There are many paths to success in tech, but the most notorious is software development and engineering. We want to introduce you to Makho Ngazimbi, a software development manager with Amazon Web Services. Amazon Web Services helps businesses scale and grow by offering secure cloud services on its platform along with database storage and more.
Makho’s team of engineers is responsible for making sure that the operating system is distributing to all the data centers. Makho spoke with Will Lucas at AfroTech about his journey into tech and what he wants other Black professionals to know when venturing into the field.
One of the proudest responsibilities that Makho has is in recruiting Black engineers into tech. Resources like Amazon’s Black Employee Network have allowed him to be hands-on in recruiting, retaining, and even advancing Black talent in engineering.
“There’s a lot of programs that I am really proud of and [recruiting] is actually a huge passion of mine,” said Makho.
If you’re looking to get into tech and specifically into engineering, the path there is somewhat traditional. Makho spoke to his experience of getting a degree in computer science and that being the main path to software engineering. There are some exceptions where people break into tech without a computer science degree, but he advises you to first figure out the type of degree needed to fully thrive.
“Definitely if you’re interested in getting into these types of fields, you kind of want that related degree,” said Makho. “Once you have the degree, a big thing you want to do while you’re still in school is to really emphasize getting [your first] internship.”
Check out what else Makho had to say about securing a role in engineering and what it’s like working for Amazon Web services in the video below!
