Sayyid Ali '17 Among '30 Under 30' by Forbes for Corporate Diversity Startup
Sayyid Ali, a 2017 alumnus of NJIT's Ying Wu College of Computing, recalled a job interview at a software company in New York where the only other Black person he saw was the elevator attendant — and now he's on a mission to prevent that from happening to anyone else.
Ali and his three co-founders at Pedul Inc., based here in Newark, created a website that helps introduce college students into companies seeking minority applicants for scholarships, internships and jobs. The founders were all awarded Forbes 30-under-30 status for their accomplishment in the education sector.
"We diversify the workforce by achieving opportunities. We're kind of a content platform for Generation Z to get into the workplace," Ali explained. "I intend to create the community that Pedul envisions, talking about careers, talking about jobs, all of the skills."
The company raised over $500,000 at its start and has since helped thousands of students obtain opportunities at companies where diversity wasn't always a priority. Many career services can match technically adept candidates with keyword-heavy job postings, but the opportunity for Pedul is to also match diversity and soft skills.
"At the end of the day, they're going to need differing opinions when it comes to building things. Because one of the main issues that we discovered pretty early on was how stale the work environment got when it came to one group of people all the time. You can't get those great ideas. You get good ideas, but you don't get great ideas that cater to bigger audiences," Ali observed.
Ali said he uses Javascript, PHP and a sprinkle of data science for the programming, although his personal favorite language is C++, which he learned from NJIT Senior University Lecturer Gerald Ryan, now deceased. He uses Visual Studio and Xampp for a development environment. Looking to the future, he'd like to use machine learning to make the applicant/opportunity matches even smarter.
Ali advises students to practice giving presentations, having charisma in a cocktail party and writing professional-sounding emails. Remote work amplifies social skills even more, he noted. "Don't be afraid to try new things that get you where you need to get to," he said. "I went into IT to become someone who could build whatever they wanted."
Reflecting on his own college experience, although his B.S. in information technology required many IT courses, Ali said his favorites were videogame design subjects taught by University Lecturer D.J. Kehoe. He took several courses with Kehoe and said those subjects taught him the most about software design generally, not just games.
"Sayyid is definitely a student I remember," Kehoe stated. "I am very proud he has continued to use that drive in his professional life and has attained recognition for his work and success."
