Jes Borland

Tech Star

Spring 2018

Tuesday, March 13, 2018 | By: Britten, Casey

This IT star demonstrates the value women bring to technology-related careers.

Going to Fox Valley Technical College was the best career decision Jes Borland ever made. “I was working in customer service at a tech company when I decided to return to school,” says the Neenah native. “I chose Fox Valley Tech because it was the best fit financially, and I could get hands-on programming classes in Information Technology (IT) right away,” she says.

Borland, 36, has always enjoyed solving story problems in math class. When she graduated from FVTC in 2008 with a Software Developer associate degree, Borland realized that lifelong passion of solving problems helped her understand computer program languages.

“I took both the software programming and database programming tracks,” she recalls. “Programming skills are vital. Working in the database field is all about knowing how to write code, understand the language and what a client is building.”

After graduation, Borland worked as a database administrator for Kimberly-Clark and then served as a consultant for two other companies. She also started a tech blog and began giving lectures. “My blog and lectures drew a lot of attention, and I soon won the prestigious international Microsoft MVP award,” she says. “I am now a premier field engineer for Microsoft, part of a team that provides support, training and education to Microsoft’s premier customers.”

Borland loves her job. “I get to travel the world while having the advantage of working from home. And, I’m doing it all with a two-year degree!”

Eventually Borland wants to work on a Microsoft team that writes code. She also currently takes time to encourage women to consider a technology career. “Women are great problem-solvers,” she says. “I want them to know that IT careers offer financial independence with opportunities to work anywhere for corporations big and small or on your own.”