Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Women in Tech

316 replies

MaryQueenofSocks · 15/08/2023 06:57

As promised, a new women in Tech thread!

This is a space to talk about our industry, celebrate our successes without apology and moan about anything we want to!

We can swap stories, ideas or just shoot the breeze.

Guidelines for this thread:

We are supportive
We encourage each other
We celebrate each other
No judgement on what we earn or what we want to earn/achieve.
If we are working mothers, then no judgement.
If we are child free, no judgement.
Ignore any derailing or goady posts

If anyone wants to add to the above list then feel free.

Come on in, grab a virtual coffee and park yourself on a comfy sofa 😊

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
Fluffycloudsfloatinginthesky · 15/08/2023 21:59

@TeknoPhobe

I try and tell myself I do know stuff - doesn't help I originally fell into this role after having a finance background so never had any formal training / qualifications.

HeidiInTheBigCity · 15/08/2023 22:01

Try "I might not actually know stuff - but many of the others don't seem all that genius level either!"

It works better for me that way, might for you!

Original poster
MaryQueenofSocks · 15/08/2023 22:03

@Totalwasteofpaper sure did! 😁

There are so many awesome ladies on this thread, this is great! Everyone welcome in the digital sisterhood 😊

Does anyone else think our Christmas party would be so much fun and one you'd actually want to go to!

OP posts:
HundredMilesAnHour · 15/08/2023 22:06

Can I join too? I'm a Director in FS consulting, working as a programme manager / project manager / troubleshooter. I have one foot in tech and one foot in the business - depends on my client / project as to which side of the fence I end up on.

CyberCritical · 15/08/2023 22:15

I came to my role via a really wiggly path starting in call centres and customer service, and have no qualifications in tech. Everything I know is self taught through a variety of online learning providers, Dummy guide to... books, and google.

What I do know is that I'm really really good and organising people and processes, getting the best out of my team, identifying the people who know they're shit and building relationships. I'm also good at retaining information and standing up to gits while looking like I'm being polite, reasonable and supportive, which in this industry that seems to have an excess of mansplaining idiots comes in really handy.

Everyone has areas of weakness, know what they are, don't try to hide them, find ways to fill the gaps so your weaknesses don't cause problems, but conversely know your strengths and use them.

CyberCritical · 15/08/2023 22:17

Urghhh another weakness is not proof reading before hitting 'Post'.

Ignore the autocorrect/spelling fails.

MrsWombat · 15/08/2023 22:21

Hello I'm also interested in pivoting over to tech from education (school secretary type job) and would love some tips.

It's a toss-up between software development (because all the education software I use at work is awful and I know I could do better if I knew how to) and data analysis (because I love a spreadsheet and sorting out the dinner money debt has to be a transferrable skill?) or cyber security because it sounds cool.

Canigetaoooh · 15/08/2023 22:21

Looking to join! I’m not techie, couldn’t write code to save my life. But been a BA in the finance sector for 15 years…

currently in fintech as a BA, also dipping my toe into being a scrum master

Abblaster · 15/08/2023 22:22

Can I join ! Early 30’s lead a department in civil service. Aiming to climb the ladder one or two more in civil service and sidestep into private sector to increase my income at a senior level once kids are a few years older. I figured it’s less competitive over here and easier to promote and it has been .. lots of people punching their card which has left space for me to do my thing .. whatever that is .

CornishGem1975 · 15/08/2023 22:26

Hello! SaaS marketer here. Looking forward to the techy chat!

Totalwasteofpaper · 15/08/2023 22:28

Abblaster · 15/08/2023 22:22

Can I join ! Early 30’s lead a department in civil service. Aiming to climb the ladder one or two more in civil service and sidestep into private sector to increase my income at a senior level once kids are a few years older. I figured it’s less competitive over here and easier to promote and it has been .. lots of people punching their card which has left space for me to do my thing .. whatever that is .

Interesting!!!!
i am thinking about doing the opposite and jumping ship once kid(s) are in secondary for civil service.

One thing i would say was i thought my previous job was fast paced and when i got into tech i felt i was drowning in a river for the first 6 months. I camt imagine coming from civil service into tech

Abblaster · 15/08/2023 22:34

@Totalwasteofpaper as long as you chose department wisely you can do some impactful and interesting work . work life balance and all that

what happened after 6 months ?

Abblaster · 15/08/2023 22:36

Has anyone used a career coach outside of their organisation that they’ve paid for . Has it been worth the investment . It’s pricier than I was expecting .

HeidiInTheBigCity · 15/08/2023 22:44

I've used a coach paid for not by myself but my firm's executive development program. She was fine but not groundbreaking for me. This may be due to me being quite self-reflected and arguably benefitting more from practical ideas for "how to go about it" than "know yourself" type stuff.

I've had truly brilliant coaching support in specific areas, though. One example was a trained actor/voice coach helping me speak with more impact.

Totalwasteofpaper · 16/08/2023 04:10

Abblaster · 15/08/2023 22:34

@Totalwasteofpaper as long as you chose department wisely you can do some impactful and interesting work . work life balance and all that

what happened after 6 months ?

Interesting and good to know!

The first 6... maybe 9m? were pretty brutal for me tbh. I thought about quitting more than once.
You have to
-be very disciplined with time

  • get all the details right but also deliver impact
  • connect dots/ have big picture conversations with your XFN
  • build your network and bring your "authentic self" to work (I'm friendly enough but i still find this so forced and fake a lot of the time)
  • manage the information / communication overload. (I'd have 3 hours of back to back meetings and come out to find 15 IMs and 25 emails and I'd been tagged in a load of stuff too... )

not sure what happened but i just got used to it all and got in the flow. I think its a pretty common phenomenon at my company.

I am an IC 6/7 which is classically a hard level to come in at and you have to deliver quite a lot.
Prelayoffs there were quite a few cushy jobs knocking about but post layoffs/reorgs i look at all the directors i work with and dont fancy their jobs right now.

JaneDSE9 · 16/08/2023 04:53

Hi I've been a data analyst for 26 years in a variety of roles from government to finance. I'm currently a senior Risk analyst for a bank working remotely. I code in SQL and SAS and use Power BI. I did an SQL course at night school and learned Power BI online. There are apprenticeships for DA with companies such as QA and lots of entry level jobs. Happy to give advice to anyone interested.

MrsJamin · 16/08/2023 06:41

I'm a software product manager for a SaaS. I love it, suits me down to the ground. I love the decision making process to road mapping features and solving problems for users. I work with some women in non-tech areas of the business but wish that we had more women in development to be in my immediate squad. Happy to talk to anyone about getting into product management.

Summerswimmer998 · 16/08/2023 07:06

Really interesting thread I’d be interested to know approx salary levels to types of roles? I’ve spent my life in public sector roles lots of project then into programme management stuff I’m naturally dataiee person but realised in the winter of my career I’ve let my salary stagnate a lot over the last ten years whilst I parent my kids choosing flexibility over career but with one eye on retirement pot now I’m trying to decide if I should push my career for another ten years or just coast out on less.

SummerCycling322 · 16/08/2023 07:16

My DD is choosing options now, does she need to do computer science at GCSE / Alevel to keep options open for tech jobs? And are any of you worried about AI replacing the junior roles into the industry?

jeaux90 · 16/08/2023 08:04

@SummerCycling322 not necessarily.
Whilst the majority of women on this thread like me do technology based jobs, we didn't all start our careers that way. There are many ways to get into tech and different areas of the market. I also think that tech options at secondary level are too restrictive. Not enough choice or variety, it's a vast topic.

AI is already used today, machine learning for example is used to predict things like fraud on your bank account, it's used to give you an indication of financial results. I am not worried at at about it's use or applications at the moment.

jeaux90 · 16/08/2023 08:06

MaryQueenofSocks · 15/08/2023 22:03

@Totalwasteofpaper sure did! 😁

There are so many awesome ladies on this thread, this is great! Everyone welcome in the digital sisterhood 😊

Does anyone else think our Christmas party would be so much fun and one you'd actually want to go to!

Hell yes. That would be so much fun.

Titerama · 16/08/2023 08:40

This thread is so cool. Like discovering your neighbour works in a company you connect with.

Nice to see so many SaaS connections.

AltheaVestr1t · 16/08/2023 09:10

Ooh, can I join?! I'm a Product Manager for a software project building a bespoke Analytics platform. It's very complicated! I moved from an Ed Tech company a year ago where I worked with content designers rather than software engineers and now I've got my head around what I'm doing I absolutely love it.

katmarie · 16/08/2023 09:32

Joining here :) I'm 42, I work as a business analyst for a company which makes software for the waste industry, we link our product with a big ERP software product.

I never set out to work in tech, I did a psychology degree, and came into my role via working in customer service and account management in the waste industry. I've been in this role a year, so still finding my feet, but it's been a brilliant challenge so far. My company employs a lot of women in analyst and tech/developer roles, which has been a very positive experience. They also have a mentoring programme and paired me with a developer, she has helped me grow my tech knowledge immensely, particularly around our databases and how they are built.

CyberCritical · 16/08/2023 09:40

SummerCycling322 · 16/08/2023 07:16

My DD is choosing options now, does she need to do computer science at GCSE / Alevel to keep options open for tech jobs? And are any of you worried about AI replacing the junior roles into the industry?

Short answer no, she should choose options that interest her and that she will be motivated to do well in.

If she's dead set on wanting to go into a tech then yes pick some computer science type courses, but it's not a necessity and let's face it few of us are on the same path now as we were when we were 16.

I started in telemarketing, went through lots of customer service/training/call centre manager type jobs, then IT service management, GRC, then cybersecurity & GRC.

The most important skills in my mind that any kid can focus on are logical thinking, pragmatism, assertiveness, building rapport and risk assessment.

  • think through all aspects of a situation
  • come to a conclusion that you can stand by and justify
  • know what the possible risks are and decide whether you are willing to accept them if they come to fruition
  • stand up for your decision in a way that gets other people on board
Swipe left for the next trending thread