August 14, 2014 at 12:34Pros and cons of working in the IT field if you're a girl
Recently on Habré the post "What a working day of an IT engineer looks like if you are a girl" was published . I was surprised that this topic is so interesting to the Khabrovsk citizens and, moreover, in the comments, many ask to open this question in more detail.
Well, I’ll tell you my version of events.
I am standing in front of the list of names of students - my future classmates, and I understand that the list has only one female surname. My. Not to say that I was upset. I was rather intrigued.
I think it’s worth mentioning that I studied the specialty “Information Security”. Received in 2004, graduated in 2009.
Well, firstly, March 8th. I remember in the first year, the guys took off and gave me a mobile phone. That was very cool! My first phone. I was extremely happy.
In general, the male team always feels some concern. Everyone wants to help, open the doors for you, give a hand at the exit of the tram, invite you for walks, give way. Well, which girl doesn’t like it?
Anticipating the questions of many, I will say that on February 23rd I also relate to the pluses. I always prepared very early. After all, it was necessary to come up with something unusual, pleasant for everyone, and at the same time, the student budget did not allow much to unfold. In the first year, I ordered a large cake, on which was written a congratulation to classmates. I agreed with the dean on the allocation of the audience, bought disposable tableware, juices and we sat very cool.
You just need to get used to the minuses. I was always annoyed by the condescension with which some teachers treated me. In most cases, everything was ok, but there were some specimens who believed that “this is not a woman’s business”. No, they did not underestimate grades, did not fail in exams. They were just kind of condescending. And deducing “exc.” In the student’s record, they did it with the appearance: “this is my gift to you”.
Now I understand that it was just necessary not to pay attention. I did not have any special problems with academic performance and digestibility of the material. Without excessive modesty, I’ll say that I studied better than everyone in the group. But I think many will agree that theory is not practice. And with the theory, girls, by virtue of their more diligent attitude towards studying, usually have fewer problems.
After the third year, I realized that I needed practice. Despite 3 years of study, the idea of his future profession was more than vague. Assembling and disassembling your computer and pulling the network in the hostel was clearly not enough. I looked through all the job ads and I was interested in the position of systems engineer in the company Thunder. Spent the whole day writing a resume.
I remember that they called me back almost immediately and invited me the next day for an interview. Another 5 people were waiting in line. All the guys. They looked at the girl in a sarafan and in heels for the position of system engineer with interest.
When I was invited, I took on a smart and proud look, but it was scary at the same time unrealistic.
A young guy was waiting in his office (about 5-8 years older than me), he was just a senior systems engineer, and the girl was a personnel manager. I think the guy was more worried than me.
“Did you assemble your own computer?”
- Yes (I am lying; in fact, the half-hostels argued for a week choosing my first computer).
- And what is the motherboard?
- Asus P4P800 SE Gold (I remember it now).
- And you know how to compress twisted pair?
- Yes (I’m not lying here, I’ve trained).
- And what is the order of the flowers?
- White-orange, orange (uh, now I don’t even remember. And then, before the interview I’ve crammed by heart).
In general, an interview was held in this vein. At the end they said that they would call me back and report the results. I went home. After about 40 minutes I leave the tram and a phone rings.
- Hello?
- Hello, my name is Andrey. I am from the company Thunder. I would like to talk with you. Can you drive up?
- Can! I'll be there in an hour!
15 000 rubles! I was offered 15,000 rubles! To be honest, my mother then earned less. And the position of technical support specialist in the main building of the company. It was very, very, very cool.
Someone else took the position of system engineer. As it turned out later, I got a better job. The essence of the work was the remote installation of updates, tracking errors and attempts to eliminate these errors together with the testing department.
I constantly squinted, didn’t understand much, but I tried my best. Later, they entrusted me with a super responsible business: remotely change the firmware on wi-fi routers and configure them. It was very interesting.
My then boss is a terrific leader. I don’t understand how he had the patience to mess with me. At other employees, he could break loose, scream. Apparently, upbringing did not allow me to shout at me.
One day I come to work in the morning with high spirits. And he sits and looks at me so frowningly. The look is so expressive that the hands immediately began to shake.
- What?
“Did you flash the router yesterday?”
- Well yes.
- Did you click the Save button after setup?
- Probably ... I don’t remember.
- Have a good night's sleep?
- Mmm? Yeah.
- And I've been restoring wi-fi all night.
Bliiin ... How embarrassing it was. It's a shame. Wow She turned to the monitor, her hands trembling, tears in her eyes. I didn’t do it anymore.
And here is another case from the series "the difference between women's work from men's." On the table, a disassembled system driver, I delve into it while standing (I don’t remember what I did already). The office is suspiciously quiet, but I do not pay attention to it, I go about my business.
I assembled the computer, turn it on, check the mail.
I see a letter "without a subject" from the director of the department. Oh, something, apparently, is important. I open it, I remember the text almost literally: “Anya, try not to wear such short sundresses. And then the guys do not work for half a day, they are watching you. ”I
turn around, everyone’s faces are happy, smiling. And I'm ashamed terribly. I remember, upset then. I even thought of quitting, so it hit me. Now I recall this incident with a smile, I understand that no one tried to offend or humiliate me somehow. On the contrary, they made a kind of compliment.
In general, I remember with warmth and a smile those 4 months of work in Thunder. But everything comes to an end. The study began, to agree with the dean did not work. Working for half a day, I clearly could not cope. You will come to work, you will do a couple of things and it is time to run away to study. Therefore, I constantly felt awkward, it seemed to me that everyone around me believed that I took advantage of the boss’s location (I have such a fad) and did nothing. So I quit. I was released with the words: “Consider that you take a long vacation. We are waiting for you back. ”
And I returned, a year later.
I returned to the information security department, which was just formed then. In fact, we built the department from scratch, 3 specialists and a head. I worked in the office with my former colleagues, so I quickly joined the team.
During the work there was a lot of good and bad. Of course, there are certain differences in the work of a guy and a girl.
When new equipment arrives that needs to be tested and configured, most often I can connect it myself, rearrange it where necessary.
But, remembering the case with the sundress, I try not to distract the whole office from work, crawling under the table. Now I ask one of my colleagues to help. By the way, it always seemed to me that guys help with hunting. And this, by the way, is another advantage that you are a girl in the IT field. If something is not clear, you just have to ask - and everyone will willingly help, explain, prompt. This is also a familiar feeling of care that you experience when you study in a men's team.
In the post that I mentioned above, Vika posted a photo of a set of women's shoes. I have a slightly different situation. One interchangeable pair is enough. But if you look into the drawer of the bedside table, it is immediately clear that the girl works here. Hand cream, a nail file and a cosmetic bag are simply irreplaceable attributes.
While working in the information security department, I managed to graduate from the university and gain vast experience. I quit after 1.5 years. There were several reasons, but the main one is a new colleague. From the same series as university professors who believe that women have no place in IT. It became hard for me to work in such an atmosphere, and then an interesting position turned up - a specialist in the protection of information in the field of personal data. By that time, for about half a year I was fond of the topic of personal data protection and decided to try myself in this area.
Work in the public sector is AD. There are many reasons, ranging from low salaries to rip-offs.
In total, about 50 people worked in the organization, including 10 people in the IT department. Everyone who is not in the IT department is women who insist even at the age of 30 that they should be called by their first and middle names.
For the first time in my life, I fell into a predominantly female collective and experienced all its charms. But I had a very interesting task - to develop uniform rules for processing personal data for medical institutions of the region. Starting from pieces of paper and ending with the setup of equipment. I plunged headlong and did not notice how almost a year passed.
Then came another disappointment - the implementation stage. There is no funding, experts are simply zero. I constantly conducted training seminars, went on business trips, wrote recommendations on how and what to set up. But the "gray and bitchiness" of the atmosphere depressed more and more.
Then I was offered to make a very large project to protect personal data in a network of car dealerships. I agreed, 2 months worked for wear and tear, completed the project. At the same time, she earned a little more than her annual salary and realized that I could quit with a clear conscience.
By that time, my husband had already opened his own company a half. I rested for a month and joined him. I’ve been an entrepreneur for 3.5 years. I completely changed the scope of activity, which I absolutely do not regret. We are engaged in online marketing.
Well, colleagues are rushing, it's time to round off. Just today we are celebrating 5 years since the founding of the company.
PS Continue reading:
Family IT
business Family IT business. My three golden rules
Family IT business. Time to make money.
Family IT business. Who is the Energy Elephant
Well, I’ll tell you my version of events.
University
I am standing in front of the list of names of students - my future classmates, and I understand that the list has only one female surname. My. Not to say that I was upset. I was rather intrigued.
I think it’s worth mentioning that I studied the specialty “Information Security”. Received in 2004, graduated in 2009.
So, first, the benefits of being the only girl in the male team of future IT-employees
Well, firstly, March 8th. I remember in the first year, the guys took off and gave me a mobile phone. That was very cool! My first phone. I was extremely happy.
In general, the male team always feels some concern. Everyone wants to help, open the doors for you, give a hand at the exit of the tram, invite you for walks, give way. Well, which girl doesn’t like it?
Anticipating the questions of many, I will say that on February 23rd I also relate to the pluses. I always prepared very early. After all, it was necessary to come up with something unusual, pleasant for everyone, and at the same time, the student budget did not allow much to unfold. In the first year, I ordered a large cake, on which was written a congratulation to classmates. I agreed with the dean on the allocation of the audience, bought disposable tableware, juices and we sat very cool.
Of course there are downsides
You just need to get used to the minuses. I was always annoyed by the condescension with which some teachers treated me. In most cases, everything was ok, but there were some specimens who believed that “this is not a woman’s business”. No, they did not underestimate grades, did not fail in exams. They were just kind of condescending. And deducing “exc.” In the student’s record, they did it with the appearance: “this is my gift to you”.
Now I understand that it was just necessary not to pay attention. I did not have any special problems with academic performance and digestibility of the material. Without excessive modesty, I’ll say that I studied better than everyone in the group. But I think many will agree that theory is not practice. And with the theory, girls, by virtue of their more diligent attitude towards studying, usually have fewer problems.
First job
After the third year, I realized that I needed practice. Despite 3 years of study, the idea of his future profession was more than vague. Assembling and disassembling your computer and pulling the network in the hostel was clearly not enough. I looked through all the job ads and I was interested in the position of systems engineer in the company Thunder. Spent the whole day writing a resume.
I remember that they called me back almost immediately and invited me the next day for an interview. Another 5 people were waiting in line. All the guys. They looked at the girl in a sarafan and in heels for the position of system engineer with interest.
When I was invited, I took on a smart and proud look, but it was scary at the same time unrealistic.
A young guy was waiting in his office (about 5-8 years older than me), he was just a senior systems engineer, and the girl was a personnel manager. I think the guy was more worried than me.
“Did you assemble your own computer?”
- Yes (I am lying; in fact, the half-hostels argued for a week choosing my first computer).
- And what is the motherboard?
- Asus P4P800 SE Gold (I remember it now).
- And you know how to compress twisted pair?
- Yes (I’m not lying here, I’ve trained).
- And what is the order of the flowers?
- White-orange, orange (uh, now I don’t even remember. And then, before the interview I’ve crammed by heart).
In general, an interview was held in this vein. At the end they said that they would call me back and report the results. I went home. After about 40 minutes I leave the tram and a phone rings.
- Hello?
- Hello, my name is Andrey. I am from the company Thunder. I would like to talk with you. Can you drive up?
- Can! I'll be there in an hour!
15 000 rubles! I was offered 15,000 rubles! To be honest, my mother then earned less. And the position of technical support specialist in the main building of the company. It was very, very, very cool.
Someone else took the position of system engineer. As it turned out later, I got a better job. The essence of the work was the remote installation of updates, tracking errors and attempts to eliminate these errors together with the testing department.
I constantly squinted, didn’t understand much, but I tried my best. Later, they entrusted me with a super responsible business: remotely change the firmware on wi-fi routers and configure them. It was very interesting.
My then boss is a terrific leader. I don’t understand how he had the patience to mess with me. At other employees, he could break loose, scream. Apparently, upbringing did not allow me to shout at me.
One day I come to work in the morning with high spirits. And he sits and looks at me so frowningly. The look is so expressive that the hands immediately began to shake.
- What?
“Did you flash the router yesterday?”
- Well yes.
- Did you click the Save button after setup?
- Probably ... I don’t remember.
- Have a good night's sleep?
- Mmm? Yeah.
- And I've been restoring wi-fi all night.
Bliiin ... How embarrassing it was. It's a shame. Wow She turned to the monitor, her hands trembling, tears in her eyes. I didn’t do it anymore.
And here is another case from the series "the difference between women's work from men's." On the table, a disassembled system driver, I delve into it while standing (I don’t remember what I did already). The office is suspiciously quiet, but I do not pay attention to it, I go about my business.
I assembled the computer, turn it on, check the mail.
I see a letter "without a subject" from the director of the department. Oh, something, apparently, is important. I open it, I remember the text almost literally: “Anya, try not to wear such short sundresses. And then the guys do not work for half a day, they are watching you. ”I
turn around, everyone’s faces are happy, smiling. And I'm ashamed terribly. I remember, upset then. I even thought of quitting, so it hit me. Now I recall this incident with a smile, I understand that no one tried to offend or humiliate me somehow. On the contrary, they made a kind of compliment.
In general, I remember with warmth and a smile those 4 months of work in Thunder. But everything comes to an end. The study began, to agree with the dean did not work. Working for half a day, I clearly could not cope. You will come to work, you will do a couple of things and it is time to run away to study. Therefore, I constantly felt awkward, it seemed to me that everyone around me believed that I took advantage of the boss’s location (I have such a fad) and did nothing. So I quit. I was released with the words: “Consider that you take a long vacation. We are waiting for you back. ”
And I returned, a year later.
The beginning of a professional career
I returned to the information security department, which was just formed then. In fact, we built the department from scratch, 3 specialists and a head. I worked in the office with my former colleagues, so I quickly joined the team.
During the work there was a lot of good and bad. Of course, there are certain differences in the work of a guy and a girl.
When new equipment arrives that needs to be tested and configured, most often I can connect it myself, rearrange it where necessary.
But, remembering the case with the sundress, I try not to distract the whole office from work, crawling under the table. Now I ask one of my colleagues to help. By the way, it always seemed to me that guys help with hunting. And this, by the way, is another advantage that you are a girl in the IT field. If something is not clear, you just have to ask - and everyone will willingly help, explain, prompt. This is also a familiar feeling of care that you experience when you study in a men's team.
In the post that I mentioned above, Vika posted a photo of a set of women's shoes. I have a slightly different situation. One interchangeable pair is enough. But if you look into the drawer of the bedside table, it is immediately clear that the girl works here. Hand cream, a nail file and a cosmetic bag are simply irreplaceable attributes.
While working in the information security department, I managed to graduate from the university and gain vast experience. I quit after 1.5 years. There were several reasons, but the main one is a new colleague. From the same series as university professors who believe that women have no place in IT. It became hard for me to work in such an atmosphere, and then an interesting position turned up - a specialist in the protection of information in the field of personal data. By that time, for about half a year I was fond of the topic of personal data protection and decided to try myself in this area.
Budget work
Work in the public sector is AD. There are many reasons, ranging from low salaries to rip-offs.
In total, about 50 people worked in the organization, including 10 people in the IT department. Everyone who is not in the IT department is women who insist even at the age of 30 that they should be called by their first and middle names.
For the first time in my life, I fell into a predominantly female collective and experienced all its charms. But I had a very interesting task - to develop uniform rules for processing personal data for medical institutions of the region. Starting from pieces of paper and ending with the setup of equipment. I plunged headlong and did not notice how almost a year passed.
Then came another disappointment - the implementation stage. There is no funding, experts are simply zero. I constantly conducted training seminars, went on business trips, wrote recommendations on how and what to set up. But the "gray and bitchiness" of the atmosphere depressed more and more.
Then I was offered to make a very large project to protect personal data in a network of car dealerships. I agreed, 2 months worked for wear and tear, completed the project. At the same time, she earned a little more than her annual salary and realized that I could quit with a clear conscience.
By that time, my husband had already opened his own company a half. I rested for a month and joined him. I’ve been an entrepreneur for 3.5 years. I completely changed the scope of activity, which I absolutely do not regret. We are engaged in online marketing.
Well, colleagues are rushing, it's time to round off. Just today we are celebrating 5 years since the founding of the company.
PS Continue reading:
Family IT
business Family IT business. My three golden rules
Family IT business. Time to make money.
Family IT business. Who is the Energy Elephant