Weiwei Lin

Weiwei Lin, who is originally from China, moved to the United States with her American husband. This transition was fraught with challenges, not the least of which was her limited English proficiency. When she first arrived, she struggled to communicate and had to embark on a rigorous path to learn the language and land a job in her new country.

In China, Weiwei had a degree and professional experience as a website designer, but she found that these credentials did not transfer easily to the U.S. job market. Faced with the daunting task of starting over, she felt disheartened and her confidence suffered. However, her husband encouraged her to pursue something she was passionate about. This led Weiwei to reignite her interest in coding, and she began teaching herself Python and JavaScript. Her enthusiasm propelled her to seek further education.

While searching for tech bootcamps, Weiwei was discouraged by the very steep cost of most that she came across. However, she soon discovered Per Scholas through a social media post, and was intrigued that the program had no tuition cost. Weiwei applied, and was accepted into Per Scholas Columbus’s Women of Color in Software Engineering course, which empowers and creates opportunity for women of color in tech, a group vastly underrepresented in the field. “When I was accepted, it was one of the happiest moments in the last year!” Weiwei recalled. “I called my husband right away and we went out to celebrate.”

During the course, Weiwei excelled. She not only mastered the material but also helped her classmates, demonstrating her leadership and collaborative spirit. Her hard work paid off, and she graduated as the valedictorian of her class! “In the class, we didn’t only learn coding,” Weiwei reflected. “They also teach us how to prepare our resumes, how to do well in an interview, and even how to be confident to face your challenges. They teach coding very well and that is important, but the most important thing to me was gaining my confidence. I realized – I can learn and do something challenging, I can trust myself, and I can even help other people!”

Following her graduation, Weiwei faced the challenge of job hunting. The process was tough but, with continuous support from her family and mentors at Per Scholas, she persisted. Her perseverance was rewarded when she was offered an internship as a Technology Consulting Analyst at Accenture. She was soon moved to full-time, and now works as a Packaged App Development Associate at Accenture, officially launching her flourishing tech career.

Weiwei has since started a Chinese-language blog, where she shares her experiences, aiming to inspire and encourage others to pursue their dreams despite the obstacles. Throughout her journey, Weiwei has been a strong advocate for women and other minorities in tech. “I am so thankful to Per Scholas, and to all the ladies in my class,” Weiwei shared. “I always want to share and encourage other women to learn and do what they want – they can do it! I never imagined that one day I could write my own code or build my own website. You don’t know what you can do until you try. Don’t give up!” Weiwei’s story is one of courage, hard work, and the power of self-belief. As she begins her career in the tech field, she plans to keep learning new skills and inspiring others to pursue their dreams.

Hear more of Weiwei’s story here.