Career pivot: event planner to software engineer

Haley Warson
2 min readJun 7, 2021

Several months ago, I was finishing up maternity leave and beginning to think about the next step I would take in my career. I spent the first part of my career in event management, planning large tradeshows and international conferences. The work was high pressure and demanding, but I enjoyed its challenges and complexities. With nearly a decade of global event and project management experience, my inclination was to look at corporate event management roles to further enhance my skill set. But Covid-19 hit the hospitality industry hard, and my choices were limited.

I took this opportunity to reflect on what I enjoyed in my career to this point. I liked creating things from the ground up and feeling the gratification of solving problems on the fly. I was eager to invest my time working on impactful, challenging projects, and was leaning toward a role in tech. After lots of research and reflection, I came across software engineering.

I spent long hours delving into coding tutorials and discovered I truly loved it. The strategic, methodical approach and detail orientation that served me well as an event planner was crucial as I spent time coding and debugging.

I’m currently studying full stack software engineering as a part of an immersive program at Flatiron School. I am grateful for the opportunity to embark on a new career path in a field where I’m challenged to learn something new every day.

I’m looking to connect with other devs… Let’s talk!

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Haley Warson

Full stack software engineering student at Flatiron School. Former events professional with nearly a decade of global event and project management experience.