Jennifer Klein

Current Job: National Recruiter, Girls Who Code; Former Job: International Marketing Associate, Random House

I took Children and Culture back in spring 2004.  I took C&C as a fun elective, but I enjoyed the class so much, it inspired me to pursue the Certificate in Children’s Literature, which I graduated with in 2006.  It was the best academic decision I made while at Pitt: I loved my classes and they provided major relief and levity from my major (economics!)

I can’t imagine anything laying better groundwork for a career in children’s publishing than Pitt’s Certificate in Children’s Literature. With internships so competitive and hard to come by, the one thing I heard again and again while interviewing for assistant positions at the major publishing houses was how unique and interesting my degree was. Having that certificate really helped distinguish me from the hundreds of other applicants out there.

Needless to say, Pitt’s Children’s Literature program helped establish my career.  After spending some time working in the School & Library Marketing department at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, I became a Sales Assistant at Random House Children’s Books working with Independent book stores, schools and libraries.  I went from studying Bud, Not Buddy to helping get that title into schools for other students to read!

I then went on to manage Random House's entire Children's publishing line internationally. Basically, if you see an English language Random House Children's Book anywhere outside the U.S. and Canada, I likely had a hand putting it there. After much professional growth, two promotions, and a move into marketing, I decided to earn a certification in Data Science to help sales and marketing teams better understand how to reach and engage with their customers. This gave me a special interest in encouraging more young women and girls to go into Computer Science + STEM, which led me to work for Girls Who Code.