Keefer Taylor, '13

Keefer Taylor, ’13, began his senior year by accepting a job offer from Google to work in San Francisco, California as a Software Engineer. Taylor attributes his success to the guidance and support of many including: University of Richmond’s Computer Science department, Career Services’ resources and UR’s overarching liberal arts experience.

Taylor believes that his Computer Science (CS) major has adequately prepared him with the technical skills needed for his upcoming role at Google, where he will be developing innovative solutions to technical problems and writing code. He explains that it was not only the rigorous CS curriculum and talented CS professors who helped him develop relevant technical skills sets, but also the entire CS department’s ability to keep pace with the ever-changing technology industry.

“I can’t think of a single computer science course I’ve taken here that I have not been able to apply in a real world situation,” shared Taylor. “It’s inspiring and motivating to know professors in the CS department genuinely care about my academic and professional development.”

Additionally, Taylor is a published Grainger Fellow and has participated in the University’s multidisciplinary research program for two consecutive summers. The first summer, Taylor collaborated with CS professor, Dr. Lewis Barnett, on recommendation systems, and the second summer he worked closely with Physics professor, Dr. Matthew Trawick, on a computer algorithm to correct thermal drift in Microscope images, which was eventually published.

“I don’t think I would’ve had the opportunity to do research of this magnitude at such a young age anywhere other than UR. It provided real world experience and published work, which looks great on my resume when applying for jobs,” said Keefer.

Keefer has also utilized UR’s Career Services for resume and cover letter writing advice, on-campus interviews and free resources such as SpiderConnect. He reached out to alumni in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he will be moving post-graduation, for advice on where to live and what to do.

 “Every student on campus should be familiar with all the great resources available through Career Services – they make life much easier!” Keefer raves.

Keefer advises peers to be mindful “that the UR campus is filled with people who care about your success. It is important to know that hard work will pay off and that the campus has incredible resources and services for students’ professional development, i.e., Career Services, individual attention from teachers, and other programs, which will undoubtedly allow students to succeed.”