Women in tech: Agata Tamioła, Technical Support Lead at Recruitee

As people working in tech, we have the opportunity to change outdated stereotypes and support women's representation in the tech space. ‘Women in tech’ is a collection of interviews with talented and dedicated women working in tech roles at Recruitee. They are role models for us, and once you read their stories, they will become yours as well.

Welcome Agata Tamioła

Agata Tamioła is the Technical Support Lead at Recruitee. She joined Recruitee over two and a half years ago, initially as a Quality Engineer & Technical Support. In that role, she was responsible for testing the software, writing test cases and test scenarios, and suggesting improvements and UI/UX solutions. 

In mid-2021, Agata got promoted to her current role of  Technical Support Lead. In this role, she leads a team of five and works closely with the Customer Support Team to identify tech problems and solutions based on customer feedback. 

We sat down with Agata to learn more about her path into engineering and ultimately Technical support, why she chose a career in IT and what hopes and dreams she has for the industry in the future.  

How or why did you choose engineering as a career path? And what inspires you about it?

Before I started working in IT, I worked with people with disabilities. I loved that job very much, but after some time, I realized that it took a toll on me. That’s when I decided to change my career path.

My husband and brother work in IT, and I saw how much they liked their job. When scrolling through Facebook one day, I saw an ad that said something like “Become a programmer in a couple of weeks” and decided to just go for it. 

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What is the most exciting thing about your job?

The best thing is having fun with an application because I can be super creative finding bugs. I think it’s very satisfying to find errors and help develop solutions that will improve the product. I can see that I have an impact, which I didn’t envision as clearly in my previous jobs. 

Plus, I am the go-between of the developers and feel valued for what I do. The things that I do at my job matter, and I can bring my whole self to work. For example, I love rules and enjoy creating flows for everything. I like to make work easier, which I do by creating processes or improving communications within the team. 

In my role at Recruitee, I can see the value of what I do, which is essential. Because if I didn’t, the work would not be as exciting. 

What challenges do women face in this profession?

I don’t notice many obstacles for women in IT, at least not here in Poland. I feel like men and women are equal. However, we used to have problems, or certain stereotypes, like IT is only something for a bunch of guys in a basement. But that is not valid anymore. More women and other people outside this branch have been pursuing a career in IT, which I think is great! This diversity is good for the entire IT industry.  

Before joining IT, I thought it wasn’t for me. I didn’t know that there were things beyond programming and coding, like testing, for example. But after looking into it, I found a branch within IT that I am really good at. 

I hope to be the success story for more women that want to get into IT. I think it’s getting more complex, though, as more and more people realize that IT is for them. I was lucky that someone gave me a chance when I didn’t have any experience yet. The space is more competitive now. 

What would you say to girls in school/college who may be considering engineering as a career choice?

I would say two things: 

1. It’s not for only boys. The world of IT is changing, we can finally see the potential of women in general, and I think that within the next few years, more and more women will be joining IT. 
2. And take a look at every branch in engineering. Find something for yourself and explore. As I said before, I wasn’t aware that there are so many disciplines within IT. The variety was a lifesaver. 
   

What are your hopes for the future of IT?

I hope that IT will forever appreciate diversity and invest in people and their skills, regardless of gender, background, or anything else. The industry needs to see people's potential, even if they are juniors, without hard but with soft skills.

I hope that technology will continue to change our lives for the better, especially with the problems we are facing right now, like global warming or pandemics. I hope tech will be used as a source for good and continues to help people.