Career Nav #29: Tech Career Progression, From Start to Transition and Beyond
Written by Deepali Chouhan & Tammy Miller
Tammy Miller, Software Quality Assurance Tester / Business Analyst, Eagle Technologies, Inc., and Deepali Chouhan, Product Owner at Ping Identity, WWCode Vancouver Network Director, sit down for a discussion, “Tech Career Progression, From Start to Transition and Beyond.” They share how they each got into their journey in tech and talk about the importance of continued learning in the field.
Deepali: Can you tell us how you started your career?
Tammy: When I was attending university, my major was accounting. I loved it. I like numbers. I was not doing too well. I was failing the classes. I was also working at the help desk. Someone asked me, "Why don't you take a class in IT?" I took a class. I didn't do too well, so I went back to accounting and still didn't do too well. I tried taking the computer class one more time and got an A or B. From that point on, I took all the classes in information technology. I kept my minor in accounting. Once I graduated, I found a job as a teacher, teaching a computer class. I was also working on a database for that company.
What challenges have you faced in tech? What were some other challenges you faced when moving to a different country?
Deepali: Tech is constantly evolving. You have to be willing to keep learning if you want to grow. It would be best if you spent time other than your work to keep up with the technologies and tech stack. Another challenge could be planning and owning your career. There will be challenges in every step of your job. Challenges mean that you are growing.
I was born and raised in India. After working for a while, I moved to Canada. It had its set of challenges, personally and professionally. I wasn’t close to my friends or my family. I had to do everything on my own. Professionally, you'll have to adjust to the culture and how people work in that particular environment. If you want to grow, then don't be scared of challenges.
What challenges did you face when you were getting started in your career?
Tammy: After I graduated, it took me a while to find a job, especially in the IT field. The second challenge I faced was that I thought I couldn't do it.
Deepali: I did my bachelor's in electronic engineering. I took a one-year gap because I wanted to revisit and see what I wanted to do. That was one of the best decisions that I made. Computers are something that I have always been interested in. I wanted to do my master's in computers, but the challenge is that you have to take exams and be qualified to get into a good engineering college. I had to make some preparations. I took advantage of that one year, did some preparations, and gave some exams to certain universities I was targeting.
What made you interested in the quality engineering role specifically?
Tammy: It's similar to what I was going for in accounting. It's more structured. I think part of what made me interested was that you find these issues, report it, write out the steps, write out the processes, go through producing it, talk to the developers and see if it's okay to write these things. I didn't realize I was doing quality engineering. It gradually came through in increments, each job that I had to do the testing.
Deepali: Do you have any tips for people or women looking to become a quality engineer?
Tammy: If you are starting as a quality engineer and you have no experience, one of the things you can do is volunteer. I'm volunteering for an open-source project with a section where you can work with quality engineering if you are looking for a job. If you're in your job and trying to transition, you can ask people, "Hey, can I check this out for you, or can I test this for you?"
What drew you into cybersecurity and identity management?
Deepali: When working with CA Technologies, I was already exposed to those concepts, which drew my attention more. I wanted to learn more about it. We know data breaches are happening every day with every company. I wanted to go into deep detail to understand how we can build more secure and robust software to help with the digitization process.
Tammy: You have recently transitioned from engineering to product management. Can you talk a little bit more about that process?
Deepali: I have been having conversations with my manager about long-term plans. Product is something I have always wanted to try out. Especially being a QA because you are working with UI, and UX. You are also working with product and engineering. You are in this layer, which is connected with all these domains. You get exposure. That helped me understand the product more. I also wanted to see how customers use the product and what else we can do to help solve problems. Why not just talk to the customer myself?
Tammy: My previous manager always used to say, my. "It's always important to understand the domain about the product so that you can understand the customers, the users that you're working with."
Deepali: Are there any pro tips for women working in technology?
Tammy: Keep learning and practicing. Surround yourself with people who are there to support you on your journey in technology.
What is your pro tip?
Deepali: Be comfortable with uncomfortable situations because that is when you grow, and push yourself.
The Speakers
Deepali Chouhan
Twitter – @DeepaliiChouhan
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepalichouhan/
Instagram – whats_in_a_gender
Twitter – @dctechsista
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/developbitquality/