WomenInTech. "The biggest obstacle is imposter syndrome," — young women on their path to success in IT

Yulia Sevruk, city — Belgrade, Project Manager at Yandex, Linkedin

About Me

I am a Project Manager at Yandex, working in the Yandex.Taxi division. I also volunteer: I mentor at Yandex schools and in the international Technovation Girls project, I serve as a facilitator for the #IAmRemarkable movement and as Community Lead at Women in Tech Uzbekistan.

Immediately after obtaining my master's degree, I started working at a web studio that developed websites and mobile games. This is where my IT career began. At the studio, I rose to the position of Head of Web Development, but then I moved to another company to learn marketing — I was always interested in how businesses develop after a website is created. Then, for about four years, I worked at a startup before returning to an agency specializing in SaaS project development.

Three years ago, I was invited to work at Yandex. Here, my previous skills were a perfect fit for the web project development group within the Go Marketing Growth and Efficiency team. Now I am involved in website development, studying how AI can assist project managers, and mentoring students.

How I entered the IT profession

I have always been interested in how search engines work and how websites are created. During my school years, I studied all this while sitting in an internet café near my home, using free courses, articles, and books. Although I studied philology, the skills I acquired during that period were of great help to me — the ability to navigate the internet, search for information correctly, and know how to best phrase a query in a search engine.

Today, there are many free resources for those who want to start, such as the Google Project Management: Professional Certificate on Coursera. But 15 years ago, there was much less information. I joined the development studio through a friend's recommendation, so I always support the idea of expanding one's network and mutual support in the professional environment. There are various resources for this, one of them being LinkedIn.

In my LinkedIn, I share interesting sources for learning and professional development, as well as share insights into the daily life of an IT project and product manager.

On Stereotypes

I did not have a technical education, so initially I faced misunderstanding from developers. However, my pedagogical education and knowledge of English came in handy: many IT terms are in English, and management work is about working with people. The ability to explain and translate from "client" to "developer" language and back helped me settle in quickly and build processes.

Stereotypes can influence how others perceive us, but if you understand where they come from and figure out how to work with them, you can always find a way to overcome them. The #IAmRemarkable workshop helped me with this, where participants share information about the importance of overcoming such stereotypes.

Barriers for Women in IT

Imposter syndrome is the biggest obstacle that women face in their IT careers. I advise seeking support from people who value you for your qualities and remembering: imposters do not have imposter syndrome, which means if you feel it, you are definitely not an imposter.

The second difficulty is the lack of self-presentation skills. Perhaps education today pays attention to this, but in my time, no one taught us how to properly claim our achievements, speak about them correctly, evaluate progress, set goals, and achieve them. You can learn about the importance of self-presentation at the #IAmRemarkable workshop. More than four years ago, I participated in it for the first time and was so impressed that I became a facilitator of this movement myself. Currently, I conduct online workshops in Russian and English for residents of Women in Tech Uzbekistan and other non-profit organizations.

The third difficulty is the need to constantly update and strengthen skills, as the modern IT world changes rapidly. The best way to do this is through mentoring. If you become a mentor, you will always maintain your level of knowledge. After all, any information is reinforced when you explain it to others. Additionally, participating in mentoring programs helps gain additional motivation for development. For example, you can start with mentoring for youth — in the Technovation project or, for adults — become a mentor at Women in Tech. I talk more about my mentoring experience on my TikTok.

Recommendations for Those Just Starting Their Path

My recommendation for everyone, regardless of the chosen career, is to train consistency and curiosity. Sometimes it takes more time to see the results of your work, so consistency plays an important role. And if you are curious, any problem becomes a task that can be solved. The main thing is to remember that you need to solve it at the next level, not at the level where it arose.

I also recommend taking the #IAmRemarkable workshop — this is a global movement whose mission is to ensure accessible and comfortable personal and professional growth for everyone.

I also recommend taking courses that will help build a knowledge base for starting a career, for example:

— Introduction to Project Management from the University of Adelaide
— UVA Darden Project Management on Coursera
— free courses from PMI
— free project management course from Oxford Home Study

Books that I recommend for deepening project management skills:

— "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity" by David Allen
— "The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses" by Eric Ries
— "Scrum: The Revolution in Project Management" by Jeff Sutherland

Also, I advise finding those who need a person with project management skills — these can be small companies, freelancers, non-profit projects. On their projects, you can hone your project management skills in practice — this will be an additional plus and motivation for your learning.

Somewhere you will be asked to work as a volunteer, and somewhere you will be able to earn income while mastering a new profession. After gaining three or four projects in your portfolio, you will stand out favorably against other candidates during interviews for full-time positions. And when you understand in which field you want to develop, I advise finding a mentor who is already there and is ready to share their knowledge. This is the fastest way to gain practical skills from an active professional.

Meirelim Aitasova, city — Boston, Software Development Engineer, @mmeekah  

About Me

My career began with obtaining a bachelor's degree in computer science at SDU University, where I founded a charitable startup, Quran.kz. After graduating from university, I moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where I live to this day.

After moving to the US, I spent several years on maternity leave, after which I returned to work. Due to this break, there were difficulties in finding employment. Then I decided to go through an intensive bootcamp program, where I created a portfolio and gained experience. This helped me restore my skills after a long break and find an internship that led to my first full-time job.

Currently, I work as a DevOps Engineer at IBM, where I orchestrate AI applications using Kubernetes, deploy microservices on AWS, and automate CI/CD processes. My job involves optimizing processes, improving deployment speed, and ensuring efficient software availability.

How I entered the IT profession

I have always been interested in technology. In school, I was that girl who gladly made slide shows for school programs and all sorts of videos. I already understood then that I wanted to develop in the IT direction.

On Stereotypes

Despite the fact that there were more men on our faculty, I never encountered stereotypes. There are not many women at work either, but problems never arose. I don't know how things would be if I worked in Kazakhstan.

Barriers for Women in IT

On my career path, I faced several difficulties common to many women in IT. One of the main ones was the need to balance work and family, especially abroad, where there is no help from relatives. Women often feel guilty for spending insufficient time with their family due to work, and I was no exception. Social stereotypes and expectations that a woman should perform certain roles also created additional tension.

To overcome these difficulties, I learned to plan my time effectively and set clear boundaries between work and personal life. Support and full involvement from my husband also helped me, as we act as one team in all matters concerning the family. All this allowed me to balance better and build a successful career in IT.

Recommendations for Those Just Starting Their Path

Recommendations for those just starting their career path:

1. Do not look for the perfect role immediately and do not be afraid to try something new. Remember: you never know where your current role will lead you, so be open to opportunities.

2. Find a mentor who can help with advice and support.

And, of course, develop networking. Communication with professionals in your field can open new doors and opportunities.

3. Believe in the best and do not give up in the face of difficulties!