What is it like to be a woman in the IT industry?

Today is International Women’s Day, and we are particularly inspired by the initiatives being launched to promote women’s representation and recognition in the IT industry. Hopefully, even more women will join us in the future. At Releye we work we to maintain an equal workplace and corporate culture that includes everyone people. Since the focus is on our amazingwomen today, we we’ve found out what some of our own colleagues say about the IT industry. 

What are you working on today? 

Pernilla: I am the Business Area Manager for one of Releye’s three business areas, with a focus on Microsoft 

Josefin: I work as a senior IT project manager and team leader. I also lead our internal efforts to develop our project methodology and our way of working in Azure DevOps.

Emma: I am a business consultant and project manager, which means I help our clients develop their customer-facing processes in marketing, sales, and customer service. I’m also the team lead for a group of consultants who work with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. 

Lotta: I work as a business area manager for Releye Salesforcebusiness unit, and also serve as a business consultant on certain client projects.

What's the best thing about working in the IT industry?

Pernilla: It’s an industry that’s focused on the future; things move fast, and anything feels possible. 
 
Josefin: The best part is that you’re constantly forced to learn new things; it’s incredibly rewarding, which I really like. 
 
Emma: The fast pace of change and the opportunity to constantly help our customers create new, smarter, and more digital and customer-friendly solutions. Plus, getting to work with quick-thinking, dedicated, and fun (!) colleagues makes my job really enjoyable!  
 
Lotta: It’s a fast-paced industry that’s constantly evolving. New technological opportunities keep emerging to solve various problems and challenges in society, which I find really exciting to be a part of. And I have the chance to work with amazing people who make this possible. Together, we can come up with smart solutions to our customers’ challenges and bring them to life.

What advice do you have for women who are interested in the IT industry? 

Pernilla: Give it a try! Digitalization and automation affect everyone, which means that a more business-oriented background is super relevant for many areas of IT. You don’t have to be super technical to work in the IT industry—just look at me—and there are tons of fun projects out there!  

Josefin: My advice is to take the plunge! I meet a lot of women who don’t want to work in IT because they doubt their technical skills, but I truly believe that anyone can learn. Not everyone works on the most technical aspects—talk to people (women and men) around you who work in IT to understand what they actually do.

Emma: Give it a try! For me, it’s been about working at a company that deals with business issues I’m interested in. I’ve picked up the technical skills along the way.

Lotta: There’s not much to think about—just go for it. Joking aside, I’d recommend that everyone look for a company that they think does good and interesting things, and then learn from the people there. 

How will you celebrate International Women's Day?

Pernilla: First, I’m going to give my daughter a flower and wish her a happy birthday, then I’m going to cheer on and coach 25 9-year-old boys playing in in a floorball tournament. 

Josefin: I won’t be celebrating in any special way; instead, I’ll try to support the women around me as often as possible! 

Emma: I celebrated early with a dinner with my closest (female!) friends on Friday!

Lotta: I plan to treat with a truly lovely and delicious dinner.

International Women's Day is a day when we honor both achievementsto to gender equality as ongoing challenges. We celebrate and are proud that 63% of our managers are women and that 60% of our executive team are women. However, we would very much like to bring in more female developers this year. We will work toward that!