{"id":6015,"date":"2020-10-12T10:52:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-12T08:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/?p=6015"},"modified":"2022-10-24T09:15:52","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T07:15:52","slug":"women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/","title":{"rendered":"Women can do IT: \u2018I couldn\u2019t imagine myself as a software developer\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Women Can Do IT is a new project of Software Development Association Poland, in which we want to disenchant the IT industry for women and show that it is environment which has enough room for everyone, regardless of their previous experience.<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

In\u00a0today\u2019s interview, we\u00a0talk to\u00a0Aleksandra Krzemie\u0144, Android Developer at\u00a0Angry Nerds, Izabela Kartowicz-Stolarska, Senior Software Engineer and Anna W\u0142odarczyk, Software Engineer In\u00a0Test at\u00a0BlueRider.Software, Katarzyna Paszko, Frontend Developer at\u00a0Spyrosoft and Karolina Or\u0142owska, Quality Assurance Engineer at\u00a0TestArmy.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Aleksandra Krzemie\u0144, Android Developer at Angry Nerds<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Did your career start in\u00a0the IT industry? What\u2019s your background as\u00a0regards your education and the previous career path?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Izabela:<\/strong>\u00a0When I\u00a0was in\u00a0high school, I\u00a0knew that I\u00a0wanted to\u00a0study in\u00a0a\u00a0creative field. IT was a\u00a0natural choice. In\u00a0addition, I\u00a0was encouraged by\u00a0my\u00a0friends\u2019 opinions who said that Maths dominated in\u00a0the first year and there was not much programming. I\u00a0was really surprised when we\u00a0started coding from the very first class. I\u00a0remember that I\u00a0spent a\u00a0lot of time at\u00a0the university \u2018after hours\u2019 because I\u00a0didn\u2019t have the internet then (it was 2002, so it wasn\u2019t standard yet). I\u2019m also not sure if I\u00a0had a\u00a0working computer for the first month [laughs].<\/p>\n

On\u00a0the third year of my\u00a0studies, I\u00a0started working as\u00a0a\u00a0graphic designer and web developer. Then I\u00a0quickly found a\u00a0job as\u00a0a\u00a0Python developer. During these 15 years of professional work, I\u00a0held multiple positions. I\u00a0was a\u00a0graphic designer, frontend developer, backend developer, technical Project Manager, team leader. For 4 years I\u00a0have also been testing myself as\u00a0an academic teacher and assistant lecturer at\u00a0the Faculty of Computer Science of the Bialystok University of Technology.<\/p>\n

Katarzyna:\u00a0<\/strong>I\u00a0studied management and production engineering. During my\u00a0studies, I\u00a0took a\u00a0lot of internships abroad to\u00a0learn about different industries and professions and see what I\u00a0like. When I\u00a0returned to\u00a0Poland, I\u00a0started working in\u00a0my\u00a0profession in\u00a0a\u00a0logistics department of a\u00a0production company, but I\u00a0was frustrated by\u00a0corporatization and repeatability.<\/p>\n

Due to\u00a0the fact that I\u00a0found programming classes easy during studies, I\u00a0terminated my\u00a0employment contract and I\u00a0went to\u00a0a\u00a03-month intensive frontend boot camp. Even before it ended, one of the lecturers offered me\u00a0a\u00a0job at\u00a0his company in\u00a0Warsaw.<\/p>\n

Aleksandra:<\/strong>\u00a0My story was similar to\u00a0Iza\u2019s, except I\u00a0had the internet and computer from the first year [laughs]. I\u00a0decided to\u00a0study Computer Mathematics because I\u00a0knew I\u00a0wanted to\u00a0study in\u00a0a\u00a0scientific field. The concept of studying computer science freaked me\u00a0out because I\u00a0thought I\u00a0couldn\u2019t make it. I\u00a0had no\u00a0prior experience. The description of the studies said that after the first year, we\u00a0could choose whether to\u00a0go\u00a0on\u00a0a\u00a0mathematics or\u00a0computer science path. This made it easier for me\u00a0to\u00a0make a\u00a0decision. Before studies, my\u00a0then boyfriend \u2014\u00a0now my\u00a0husband \u2014\u00a0lent me\u00a0a\u00a0book on\u00a0programming with some C++ basics. I\u00a0read it hoping that I\u00a0would know at\u00a0least a\u00a0little what was happening in\u00a0the class. Meanwhile, during the first programming exercises, it turned out that the code should be\u00a0written in\u00a0C\u00a0[laughs]. After three years, I\u00a0decided that this \u2018computer\u2019 specialization suited me\u00a0better than Maths.<\/p>\n

At\u00a0the end of the third year, I\u00a0got my\u00a0first job as\u00a0an Android Developer. I\u00a0started my\u00a0master\u2019s studies in\u00a0computer science now because it wasn\u2019t difficult after the bachelor\u2019s degree \u2014\u00a0I\u00a0completed the required program differences. And so it stayed that way.<\/p>\n

Anna:<\/strong>\u00a0My story is completely different. I\u00a0didn\u2019t graduate from a\u00a0technical faculty. I\u2019m a\u00a0history graduate. I\u00a0worked in\u00a0my\u00a0profession as\u00a0an academic teacher for 10 years. I\u00a0decided to\u00a0change the discipline after obtaining a\u00a0doctoral degree. Difficult situation at\u00a0Polish universities, especially in\u00a0the humanities, didn\u2019t offer me\u00a0any interesting career prospects. I\u00a0decided to\u00a0try my\u00a0hand at\u00a0a\u00a0completely new field. For many years, the IT industry had seemed attractive to\u00a0me. I\u00a0knew from a\u00a0friend, who was a\u00a0programmer, that the easiest way for a\u00a0person with no\u00a0programming experience to\u00a0enter the IT world is through testing. I\u00a0acquired knowledge on\u00a0this subject on\u00a0my\u00a0own, mainly from books and materials available online. Software quality assurance captured me\u00a0immediately. I\u00a0decided that this was the field I\u00a0want to\u00a0get involved in. Initially, I\u00a0assumed that it would take me\u00a0at\u00a0least half a\u00a0year to\u00a0acquire the necessary skills, and a\u00a0few more months to\u00a0find a\u00a0job. My\u00a0assumptions were too pessimistic. I\u00a0got a\u00a0job as\u00a0a\u00a0software tester after 3 months from making the decision to\u00a0change my\u00a0profession. One job interview was enough.<\/p>\n

Karolina:<\/strong>\u00a0While studying for the final exams at\u00a0high school, I\u00a0didn\u2019t know exactly what I\u00a0wanted to\u00a0study. I\u00a0didn\u2019t even consider humanities. I\u00a0always liked computers and I\u00a0was a\u00a0technical person, but I\u00a0couldn\u2019t imagine myself as\u00a0a\u00a0programmer. Finally I\u00a0decided to\u00a0study geology, which was a\u00a0very demanding field.<\/p>\n

After 5 years, it turned out that the situation in\u00a0Poland was difficult when it came to\u00a0employment in\u00a0that sector, especially if you were a\u00a0woman. I\u00a0came across an ad about becoming a\u00a0software tester. At\u00a0that moment, I\u00a0found it surprising that you could do\u00a0that with no\u00a0IT studies. I\u00a0was learning on\u00a0my\u00a0own, also Python, with the help of the great book \u2018Automate the Boring Stuff with Python\u2019. I\u00a0read articles, participated in\u00a0webinars on\u00a0how to\u00a0get started and ended up at\u00a0the Testing Academy Testuj.pl.<\/p>\n

There, we\u00a0prepared for the ISTQB [International Software Testing Qualifications Board] certification. I\u00a0passed that certificate and did a\u00a0four-week internship during which I\u00a0learnt how to\u00a0test, how to\u00a0be\u00a0a\u00a0QA [Quality Assurance Engineer], how to\u00a0report bugs, i.e. the basics. In\u00a0my\u00a0third week of internship, I\u00a0got a\u00a0message from a\u00a0girl from HR Test Army: \u2018Hi Karolina, I\u00a0heard that you were good. What do\u00a0you want to\u00a0do\u00a0after the Academy? \u2018 I\u00a0wrote back that I\u00a0wanted to\u00a0work because after my\u00a0internship I\u00a0was ending up on\u00a0the street [laughs]. It was my\u00a0first job in\u00a0IT and already it hit the bull\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n

What do\u00a0you value most in\u00a0your current role?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Izabela:<\/strong>\u00a0At\u00a0the moment, I\u00a0most value flexibility in\u00a0the broad sense, which means not only flexible working hours, but also the possibility of selecting tasks. I\u00a0have an influence on\u00a0how a\u00a0given solution will look, both technically and functionally. I\u00a0also appreciate the fact that I\u00a0can work from anywhere \u2014\u00a0from the office, from home, or\u00a0for instance, from a\u00a0park.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Izabela Kartowicz \u2014 Stolarska, Senior Software Engineer at BlueRider.Software<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Aleksandra:<\/strong>\u00a0Apart from the fact that I\u00a0program at\u00a0work, I\u2019m also a\u00a0tech lead in\u00a0several projects, so I\u00a0certainly appreciate the feeling that I\u00a0have an influence on\u00a0how we\u00a0implement various things and what solutions we\u00a0use.<\/p>\n

Another thing is also that the projects we\u00a0are developing now work with different external devices. I\u2019ve always found such hardware integrations cool. During my\u00a0master\u2019s programme I\u00a0was doing a\u00a0project in\u00a0the field of Internet of Things, where the mobile application synchronized and exchanged data with external devices. I\u00a0built systems based on\u00a0popular microcontrollers that controlled e.g. light or\u00a0sensors. If I\u00a0can do\u00a0something similar at\u00a0work, that\u2019s awesome.<\/p>\n

Anna:<\/strong>\u00a0In the entire IT industry, not only in\u00a0my\u00a0role, I\u00a0value the most the opportunity to\u00a0develop.<\/p>\n

New skills can be\u00a0put into practice very quickly. Increasing qualifications is also very welcome.<\/p>\n

Karolina:<\/strong>\u00a0Something I\u00a0didn\u2019t experience in\u00a0my\u00a0previous job is the fact that what I\u2019m doing has importance. I\u00a0feel like a\u00a0significant member of the team. I\u00a0see the effects of my\u00a0work and take care of the project as\u00a0a\u00a0whole.<\/p>\n

Katarzyna:<\/strong>\u00a0The fact that each time, I\u00a0get something new to\u00a0do. No\u00a0two days are the same. I\u00a0know people who like to\u00a0do\u00a0the same things all the time, but I\u00a0like challenges.<\/p>\n

The greatest professional successes in\u00a0IT?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anna:<\/strong>\u00a0After a\u00a0year and a\u00a0half of work in\u00a0a\u00a0four-person QA team, I\u00a0was assigned to\u00a0a\u00a0project from the medical industry for a\u00a0customer from the United States, where I\u00a0had to\u00a0take care of quality assurance by\u00a0myself. After a\u00a0few weeks, I\u00a0was entrusted with managing the whole project. Currently, I\u00a0am\u00a0its Project Manager. Owing to\u00a0direct contact with the customer, I\u00a0participate in\u00a0deciding on\u00a0the direction of application development. I\u00a0consider the possibility of influencing the shape of the manufactured product as\u00a0my\u00a0greatest professional success in\u00a0the IT industry.<\/p>\n

Karolina:<\/strong>\u00a0For me, the biggest success is the project I\u00a0was in\u00a0for a\u00a0long time as\u00a0it lasted for more than a\u00a0year. I\u00a0became involved in\u00a0it after a\u00a0month of work at\u00a0TestArmy, so as\u00a0a\u00a0fresh QA. We\u00a0redesigned the entire website for a\u00a0well-known American company from the furniture industry.<\/p>\n

After some time, I\u00a0became the Head of QA of this project. I\u00a0had to\u00a0take care of the whole developer team and a\u00a0small QA team from India, so there were also some issues associated with the time difference. The challenge was enormous, yet we\u00a0finished that project. I\u00a0remember once my\u00a0mum asked me\u00a0what was that I\u00a0even did at\u00a0work. I\u00a0showed her the production site and what you could do\u00a0there. When going through that website with her, I\u00a0remembered the bugs I\u00a0had found there, how I\u00a0had struggled to\u00a0accomplish it, and my\u00a0eyes welled up.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Karolina Or\u0142owska, Quality Assurance Engineer at TestArmy<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Aleksandra:<\/strong>\u00a0It seems to\u00a0me\u00a0that my\u00a0whole story for the last 2 years has been a\u00a0success, when I\u00a0moved to\u00a0Wroc\u0142aw and started working for another company. It is often the case that if someone settles down in\u00a0one company and wants to\u00a0change their job, they realize that they have a\u00a0lot of catching up to\u00a0do. That\u2019s how I\u00a0felt it when I\u00a0came to\u00a0Angry Nerds. Although I\u00a0already had 3 years of experience, suddenly it turned out that I\u00a0was a\u00a0bit behind. The Kotlin programming language dominates Android now, but when I\u00a0started it was Java. I\u00a0had to\u00a0learn virtually everything from scratch during projects. After 2 years I\u2019m a\u00a0tech lead, so this is a\u00a0great achievement for me.<\/p>\n

Katarzyna:<\/strong>\u00a0I was happy when I\u00a0managed to\u00a0finish the boot camp and when I\u00a0got my\u00a0first job so quickly. I\u00a0was glad when my\u00a0first website went into production and I\u00a0saw that users were actually using it. Co-organizing GirlsJS [a series of regular JavaScript workshops for girls and women] and conducting workshops for girls bring me\u00a0a\u00a0lot of joy too. It also gives me\u00a0a\u00a0lot of satisfaction when I\u00a0see how they develop and that I\u00a0can help them.<\/p>\n

Izabela:<\/strong>\u00a0My answer will be\u00a0quite unusual, because at\u00a0each stage of my\u00a0life something else was a\u00a0success. At\u00a0the very beginning, it was when I\u00a0got into the company where only \u2018top dogs\u2019 worked [laughs]. Then the fact that I\u00a0managed to\u00a0sell my\u00a0master\u2019s thesis and I\u00a0could develop that project for some time.<\/p>\n

Other things include my\u00a0own projects to\u00a0lead, promotion to\u00a0a\u00a0tech leader of a\u00a0thirteen-person team where half of the people worked remotely in\u00a0different time zones, or\u00a0co-organization of such initiatives as\u00a0Agilestok (regular meetings for people who are interested in\u00a0developing projects in\u00a0the Agile methodology) or\u00a0Programistok.<\/p>\n

Currently, I\u00a0consider it a\u00a0great success that I\u00a0already have my\u00a0personal brand established. During the last lockdown when my\u00a0husband and I\u00a0decided to\u00a0work from home for 6 months and divide our duties and work such hours so that we\u00a0could take care of our 2.5-year-old son (in\u00a0my\u00a0case these are non-standard hours, e.g. 3 p.m. \u2014\u00a09 p.m.), my\u00a0boss said, \u2018Sure, no\u00a0problem. I\u00a0know you can do\u00a0it and will deliver everything on\u00a0time\u2019. It is really uplifting when your employer trusts you and knows you can handle everything.<\/p>\n

What surprised you the most about working in\u00a0IT? What departs from common opinions?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karolina:<\/strong>\u00a0I can tell you honestly that when I\u00a0heard various common opinions, I\u00a0was surprised that in\u00a0fact most, if not all, were true. That we\u00a0have flexible working hours, that we\u00a0don\u2019t have to\u00a0clock out when taking a\u00a015-minute break.<\/p>\n

Aleksandra:<\/strong>\u00a0I didn\u2019t really know many stereotypes. Since I\u00a0was at\u00a0high school I\u00a0heard a\u00a0rumour that IT specialists were dweebs \u2014\u00a0no\u00a0social skills [laughs]. When I\u00a0started studies, I\u00a0began to\u00a0notice that maybe some people were, but you can get along very well even with those living somewhere in\u00a0the basement when there\u2019s a\u00a0good occasion, for instance a\u00a0hackathon or\u00a0a\u00a0chat about games.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0can also say that when I\u00a0was starting my\u00a0studies, I\u00a0very often heard that there are few women in\u00a0this industry and it would be\u00a0harder for me\u00a0as\u00a0a\u00a0woman. I\u00a0know it still happens sometimes, but I\u00a0have never had such problems. When I\u00a0had my\u00a0first job interviews or\u00a0during the first days at\u00a0work, I\u00a0was very afraid of it. I\u00a0haven\u2019t experienced anything like that and it was really a\u00a0pleasant surprise.<\/p>\n

Karolina:<\/strong>\u00a0I was in\u00a0a\u00a0team where I\u00a0was the QA and I\u00a0worked with 9 developers, all guys. They never made me\u00a0feel that I\u00a0was in\u00a0some way inferior because I\u00a0was a\u00a0woman. I\u00a0got along with them great and there were never any disapproving looks or\u00a0comments.<\/p>\n

Anna:<\/strong>\u00a0I remember when I\u00a0was changing my\u00a0professional industry, my\u00a0husband, who generally supported me\u00a0in\u00a0this endeavour, was worried about how I, a\u00a0humanist, would find myself amongst IT specialists fixated on\u00a0the code. I\u00a0was also a\u00a0bit afraid of it. The stereotype of an IT specialist who can\u2019t talk about anything else than computers hasn\u2019t been confirmed at\u00a0all. It turned out that where I\u00a0am, I\u00a0more often talk about opera and books than at\u00a0the university.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Katarzyna Paszko, Frontend Developer at Spyrosoft<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Katarzyna:<\/strong>\u00a0I, on\u00a0the other hand, imagined that when someone finishes IT and they start working, they know everything and just write the code like a\u00a0machine [laughs]. I\u00a0thought that I\u00a0would be\u00a0the only person who would constantly read, search and reflect on\u00a0problems longer than others. It turned out that all programmers do\u00a0that, and even when it seems that programmers are only sitting in\u00a0chill rooms, they are actually trying to\u00a0find solutions. You have to\u00a0read a\u00a0lot of documentation, check tutorials, talk to\u00a0others and just be\u00a0good at\u00a0finding information.<\/p>\n

What else are you aspiring to? What are your career goals?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Katarzyna:<\/strong>\u00a0When I\u00a0started working in\u00a0IT, I\u00a0thought I\u00a0would get to\u00a0know frontend a\u00a0bit and then go\u00a0towards backend. However, the longer I\u00a0work in\u00a0it, the more I\u00a0see that I\u00a0prefer the visual side, because when I\u00a0write something, I\u00a0can see immediately how it affects the appearance and UI [User Interface \u2014\u00a0all visual elements of the website or\u00a0application that allow users to\u00a0communicate with them] of a\u00a0given solution. Now I\u00a0would like to\u00a0go\u00a0towards designing. In\u00a0my\u00a0latest project I\u2019m responsible for design and frontend. I\u00a0am\u00a0also learning that in\u00a0my\u00a0spare time.<\/p>\n

Aleksandra:\u00a0<\/strong>In\u00a0fact during the last 5 years when I\u2019ve been on\u00a0the market and worked, I\u2019ve devoted a\u00a0lot of my\u00a0time to\u00a0others. For several years I\u00a0was active in\u00a0Women in\u00a0Technology, where I\u00a0organized meetings and workshops. I\u00a0would like to\u00a0catch up with what I\u2019m behind and focus on\u00a0my\u00a0own technical development, for instance to\u00a0learn other technologies such as\u00a0Flutter or\u00a0Kotlin Multiplatform.<\/p>\n

Anna:<\/strong>\u00a0Ever since I\u00a0started working in\u00a0IT, I\u00a0have been constantly striving to\u00a0improve my\u00a0technical competences. In\u00a0addition, I\u00a0have another goal. I\u00a0want to\u00a0co-create socially valuable products that solve problems and make life easier for users.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Anna W\u0142odarczyk, Software Engineer In Test at BlueRider.Software<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Izabela:<\/strong>\u00a0At this point I\u00a0would like to\u00a0move towards developing my\u00a0technical skills in\u00a0the scope of security and Data Science \/ Machine Learning, because that\u2019s the only place where I\u00a0haven\u2019t been [laughs]. I\u00a0also hope it will bring me\u00a0closer to\u00a0completing my\u00a0PhD.<\/p>\n

Karolina:<\/strong>\u00a0Currently, I\u2019m learning programming on\u00a0my\u00a0own, because I\u00a0would like to\u00a0develop in\u00a0the field of automation. That I\u00a0do\u00a0after hours. During working hours I\u00a0develop more in\u00a0the zone that originally didn\u2019t exactly interest me, i.e. the managerial one. It helps me\u00a0as\u00a0a\u00a0QA. In\u00a0the recent projects I\u00a0set up a\u00a0lot of processes, there is a\u00a0lot of communication with developers or\u00a0managers, with the customer, on\u00a0how to\u00a0improve the testing process from a\u00a0bird\u2019s eye view, not only by\u00a0focusing on\u00a0what we\u00a0can test, but also how to\u00a0do\u00a0it well.<\/p>\n

What advice do\u00a0you have for people who would like to\u00a0work in\u00a0IT?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anna:<\/strong>\u00a0I often talk to\u00a0people who would like to\u00a0change their current profession and start working in\u00a0IT. Unfortunately, few people manage to\u00a0do\u00a0it. The main barrier however is not a\u00a0lack of technical competence, but a\u00a0lack of courage to\u00a0make life changes. Hence my\u00a0advice to\u00a0people who are in\u00a0a\u00a0similar situation I\u00a0was two years ago: it\u2019s worth it! Becoming technically competent is much easier than overcoming your own fear.<\/p>\n

Karolina:<\/strong>\u00a0I totally agree with Ania that the most important thing is courage. If you\u2019ve never done it and you have no\u00a0idea what it looks like, overcoming these barriers and trying to\u00a0leave your comfort zone is the first and most difficult step. When you already work, then I\u00a0can say from my\u00a0perspective that there are features or\u00a0pathways which are important. Being scrupulous and thorough is extremely important. The same applies to\u00a0attention to\u00a0detail, but also the ability to\u00a0prioritize tasks or\u00a0organize work under time pressure.<\/p>\n

Izabela:\u00a0<\/strong>I\u00a0will say the same what I\u00a0tell my\u00a0students, i.e.: communication, communication, communication. Many people who are just starting work are afraid to\u00a0ask for help when there is a\u00a0technical problem. It is worth to\u00a0ask already on\u00a0the first day about standards and workflow applicable in\u00a0the company to\u00a0avoid misunderstandings and unnecessary stress.<\/p>\n

Additionally: code, code, code. Because programming is an art that requires exercise, just like sport, learning to\u00a0play an instrument, or\u00a0drawing. I\u00a0recommend doing kata programming not only for beginners but also for advanced programmers.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0addition, it is worth taking advantage of YouTube and published recordings of conferences, go\u00a0to\u00a0meetups or\u00a0participate in\u00a0online ones. There are really a\u00a0lot of valuable materials on\u00a0the internet completely free of charge. I\u00a0also recommend following profiles and getting familiar with the books of Martin Fowler or\u00a0Uncle Bob, because you can learn a\u00a0lot from them.<\/p>\n

Katarzyna:<\/strong>\u00a0First, don\u2019t get frustrated if something doesn\u2019t work out, because that\u2019s normal. Some things take longer and you just need to\u00a0write code, also after work. The more often you do\u00a0it, the better. This is what I\u00a0did at\u00a0the very beginning.<\/p>\n

Aleksandra:\u00a0<\/strong>The girls have already said so much! I\u00a0will only add two things. It is important to\u00a0take part in\u00a0meetings, but also get involved in\u00a0local communities, because you establish contact with people working in\u00a0the industry.<\/p>\n

Finding a\u00a0mentor is great. If you have a\u00a0problem, you don\u2019t spend half the day looking for answers on\u00a0Stackoverflow [site where developers can ask questions and answer questions from others]. Perhaps someone who has more experience than you will be\u00a0able to\u00a0help you much faster and to\u00a0suggest other solutions, change your way of thinking a\u00a0little.<\/p>\n

It is also worth putting the projects you are working on\u00a0into Github [a hosting site for Git repositories, that is a\u00a0tool for managing the source code history]. I\u00a0know that many people are ashamed of it. They think that their project is poor, but the truth is that when I\u00a0conduct job interviews, I\u00a0very often look at\u00a0Github. I\u00a0want to\u00a0see what this person\u2019s projects look like, if there are any design patterns, any architectures and how they approach certain issues.<\/p>\n

Thank you for an excellent discussion.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Women Can Do IT is a new project of Software Development Association Poland, in which we want to disenchant the IT industry for women and show that it is environment which has enough room for everyone, regardless of their previous experience. In\u00a0today\u2019s interview, we\u00a0talk to\u00a0Aleksandra Krzemie\u0144, Android Developer at\u00a0Angry Nerds, Izabela Kartowicz-Stolarska, Senior Software Engineer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":4448,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,885],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-case-study","category-soda"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWomen can do IT: \u2018I couldn\u2019t imagine myself as a software developer\u2019 - SoDA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Women Can Do IT is a new project of Software Development Association Poland, in which we want to disenchant the IT industry for women and show that it is\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Women can do IT: \u2018I couldn\u2019t imagine myself as a software developer\u2019 - SoDA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Women Can Do IT is a new project of Software Development Association Poland, in which we want to disenchant the IT industry for women and show that it is\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SoDA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-12T08:52:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-24T07:15:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1_vbvvA7KHaF5dQ61TTyAoIA.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matylda Chmielewska\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matylda Chmielewska\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"17 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Matylda Chmielewska\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/4d5ac5854f1f8273605e709989e967a9\"},\"headline\":\"Women can do IT: \u2018I couldn\u2019t imagine myself as a software developer\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-12T08:52:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-24T07:15:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/\"},\"wordCount\":3494,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1_vbvvA7KHaF5dQ61TTyAoIA.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Case Study\",\"SoDA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/\",\"name\":\"Women can do IT: \u2018I couldn\u2019t imagine myself as a software developer\u2019 - SoDA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1_vbvvA7KHaF5dQ61TTyAoIA.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-12T08:52:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-24T07:15:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"Women Can Do IT is a new project of Software Development Association Poland, in which we want to disenchant the IT industry for women and show that it is\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1_vbvvA7KHaF5dQ61TTyAoIA.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1_vbvvA7KHaF5dQ61TTyAoIA.jpeg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":628},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Strona g\u0142\u00f3wna\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Women can do IT: \u2018I couldn\u2019t imagine myself as a software developer\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"SoDA\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"SoDA\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/SoDA_LOGO_FULL_COLOR-cropped.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/SoDA_LOGO_FULL_COLOR-cropped.svg\",\"width\":230,\"height\":68,\"caption\":\"SoDA\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/pl.linkedin.com\/company\/sodapl-software-development-association-poland\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/4d5ac5854f1f8273605e709989e967a9\",\"name\":\"Matylda Chmielewska\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ef8640a2028e9251c9656b4d962a43f5693dd516871cd1c413bc12df77ddff74?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ef8640a2028e9251c9656b4d962a43f5693dd516871cd1c413bc12df77ddff74?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Matylda Chmielewska\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Women can do IT: \u2018I couldn\u2019t imagine myself as a software developer\u2019 - SoDA","description":"Women Can Do IT is a new project of Software Development Association Poland, in which we want to disenchant the IT industry for women and show that it is","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Women can do IT: \u2018I couldn\u2019t imagine myself as a software developer\u2019 - SoDA","og_description":"Women Can Do IT is a new project of Software Development Association Poland, in which we want to disenchant the IT industry for women and show that it is","og_url":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/","og_site_name":"SoDA","article_published_time":"2020-10-12T08:52:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-10-24T07:15:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1_vbvvA7KHaF5dQ61TTyAoIA.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Matylda Chmielewska","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Matylda Chmielewska","Est. reading time":"17 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/"},"author":{"name":"Matylda Chmielewska","@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/4d5ac5854f1f8273605e709989e967a9"},"headline":"Women can do IT: \u2018I couldn\u2019t imagine myself as a software developer\u2019","datePublished":"2020-10-12T08:52:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-10-24T07:15:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/"},"wordCount":3494,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1_vbvvA7KHaF5dQ61TTyAoIA.jpeg","articleSection":["Case Study","SoDA"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/","url":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/","name":"Women can do IT: \u2018I couldn\u2019t imagine myself as a software developer\u2019 - SoDA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1_vbvvA7KHaF5dQ61TTyAoIA.jpeg","datePublished":"2020-10-12T08:52:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-10-24T07:15:52+00:00","description":"Women Can Do IT is a new project of Software Development Association Poland, in which we want to disenchant the IT industry for women and show that it is","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1_vbvvA7KHaF5dQ61TTyAoIA.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1_vbvvA7KHaF5dQ61TTyAoIA.jpeg","width":1200,"height":628},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/women-can-do-it-i-couldnt-imagine-myself-as-a-software-developer\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Strona g\u0142\u00f3wna","item":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Women can do IT: \u2018I couldn\u2019t imagine myself as a software developer\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/","name":"SoDA","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#organization","name":"SoDA","url":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/SoDA_LOGO_FULL_COLOR-cropped.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/SoDA_LOGO_FULL_COLOR-cropped.svg","width":230,"height":68,"caption":"SoDA"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/pl.linkedin.com\/company\/sodapl-software-development-association-poland"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/4d5ac5854f1f8273605e709989e967a9","name":"Matylda Chmielewska","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ef8640a2028e9251c9656b4d962a43f5693dd516871cd1c413bc12df77ddff74?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ef8640a2028e9251c9656b4d962a43f5693dd516871cd1c413bc12df77ddff74?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Matylda Chmielewska"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6015"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6017,"href":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6015\/revisions\/6017"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sodapl.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}