Girls, dare to dabble in IT

The number of women employed in the IT sphere is growing year by year. The International Women’s Day, March 8, is coming soon, so, we put out a feeler to ask the HR department of the O! mobile operator (NUR Telecom LLC) and found out that there are still more men (about 77%) then women employed in the information technology area, however, there are more girls comparing to couple of past years.

Let’s visit the IT floors of the O! company and listen to the ladies employed there to find out what those gifted girls have in common, how they came to the profession, and what tips they have for newcomers.

How did you come to IT?

Ainura Januzakova: When I entered the Polytech (the Kyrgyz Technical University), it was clear that the future lies in information technologies. I was admitted to budget-supported education based on the National testing results, and I had no doubts I would stay there, and now I am a database administering engineer at the country’s coolest company O!.

Elvira Zarifullina: In my case, the choice of profession was quite predictable. I was interested in STEM disciplines and solutions logics since my school years. I graduated from a specialized university with automated data processing and management systems as the major. Currently, I am an IT analyst and IT architect.

Kamila Ulanbekova: I entered a university to become a program engineer. On my 2nd year, I joined the Programmer Ayimdar II program (take a look if you are a girl and you want to become a programmer) and, upon completion, passed an internship and became a mobile app developer.

Alina Asylbek kyzy: I entered a bioengineering department initially but later realized that I liked IT more. Finally, I completed a BS program in Computer Sciences and now I am happy to work as a web developer.

Elnura Tajibaeva: My path to IT was long and difficult. This is not an area where you can learn a trade once and then use the same knowledge for all your life. First, I graduated from the I. Razzakov State Technical University as a communication engineer with Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering as the major, and then completed a master’s program in Electronics and Information Technologies at the Harbin Engineering University, apart from numerous specialized training courses in development and programming.

Elena Shapovalova: I came to IT from quite a different field – I am food industry engineer. I relearned as a tech girl on my own – everything is possible when you have got Google :), so, currently I am an engineer at the service policy and billing management group. What I like in my job is that I face new challenges every day – no dead level.

What can girls do in a “man’s” profession?

Elvira: Yes, it has established historically that men have been drivers of STEM sciences development. However, the first programmer ever was woman called Ada Lovelace, and the first programming language Ada was named in her honor. Nevertheless, the technological revolution empowered women to be more proactive in IT development, and now the whole range of IT fields is available to girls. Everyone can choose something of interest:

• those proactive and sociable may choose project management or analytics;

• the more inward ones choose programming or administration;

• creative souls prefer design or architecture or IT training, etc.

Kamila: I never thought of IT as of a “men’s” profession. I met a lot of nice girls in this sphere just over the last 3 years. You can say it, there were fifty-fifty girls and boys studying at my department in the university.

Ainura: There are a lot of advantages for girls in IT: you can both be a family hearth keeper and work remotely, without being fastened to one place. You can take your parental leave and continue working in your area.

Tips for newcomers

Elnura: We can see our girls winning the IT world not only in Kyrgyzstan but all over the world too, this is really inspiring. Stay among the people of your sphere, make friends with creative persons.

Alina: I agree there is a lot of IT communities. Join them, communicate with professionals and newcomers, find a mentor to get useful recommendations, and never delay internship – this is the shortest way to growth.

Kamila: Congratulations on the coming holiday, girls. I believe in every one of you ☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆

All the ladies in the O! staff believe one needs to learn continuously in IT, choose the profession of interest, and be not afraid of prejudices. If you want to join a team of tough specialists visit o.kg, the Vacancies page, to submit an application or send CV to hr@nurtelecom.kg.