When I looked back at the past year, I asked myself, did anything really happen at all? It often felt and still feels like time became meaningless with days blending into each other... And, yet, I did realize that there achievements since last International Women's Day I would like to share!
In April, I gave my first public talk about one of the last projects I worked on at Microsoft. Meetup/conference talks are something I would like to do more of in the future.
I left Microsoft and joined a healthcare company that summer. I was working as a senior Android engineer for the first time! It was really exciting to finally have this title.
To get to the senior engineer title, it took me Bachelors in Computing Science, Masters in Advanced Computer Science, 8 years of Android experience, Microsoft in my CV, and an internal referral!
...I often wonder which of these circumstances finally did it.
I am also aware that if it took me all this, it's something that's going to be even harder for many other women in this field who do not share the same privileges as me. My university degrees opened many doors, so did getting experience at a big company. I am an immigrant, but I am also white. I hear many disheartening stories and I hope that the resolutions towards more diverse workplaces that people and companies are making today will make a difference throughout the year.
The company I joined was not a match in the end... I did carry out my second job search later in the year and have recently started at my new job. I am happy at my new workplace and hope to stay there for a long time :)
Last year I also participated in a campaign that provides real-world case studies to help inspire girls to pursue a STEM career. I was really happy to be part of this.
For the next year, I am not making any big plans. I am mainly trying to learn as much as I can in my new job, and find a balance in my work and life. If I can share with the community more, and write some blog posts about areas that are important to me, it will make me happy.
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