We still have to focus and cultivate our human essential skills, our communication” (Tomesah Harrison)

Dr. Tarika Barrett

“The next step”:

  • Connecting with the community, connect with peopel that help us with our narrative and our work, “being supported by a communty can help build your confidence…”
  • Look to join professional organization and connect/network with professionals, reach out and “just ask and schedule a coffee chat”
  • Take advantage of the free resources out there! (IBM SkillsBuild for one option :) )

Fireside Chat - Audience Questions

1) What are the other ways to reach out to recruiters other than LinkedIn? Like is there a way to get their emails to stand out as an applicant? 2) How to make sure that my resume is gona reach a real person?
==> go to events, build your networks, reach out, make connections in your career centers


For introverts like myself, what should be the first step/approach I should take in networking? ==> We need to do things that scare us sometimes! ‘It takes effort. I become very intention with how I network so I don’t overwhelm myself… Do the things that make us uncomfortable, they stretch us and make us grow… Quality and not Quantity” (Tomesah Harrison)


QnA

Question: I struggle scheduling coffee chats because I feel like im not sure what to speak about, or what If it ends up being awkward. What is your approach to a good coffee chat, or how has a student had a successful coffee chat with you?

Allie Ogino:

  1. Review their profile on LinkedIn.
  2. Refine your elevator pitch/career goals.
  3. Prepare 2-3 questions for the conversation.
  4. Ask for recommendations of groups, resources, or other people to connect with.
  5. Send a thank you and connect with them on LinkedIn. Hopefully this helps you get started!



Does resume length matter at this point of our early careers. Will it help an applicant stand out if you might have more bullet points or have two pages if it is relevant info?

Allie Ogino: It generally makes a difference what you are applying for. Sometimes a 1-pager is good and sometimes a more fleshed out CV is best. The most important thing is that your bullet points correspond to the job description. We have resume review during Upskill - hope you will submit your resume and recruiters can review it for you an offer feedback.

Thank you

Thank you for having me speak! It was a wonderful opportunity and I can’t wait to continue learning with the Girls Who Code Community. Thank you to Izzy Hasabella for working with me and the speech, and thank you for the larger team for being so welcoming.
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