Vancouver BC Canada - KDD (Korean Developer & Designer, President Yongju Kwon, employed by Mastercard) is a Vancouver-based community for Koreans in the IT and design fields. On Saturday, May 25, 2024, KDD successfully held its regular monthly meetup. The event was held at the Creekside Community Center in downtown Vancouver from 1pm to 5pm.
Despite the rainy and cloudy weather on the day of the meetup, the event was well attended by software development and design students from BCIT, UBC, and Langara, as well as job seekers and professionals from various industries. Of the approximately 50 attendees, 45% were students and job seekers, and 55% were currently employed professionals.
The first part of the event consisted of two breakout sessions. The first session, titled "How Many Years Until You Can Buy a Home in Vancouver?" was presented by realtors Jay Jeong and Katy Shin (REMAX HEIGHTS REALTY). They provided an overview of the current real estate market in Vancouver, detailed the specific procedures and cost structures for buying a home, and shared actual sales examples in an engaging manner tailored for beginners. The second session was led by Kevin Nha (employed by Caylent) who presented on "Surviving in the Tech Industry as a Non-Major". In this session, Kevin shared how he was able to secure a position at Amazon (AWS) without a computer programming degree, how he succeeded among many majors, and provided essential tips for juniors entering the field.
In the second part of the event, participants were divided into student/job seeker and professional groups to participate in group-specific programs. The student/job seeker group spent an hour tackling one of three pre-arranged coding and design challenges, honing their agility and problem-solving skills. The professional group participated in a program where they shared their stories and experiences, fostering camaraderie and networking.
After the meetup concluded, attendees left positive feedback, saying, "Every session was incredibly valuable," "The real estate session provided a great overview and was very helpful," "I found hope as a non-major in software development," and "The intense excitement of the short challenge reignited my motivation."
Reflecting on the event, KDD Marketing Leader and meetup host Nash Baek (employed by Binance.US) said, "This year, we planned more diverse programs, expanding from traditional activities such as Leetcode and book studies to include hiking and board game activities. The introduction of the short challenge at this meetup was part of these new changes and was well received. He promised to continue to plan more diverse and beneficial programs to contribute to the Korean community in Vancouver.
KDD, a non-profit organization, began its activities in 2017 and has so far held over 80 on/offline events with over 800 members. Through regular monthly events held on the last Saturday of every month, KDD actively supports networking among Korean IT professionals in Vancouver, Canada. The organization has also hosted major events in collaboration with the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea. In particular, KDD plans to assist job seekers by planning and implementing some programs at KOTRA's job fair event scheduled for September this year.
