As people working in tech, we have the opportunity to change outdated stereotypes and support women's representation in the tech space.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.
Martyna Wilkońska is a QA Engineer at Recruitee based in Poznań, Poland. We sat down with Martyna to learn more about her path into engineering, her passion for helping other women join IT, and her advice for young girls considering a career in the industry.
Sure! I work in the Quality Assurance team. I do a lot of tests to identify bugs in the software. I spend a lot of time thinking about the user experience from the design aspect and ensuring everything works the way it’s supposed to.
Yes, exactly!
I wanted to study IT, but many people said it was not for girls, so I hesitated.
When I was young, my father and I built little cars and machines. He told me, “You should become a mechanical engineer!” I thought that would be cool, so I went ahead and did it.
I spent five years studying Quality Design of Industrial Products at university. During this time, I landed my first job at the Industrial Institute of Agricultural Machines as a lab technician.
In reality, I found it quite dull. Every day for two years, I was doing the same tests on the same device, which in this case, was a chocolate pump prototype.
So, in my free time, I dived into IT, which was close to my heart, and discovered the Software Quality Assurance Engineer role. I immediately fell in love with it because I could use my academic knowledge and passion for IT.
The spirit of quality design is still the same, just more exciting! With software, you never do the same thing twice. There are new bugs to be found. That’s why I love it. I mostly had to recall SQL, but it wasn’t hard. The syntax is very similar to English. I find it easier to learn a programming language than a foreign language.
By the way, did you know that the first computer programmers were women in Poland? I like the idea that computers are easy to work with, and they’re not reserved for a particular group of people.
Another interesting fact is that a woman found the first computer bug, Grace Hopper was her name. She found a moth stuck in the system. That’s why we call it a bug.
In 2015, I wanted to learn more about Ruby on Rails (a software development framework). So I attended a Rails Girls workshop in Poznan, Poland. The year after, I became a lecturer. And then, I became host and organizer. I also co-organized a Django Girls workshop, a non-profit organization to help get more women into IT.
Finally, I’m sharing my SQL knowledge with the Recruitee support team to understand the system better.
I think it’s essential for us to share our knowledge. Tech is moving forward, so I’m advocating for more tech awareness. Especially for women and non-binary people working in this sector. I know how hard it can be to make your mark in this predominantly male field of work.
Whatever people say, do it anyway! Read about the bias you will be facing, and know that it’s still possible to do incredible things.
Dive into all the inventions made by women: Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper, Katherine Johnson, and the other NASA mathematicians. There are plenty of inspirational figures to look up to!
Finally, don’t feel pressured to choose a branch. It’s not only IT. Try different things and discover what you like.
Monica is the Communications Manager at Recruitee. Her focus is to bring the recruiters community together to help each other overcome industry challenges and share insights on how to find the best talent out there.
Get the exclusive tips, resources and updates to help you hire better!
Hire better, faster, together!
Bring your hiring teams together, boost your sourcing, automate your hiring, and evaluate candidates effectively.
