Kinsey Schell

Kinsey Schell

Class of 2011

Senior Engineer at Salesforce, Paris, France

During her 14 years at McGehee, Kinsey discovered her passion for technology. As a senior in high school, Kinsey was encouraged by her teachers to push boundaries in software and math. After she was awarded a full ride scholarship to her first choice university, Kinsey received her Bachelors of Arts in Computer Science from Washington and Lee, graduating magna cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Upon graduation she increased the 20% share of female software engineers in the U.S. by 1 person (today, now, 22%).

Over the course of seven years in software engineering, Kinsey has leveraged her skills to move to her dream country, France. Kinsey lived in the French Alps for three years and recently moved to Paris to pursue an opportunity as a Senior Engineer at Salesforce. She loves continuing to push boundaries and discovering her new home, all while maintaining and driving her career from her laptop.

Kinsey wrote about the hiring process for her new role at Salesforce, “In order to be offered a software engineering position at a company, you need to prove your technical skills. In one of my interviews, an interviewer asked me to write some code for a problem. Then, unlike any other interview before, he got up and left for coffee. Although I had an idea of the answer, I wasn’t positive, so I googled it. When he got back, we went through my solution and at the end he asked if I looked up the answer. Recognising I could jeopardize my chance at the job by telling the truth, I did so anyway. Later he told me he ultimately green lit my offer because I was honest. The honor code is a muscle I learned and exercised at McGehee, I’m grateful for having developed the most important skill of honesty.”

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