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Coding While Queer, How Drag Helped Charli Deville Make it in Tech

 March 31, 2021  |  Naoufel Testaouni

 

Charli Deville is Montreal’s Premier Deadbeat Daddy, a world class performer and pioneer in the drag king scene, but by day they’re a front end web developer. In November, they were gracious enough to sit down with us and talk about how they balance these two roles, and how one even provides them with the confidence to succeed in the other.

 

 

Growing up in Manitoba at a time before our vocabulary included the language we currently use to describe the trans and nonbinary experience, Charli settled with the identity of “tomboy.” It wasn’t until after they moved to Montreal that they began to feel comfortable redefining who they were personally, which ended up helping them professionally as well.

 

A new life in a new community

After receiving a degree in communications from the University of Winnipeg, Charli came to Montreal to work as a graphic designer but they found that the work wasn’t as stable as they would have liked. They also realized that there was one skill that seemed to make an employee indispensable–coding. Charli was quick to act on this realization and enrolled for a three month long coding bootcamp, which they say helped them find a more secure job with twice the salary!

Coding can seem like a difficult thing to get started in, and even Charli says that they felt like they were “too dumb” to figure it out at first. In fact, when they got their new job so quickly after bootcamp, they started to struggle with imposter syndrome. They didn’t feel qualified for the job, and even thought someone had made a mistake in hiring them, a feeling many of us are probably familiar with.

How did they cope with this struggle to feel qualified? According to Charli, performing in drag has helped them improve their confidence. Their performances helped them connect with the queer community, where they were understood and supported. In this supportive space, Charli’s differences were celebrated rather than hidden, and unfortunately they have been all too familiar with the feeling that they need to hide.

 

Hiding in the workplace

After being fired from their last job for personal reasons, Charli found themself holding back at their new workplace. They felt like they couldn’t be their authentic self if they wanted to have a steady job, so they kept it a secret. They even wore a special shirt to the interview that helped them “femme it up” and put potential employers at ease.

When they needed to take a month off work to recover from a gender reaffirming surgery, they needed to let their predominantly cis-male coworkers in on at least part of their identity and was relieved to find that they were surprisingly surpportive. Looking back, Charli wishes they were more open at this job from the start because now they see their queer identity as a commodity rather than a hinderance.

 

A brighter, prouder future

According to Charli, many tech companies are at the front of the pack when it comes to creating inclusive hiring policies. They suggest that when a queer person goes to interview for a tech company it’s better not to hide who they are because their identities should be seen as valuable resources to the companies who want to hire us.

If you’ve been inspired by Charli’s story to pursue a new life in tech, you’re in luck! There are plenty of resources out there to help. From free resources that will allow you to explore coding to see if it’s something you’re interested in, to more in depth bootcamps like the one Charli took part in or those ones offered by Autodesk. Of course, if you’re just looking for a new job where you can be open about your identity like Charli, make sure you come to our Qareers Virtual Job Fair on April 8 for your opportunity to meet with recruiters from companies we know and trust


How to Make the Most of your Qareers Virtual Fair Experience!

 March 25, 2021  |  Andy Saldana

QueerTech’s mission to queer the tech ecosystem is driven not only by a desire to have greater representation in the tech industry but also to ensure that the jobs queer people are finding will be safe and secure no matter how we identify. As a part of this mission, we can’t wait to host the Qareers Virtual Job Fair, a fantastic opportunity for you to meet with employers that we trust to be committed to fostering safe and inclusive work environments. 

Our first job fair in 2021 will take place on April 8th, and registration for attendees is open now so don’t wait any longer to save a spot for yourself!

To make sure you get the most out of your Qareers experience, we’ve written up a short guide to help you navigate the virtual platform we’re using and to give you a sneak peek at the employers who will be there.

Get familiar with Brella.io

Read more

2021: QueerTech’s Year of Connection and Growth

 February 14, 2021  |  Naoufel Testaouni

Hello to our wonderful QueerTech community, and please allow us to extend a heartfelt congratulations for making it this far into 2021! It’s hard to imagine that January has already blown past and we now find ourselves knee-deep in February but we hope that things are looking brighter for you all this year.

 

Naoufel Testaouni and Andy Saldana

QueerTech founders,Naoufel Testaouni and Andy Saldana.

 

With plans to expand virtually to Toronto, Waterloo, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, Quebec City, and Halifax, 2021 will be QueerTech’s year of connection and growth, and we’re so excited to share everything we have planned to help the queer community move on in the wake of a pandemic that will hopefully soon be under control.

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The federal government unveils $82B COVID-19 emergency response package for Canadians, businesses

 March 20, 2020  |  Kate Stapleton

QueerTech in collaboration with Carlos A. Godoy L. Senior Vice President at Impact Public Affairs (www.impactcanada.com), a public relations firms put together a digest to help you take advantage of the package.

Read more

QueerTech in 2020: New Careers Program, and More Ways to Empower the Queer Community in Tech

 March 20, 2020  |  Kate Stapleton

2019 was a momentous year for Queertech. It was our first full year as a non-profit, and the year we truly ‘grew up,’ putting a stake in the ground about who we are, the values we stand for, and what we’re going to do to grow, foster, and support our dynamic community of queer and trans people working in tech in Montréal and New York City.

Read more

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