BreakLiner Julia Prisby joined Benchling as a software engineer! Here is part of her story:

“Growing up, education was really important in my family. Every night before bed, my dad would make up math story problems for us to solve. I also nerded out watching history lectures with my grandparents. Excelling in school was always a number one priority.

I graduated from high school with a 4.0 and got a perfect score on my ACT. I received several scholarships to the University of Michigan. I ended up majoring in biomedical engineering and graduated in 3.5 years because I was so driven to work in a field that improved people’s lives. 

After earning my master’s at U of M, I took a job at Terumo, which makes medical devices for cardiac and vascular surgery. After a few years, I was ready for a new technical challenge. I pivoted into software engineering and learned Python, Flask, algorithms. My technical skills were strong, but I just couldn’t break through when I started interviewing. I was sure I could do it, but I wasn’t getting the chance to prove it.

Working with BreakLine changed everything. I learned how to put my best foot forward and tell the story that I wanted to share about myself. The work we did together helped me get a fantastic offer from Benchling. When I told my grandpa, who’s 91, about getting the job, he immediately started researching Benchling. I know he’s proud because he sent me a card in the mail that said, “Congrats on the new job!” 

I’m so excited about my new career at Benchling. We help improve the efficiency of research labs across the country and also speed up development of new treatments, drugs, vaccines, and other things that make the world a healthier place.

For other folks making a leap from another field into software development: I wanted to share that I didn’t initially major in computer science. I dismissed it at first as a bunch of guys playing around with ones and zeros. That misperception led me down a detour for a bit. But when I took my first coding class, I realized that it was actually really creative and rewarding to make things that other people can use. So, stay open-minded about what might interest you, and be willing to work hard for it!”