Testing the Soil Before Planting a Tech Career
I didn't take a straight path into software. Before joining Shopify’s Infrastructure Security team, I had dropped out of high school, farmed organically, and held a diploma in horticulture. Dev Degree—a work-integrated learning program pairing a Carleton University computer science degree with paid Shopify placements—gave me an on-ramp that fit a non-traditional background. My route through the program shaped both how I work and what I work on.
From Organic Farm to Dev Degree
I first heard about Dev Degree while taking a computer science course for arts students at Carleton as a special student. I knew immediately I wanted in. The catch: I needed to finish high school and complete the math prerequisites for a CS degree. So I did that while also dropping my environmental studies program and graduating from the University of Guelph Kemptville Campus with a co-diploma in Horticulture—and running a farm at the same time.
Dev Degree was the only path into tech that would let me keep paying a mortgage and hold on to some work-life balance. I had never been what anyone would call academically motivated; my pattern was to throw myself into one thing after another, from blacksmithing to whitewater rafting. Software development was different. It was the first time I stayed up late doing homework because it was fun.
A Timeline of the Program
- June 2018: Accepted into Dev Degree off the waitlist.
- August 2018–April 2019: Training path covering CS basics, pair programming, and the developer workflow.
- May 2019–April 2020: First rotation on the orders team, working with Ruby on Rails.
- May–December 2020: Second rotation on Infrastructure Security, where I fell for cyber security and cloud infrastructure.
- January–August 2021: Final rotation on Network Foundations, deepening my infrastructure knowledge.
- September 2021: Graduated from the program and started full time at Shopify on the InfraSec team.
Finding Security by Accident
Before joining Shopify, I assumed I'd end up in front-end development—not because I was good at it, but because it was all I knew. Dev Degree exposed me to the whole stack, and I quickly learned that back-end development suited me better. That realization guided my first placement on the orders team, and by the end of it I was sure feature-driven back-end work was my future.
The rotation structure changed that. In my second placement cycle, a classmate told me about the Application Security team. I was equally drawn to my systems and operating systems coursework, so the placement team—which matches students with teams and mentors—suggested Infrastructure Security. I'd never heard of it, but it felt right.
It's easy to stall once you find something that works. The sheer breadth of software can be overwhelming, and I often doubted I could be good at any of it. Dev Degree's insistence on trying multiple teams broke that fear. Without it, I wouldn't have discovered a niche I’m passionate about. My habit of shifting interests—which I'd always seen as a flaw—became an asset: it forced me to learn quickly and adapt.
“My tendency to change passions frequently—something I always saw as a major character flaw—has actually helped me gain the skills to learn fast and adapt to change.”
Why Security Held My Attention
What made security different from my earlier passions? The community. Security roles aren't always developer roles, so the people come from varied backgrounds. As soon as I joined Shopify's Trust organization, I felt part of a tight-knit group, and the work itself was compelling. My team was a big part of that—but I also suspect I could have landed happily in several areas. I felt similarly about the Network Foundations team in Production Engineering. I don't know if Infrastructure Security is my forever home, but it's where I want to be now, and there's plenty left to learn and build.
The Leap to Full Time
The transition from intern to full-time employee was smooth—in some ways a relief. I have ADHD and dyslexia, and school was always challenging despite being fun. A consistent full-time schedule meant fewer context switches, which helped. As an intern, I worked with my team only 20–25 hours a week, which created some FOMO. Being present for the full work week was satisfying.
The placements were where my real learning happened. I worked on complex problems with help from industry experts. If you want to get into software, the best advice is to start: build something, get your hands dirty, learn in the process. I found that diving into a problem first and researching afterward was more effective than pure theory.
Because I had already onboarded and accumulated Shopify context, I could contribute immediately as a full-time hire. Shopify's flexible working hours and remote-first setup made the adjustment easy—I can do laundry and walk my dogs while still having an impact.
After Graduation
Since finishing Dev Degree, I've led several impactful projects on my team, given three internal security talks, and been promoted to Senior Infrastructure Engineer. I also won a Kubernetes contributor award, was accepted to speak at two conferences, and joined Shopify's Kubernetes Open Source Experience program. All of this came within a year and a half of graduating—more than I expected.
Because Dev Degree removed the stress of co-op selection and internship job hunting, I could focus on collecting varied experiences during the program. That breadth helped me identify the work I genuinely love and move forward faster. The connections and context I gathered as an intern also let me deliver value quickly; exposure to Shopify's many technologies, languages, and tools felt like a cheat code.
The traits I thought would hold me back—my varied history and the communication skills that came with it—turned out to be strengths. I believe it's never too late to change careers, and everyone brings something unique. Shopify’s willingness to hire diverse people has made it a company full of skilled, interesting individuals.
Program Resources
For readers interested in the Dev Degree model, Shopify has published several engineering posts that go into more depth on how the program operates, including what a typical placement looks like and how the work-integrated structure fits into a computer science education.
About the Author
Cailyn Edwards is a Senior Infrastructure Security Engineer at Shopify. In her day-to-day work she focuses on securing the cloud, with a particular interest in Kubernetes multi-tenancy security and network security. She is an active contributor to the Kubernetes SIG-Security and SIG-CLI groups and received a 2022 Kubernetes Contributor Award. Outside of engineering, Cailyn keeps busy with running, squash, long walks with her dogs, and gardening. She can be reached via GitHub, Twitter, or the Kubernetes Slack community.
Application Details
The Dev Degree application window for the Fall 2023 semester is open through February 9th. The program pairs a computer science degree with paid work placements across a mix of teams, a structure Shopify says is intended to build hands-on confidence regardless of where a graduate lands.
