Now in its ninth year, International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) is all about celebrating women’s achievements in the traditionally male-dominated field of engineering. According to INWED’s June 2021 stats, women are still majorly underrepresented in the field, with only 16.5% of engineers being women.
Clearly, there is still work to be done. Not only is the occasion used to celebrate women in engineering, but also to encourage the next generation to take up careers in this exciting and rewarding field, too! The end goal? Equal representation of folks working in STEM roles.
As a global tech company, Teamwork sees the value in bringing team members with different experiences and perspectives to the table, and is a proud partner of iWish, to truly invest in inspiring and motivating the young, female STEM superstars of tomorrow.
Without further ado, we’d like for you to meet a few of Teamwork’s inspiring engineers we’re celebrating today and every day:
Meet: Sinead Cullinane
Education: Bachelor of Computer Science, University College Cork, Ireland
Current role: Software Engineer
Length of time at Teamwork: 4 years
Location: Cork, Ireland
Tell us about your current role and engineering at Teamwork?
I’m a mid-level software engineer on the Chat and Automations team at Teamwork. I mainly work on the frontend (using Vue.js) but also do some backend work. I started out in Teamwork as an intern in my third year of college and then got hired full-time when I graduated.
In your experience, what are the benefits of working in engineering?
Engineering covers such a wide range of opportunities that there’s something for everyone. You can do frontend, backend, security, etc. There’s a wide variety of programming languages to choose from, and different work styles too. You could work for a company, become a freelancer, or offer your services as a contractor. Engineering jobs are often flexible too, with remote work available in many of them. If you have a passion for software engineering it’s hard to get bored, there’s always something new to learn and try out.
What advice would you give women considering a career in engineering?
Programming is a practical skill, anyone can learn how to do it. Creating your own software projects (apps, websites, etc.), will help you learn more than anything else, and it makes you much more hireable than someone with a degree in engineering who’s never put it into practice.
Meet: Monika Piotrowska
Education: Master’s Degree, Business Management, The Poznań University of Management and Banking, Poland, and FreeCodeCamp, online (in order to change my career path)
Current role title: Software Developer
Length of time at Teamwork: 6 months
Location: Barcelona, Spain (remote)
Tell us about your current role and engineering at Teamwork?
I work on the Tango team which is responsible for improving the user experience for existing core areas of Teamwork for both new and current customers and new feature development.
In your experience, what are the benefits of working in engineering?
It encourages you to learn constantly and allows you to use your creativity. I was working as a Finance Manager until January 2020 and then after moving to sunny Barcelona, decided to pursue a career in tech. I have never regretted this decision and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to start an exciting new career!
What advice would you give women considering a career in engineering?
It is never too late to choose this path!
Meet: Ciara Foley
Education: Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) and Spanish, University College Cork, Ireland, and a Master of Science E-Business, University College Cork, Ireland.
Current role title: Customer Champion
Length of time at Teamwork: 5 years
Location: Cork, Ireland
Tell us about your current role and engineering at Teamwork?
I initially started in the Customer Support Role at Teamwork and then moved to the QA team where I tested the Teamwork app for four years and worked on ensuring the quality of the Teamwork app. Then recently I moved to the Product team in the Customer Champion role meaning I now work with our customers and build out the product roadmap.
In your experience, what are the benefits of working in engineering?
There is always something new to learn, there is always support if you ask for it and there’s no such thing as a stupid question. As you’ll see from my bio, there are also lots of opportunities within engineering to move into something else that you like working on.
What advice would you give females considering a career in engineering?
Go for it! Once you get in there you’ll naturally start doing the things that you like doing and you can create a career from that. You don’t have to have all the answers or have a five/ten-year plan, you’ll naturally find the right fit for you. There’s so much variety that you’ll never be stuck and you’ll definitely never be bored.
Name: Aoibheann O’Donovan
Education: Bachelor of Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Ireland, and a Master’s Degree, Dietetics, King’s College London
Current role title: QA Software Tester
Length of time at Teamwork: 6 months
Location: Between Cork, Ireland, and Milwaukee, USA (remote)
Tell us about your current role and engineering at Teamwork?
As you can see, from my original college degrees (and are probably thinking ‘Are we sure we sent these questions to the right person?’), software and engineering is a different planet from where I first began.
A whistle-stop background tour: I quickly learned that the hospital shift working a nine-to-five rigid role of a Dietitian in London wasn’t for me. So I jumped ship to a global food manufacturing company. My previous role was a hybrid between QA software testing and food quality data migration to a new SAP ERP (software system), so that’s where the engineering stuff began.
My interview at Teamwork was a lot of “I haven't used X software before, but it definitely looks like something I can learn and am excited to use,” and really, I have loved every part of it so far. My day-to-day is never the same, which I absolutely love! I am part of two growth teams.
The growth teams focus on small experiments and upgrading the software to ensure we are keeping up with competitors and most importantly, customer needs and wants. It is a very fast-paced team, we usually have new experiments released every 2-3 weeks, which is why every day/week is completely different. My role is to test the back-end and front-end features and functionality, take on user personas and ensure the code is of the highest quality before it is released to production.
In your experience, what are the benefits of working in engineering?
Ability to work remotely. I love to travel and remote working allows this. So far this year I have worked in Mexico, Kerry, Cork, Dublin, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Miami. I am able to carry my laptop and swoop straight into work mode literally anywhere.
Flexibility. Teamwork allows us to work flexible hours which is a really modern way of working. In return, I will always respect this and always do the extra hour or a few hours some evenings if I need to hop out for an appointment during the day for example.
You never stop learning. I don't think engineering can ever become monotonous or mundane due to the constantly changing world of technology. And also, the LinkedIn Learning courses we are given the opportunity to enroll in at Teamwork.
What advice would you give women considering a career in engineering?
Go.For.It.! Have faith in yourself! There are definitely more men in this industry but that does not mean men are better at it. What you don't know, the old-school method of actually sitting down and learning is still a thing in engineering. There is a course for almost everything on the internet.
Teamwork gives huge support to doing learning courses, and also if you express interest in a different field of engineering, even if it’s not in your absolute job spec, doors are opened straight away for you to get more insights and play around with different areas, in my experience/opinion so far anyway–and it’s not just limited to engineering, it’s every area!
Meet: Isolde Greaney
Education: Bachelor of Science, Computer Science, University College, Cork, Ireland
Current role title: Software Tester
Length of time at Teamwork: 3 years
Location: Cork, Ireland
Tell us about your current role and engineering at Teamwork?
I started off as an Intern on the QA team. During my six-month internship, I mainly did manual testing and worked alongside multiple development teams to get features out. This was a great starting point to become familiar with all of our products and see how different teams worked. I stayed on part-time during my final year in college and became permanent after my exams. This then led me to the opportunity to start setting up automated testing and work on my development skills.
In your experience, what are the benefits of working in engineering?
Every day is different. No day is ever boring and you are always challenging yourself. Engineering is so broad that you can always find something that suits you. I’ve also found that it is very flexible and usually allows you to work remotely.
What advice would you give females considering a career in engineering?
It’s definitely worth it. There are so many great opportunities for women and there’s a really supportive female community if you ever need guidance. As I said above, there will definitely be something out there that you will love and if you enjoy learning new skills and challenging yourself, this is the career path for you.
Meet: Laura McAree
Education: Business Information Systems, University College Cork, Ireland, and a professional certificate in UX Design, UX Design Institute
Current role title: Software Developer 3
Location: Cork, Ireland
Length of time at Teamwork: 8 months
Tell us about your current role and engineering at Teamwork?
I’m a Software Developer 3 on the Projects API team. I have sort of a hybrid role on this team as I am the Bravo team’s point of contact for all of the API work that they require. It’s nice to be able to see the design on the front end with the Bravo team and from that, I can get a better understanding of what to do on the API side.
In your experience, what are the benefits of working in engineering?
You are continuously upskilling—Teamwork is very supportive of doing courses
You can work in any sector—I was previously in a cyber security company
Problem-solving
Transferable skills
You can work from home
What advice would you give women considering a career in engineering?
If you like problem-solving and are interested in a career in engineering, believe in yourself and just go for it and ignore the stereotypes. You never know where a career in engineering could lead you!
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Like our Teamworkers above, if you’re looking for a career that is flexible, fun, and allows for the opportunity for continuous learning and work from anywhere across the globe, perhaps a career in engineering may be the right move for you!
If you’d like to learn more about engineering opportunities (and others!) at Teamwork, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and check out www.teamwork.com/careers for updates.