Share your experience as a woman in tech

[allietrzaska]

Hi everyone,

With the launch of this new Group, and as a woman in tech myself (!), I would love to hear about others' experiences in technology.

Whether you are just beginning your career or are a 20+ year veteran, what has it been like working in technology? What has changed since you started? What are you most looking forward to? 

Some of the women in the SAP Champions and SAP Mentors programs shared a little bit about their experiences as women in technology.  @TammyPowlas

Below are some more questions to consider when reflecting on your experience. I'd would love to hear about more about yours. Feel free to share in the comments! 

1. What advice do you have to young women and girls who may be looking to work in Technology?
2. Why do you think it is important for more women to join the tech industry?
3. How much do you think the industry has changed since you joined? 
4. What motivates or inspires you? 
5. What is most fun about working in Tech? What do you love about working in tech? 
6. How do you combat biases in the tech industry? 
7. What was your dream job as a child? 
8. What is the best professional advice you have ever received? 
9. What first sparked your interest in working in the Tech Industry? 
10. What is a time you did something you were immensely proud of? 
11. How can women help other women? 
12. What inspires you to help give women in tech a voice and the tools to succeed? 

[TammyPowlas]

Hi Allie - on number 11 - the great Marilyn Pratt (now retired from SAP) supported me with this blog post:  https://blogs.sap.com/2012/10/14/cyberbullying-it-isn-t-just-for-kids/ - I appreciated her having my back, along with another SAP Mentor at the time, Vijay Vijayasankar.  

Marilyn's doing that was inspirational to me.

[StephanieMarley]

What advice do you have to young women and girls who may be looking to work in Technology? (My advice is that there is something for everyone!)

As you may already know, tech is ever-changing with so much innovation – from my experience working for a tech company has never meant a dull day. Better yet, tech job opportunities are endless, offering positions from customer service to community relations, to marketing, to product management, to coding, to sales… While working in tech you have the pleasure of working with folks from many diverse educational, cultural and geographical backgrounds. I think that a myth to bust is that everyone pursuing a job in tech needs a STEM degree. When I started my career in tech with no background or degree in STEM, I was a customer support manager. I was not technical, and I knew nothing about coding. In my role as a CSM, I was responsible for ensuring that a service sold by my company ran smoothly pre and post implementation. In this role I worked with developers, and ‘on the job’ I gained knowledge about software. As my career progressed in technology, I never had a dull day. I wish for others to consider a career in tech, no matter what role they want to pursue.

[sveabecker]

I just want to mention it's so great to see so many familiar faces in the video. You ladies rock! Thanks for sharing! ❤️

[former_member7378]

Hi Allie! As a female engineer who just joined SAP, I am so glad to find this SAP Women in Tech Community! I was onboarded to SAP in February this year. The Women's Tech Academy I joined is the first initiative in China that aims to empower women in technology and engineering. Therefore, I wanted to share my experience so I wrote a post here. Check it out if you are interested. Happy to join the community and hear all the amazing stories from other women!

[StephanieMarley]

Welcome Cynthia and all the best! Your mentorship to others will make a big difference for so many 😁😍