You never know what you can do until you try.
Inga Roze interviewed by Alina Karpelceva.
On July 23, 2018, Riga TechGirls (RTG) launched a scholarship initiative, #RTGScholarship, in partnership with Tele2 SSC. The project gives six women of various professions and interests a 945 euro scholarship for intensive programming courses at Riga Coding School.
This is the third article in a series of interviews of the scholarship winners that will explore their aspirations, experience, and progress during the courses. Find the rest in our medium profile.
Inga is a young woman who decided to apply for the Riga TechGirl’s scholarship because she wants to advance her career in the IT industry and is very interested in programming. After finishing courses, she plans to deepen her knowledge of programming and to continue learning. She is considering to work as a software developer.
Alina: Inga, in your application you said that you’ve put a lot of effort to quit an undesired job and to start a new career in a field that you’re passionate about. Could you please share with us what motivated you during this tough period?
Inga: I became passionate about IT when I understood that I have to change something in my life. I was totally feeling out of place at my job at that time. I decided I should learn something valuable that I could get into and that I would enjoy doing. I was looking for something that would give me boundless opportunity to develop myself.
When I was thinking about which direction to move toward, my friend offered me to take some software testing courses. I signed up for them and it enticed me. After graduating, I knew that I wanted more. I wanted to learn programming and to be able to write automated tests. This was the time when I discovered the Riga TechGirls community and attended my first programming workshop “Draw it with Java”. The workshop was very interesting for me and I got excited to try to work as a developer someday. At the time, I didn’t have knowledge for that.
When I saw a second programming workshop from the Riga TechGirls, I applied for it as well and I was very happy to have these amazing educative events.
In our century, education is a lot about business and you don’t often get a chance to learn something for free. What I value a lot about Riga TechGirls is that the RTG community is showing to women that IT can be interesting for them and that they can make their careers in IT since this industry is not only for men.
I’m very grateful to the RTG Community and Tele2 SSC for this amazing opportunity given to women. If you ask about my motivation during this tough period, what motivated me the most was my passion to learn programming and my belief that I can prove myself in the first place and
that I can do it. Of course, it wasn’t easy. Changing my profession to the IT industry has been a big challenge because I come from a completely different industry. I finished Tourism and Hospitality management and there was always a feeling inside that there was a risk that I will not manage something like this course since I was never connected to IT before.
When I started the Riga Coding School courses, I was thinking at first that it probably was going to be too hard for me to actually start to work as a software developer. After 2 weeks I changed my mind and understood that I wanted to try for it. When I applied for this scholarship, I was already working as a Software Test Engineer, but I had plans to learn programming as well. I was very lucky to find this opportunity at the right place and time.
Alina: What knowledge did you get during the course that could be helpful for your current work? How would you use what you have learned? And what is the most valuable thing you that you have understood during the courses so far?
Inga: During the courses, I gained knowledge of several programming languages basics which I will now use for writing automated tests. Thanks to this knowledge, I moved to another level in my current position and have accepted new challenges. Few people actually think about it, but a true
professional software automation test engineer is actually a software developer as well. They have to have the same knowledge as a programmer and to think like a programmer. The most valuable thing I understood during my studies at Riga Coding School is that you never know what you can do until you try.
Alina: Can you advise anything to all the other women who are curious to start work in IT or to be a developer?
Inga: First of all, chase away all the stereotypes and doubts in your head, such as IT is not for women, or probably is too hard for you, or you can’t start doing it without any background, or anything else that might stop you from trying.
As I mentioned earlier, you never know until you try. Your dream is just a dream until you start doing something that takes you closer to fulfilling it.
The first step can be made by changing the way you think. If you are looking for opportunities to develop and to learn new things and you don’t want to stay all the time at the same level, then the IT industry can give you all that. There is endless opportunity to learn different skills and there are so many directions which you can choose to develop in. IT is for both women and men. Every woman can build a career here if she wants it.
I also definitely recommend attending RTG programming workshops. If you try them, you will get interested for sure. They are made for women with no programming background and are very interactive which makes it a very nice first step to explore the IT world. I personally got into programming thanks to these workshops.
My other advice would be to never be afraid of changing something in your life and to go out of your comfort zone and to take a risk. It’s never too late to start doing something which makes you feel motivated and happy. So far, I have finished 3 courses in the IT field and have seen many people of different ages and social statuses changing their careers to IT, including some of my colleagues.
My last advice is that if the idea of becoming a software developer or being in IT inspires you and makes you want to do things and to achieve something, just go for it. Haruki Murakami once said something truly important: “Profession must initially be an act of love, not a marriage of convenience. And before it’s too late, do not forget that the work of life is not a job, but the
life itself.”
