How Caterine got her dream job at Microsoft.
πββοΈ Before SheCodes
Caterine is half German, half Estonian - and is now living in Berlin, Germany. She got a Bachelorβs degree in Linguistics and Business Management followed by a Masterβs degree in International Management with a focus on Digital Business. During her studies, she interned at companies like Fabletics and Roche to help her decide which career path she was interested in pursuing. She explored marketing and business, but an interest in the tech side of business started to form.Β
βDuring my internships in Marketing, I always felt that there was something missing in my tasks and I was never satisfied... During my internship at the online retailer Fabletics, I got some insights into coding. I used to sit next to a developer and look over his shoulder to see what he was doing, which I found very intriguing.β
As her interest in development began to grow, she decided to do an internship in the field of business intelligence. But she realized that basic coding knowledge was a requirement for internships in this field. Hence, she began looking for coding workshops to gain a solid foundation of coding knowledge. It was her goal to develop her coding knowledge, optimize her analytical thinking with hands-on coding practice, gain experience in an internship in a related field, and go on to work for a large, successful, well-known tech company.Β
βCompanies like Microsoft and Amazon fascinated me and my dream was to work in one of these firms some day. Coding was the entry point of my direction towards working in the Tech industry.β
π©βπ» Her SheCodes Experience
Caterine is one of our very first SheCodes graduates! She took SheCodes back in November 2017 when we were just beginning.Β
βI attended the very second course of SheCodes and I am super excited to see that the community has grown so vastly!β
She first heard about SheCodes while pursuing her Masterβs degree at Nova School of Business and Economics in Lisbon Portugal. She didnβt try any other coding courses before SheCodes - she saw the SheCodes workshop and decided to delve right in. It turned out to be a great fit for her.
βMy favorite part of the SheCodes Workshop was the Product Development part - I really loved to learn about front-end development! I also really loved the highly motivating working atmosphere together. All of the women had different backgrounds (non-techie, semi-techie), came from different cities/countries and had different motivations to join SheCodes and to learn more about coding. It was an incredible experience! SheCodes is not just a coding camp, but a real coding community.β
Caterine believes that SheCodes gave her the perfect insight into the world of coding. She enjoyed the casual, yet productive atmosphere to learn the basics of coding.Β
βIn my opinion, SheCodes offers a very unique and inspiring opportunity to dive into the world of coding, grow the expertise and explore all the possibilities of working in the tech industry (be it to become very technical and a professional coder or to learn about the structure of code, which is for example crucial if you work with developers).β
π How SheCodes has Helped to Change Her Life
Knowledge that Caterine gained in SheCodes helped her improve her professional skill set, increase her confidence in understanding the basics of coding, and ameliorate her analytical thinking. Coding knowledge helped her get her foot in the door in the tech industry and work at a company of her dreams.
βSheCodes was one of my very first steps into the tech field which made its contribution to where I am - working in one of the most successful and inspiring IT companies in the world.β
Caterine is now an Account Technology Strategist at Microsoft. In her job role, she helps her customers succeed in their digital transformation and achieve their strategic business and IT goals by leveraging Microsoft's enterprise platform, including cloud solutions and artificial intelligence. She also orchestrates activities between Microsoft and their partner platforms to lead the successful adoption of the technologies and make sure the customers are able to maximize the business value and impact of the partnership.
Coding knowledge helped Caterine arrive at her current position and plays an important role in her professional skill set. She also really enjoys coding, so she is highly motivated to continue to expand her coding knowledge.Β
π©βπΌ Advice to Future SheCodes Student
Caterine believes that coding knowledge is important whether youβd like to learn a new skill, garner some basic coding knowledge, explore a new area, or improve your professional skill set.
βRegardless of what your motivations are to learn more about code, SheCodes is a very great opportunity to explore the world of coding and to get inspired by the instructor or the other participating women, and to expand your own skill set!β
