Imagine that you are a little girl's mom, you run your own business, and suddenly you decide to make a 180 degrees turn on your career path. That's what our Intern in Solution Quality team, Jagoda Kordas, did. And being a full-time mom didn't stop her at all. It gave her only an additional motivation! Read the interview with our next #TSCSuperWomen and check if it is easy to enter the IT world for women and moms.
Jagoda, tell us something about you. What did you do before you decided to become a Tester?
Previously, my whole professional life was linked to PR and Marketing. I was working in this area for more than five years. Later on, I started my own company specialized in VR. I was organizing the business and family events with unique attractions based on virtual reality technology. We were also creating mobile applications with VR elements. That is when the IT world inspired me, and I decided to look for new career opportunities. Unfortunately, at that time I was not able to find enough time to start to work on that. Running your own business is massively challenging.
Then how did it happen that you are an intern at our Solution Quality team right now?
Paradoxically, when I became a mom, I finally found the time to kick-off my private self-development plan. I've started to look for available knowledge sources. I've completed some stationary and Udemy courses and was reading a lot. However, I still lacked hands-on experience. I've got an idea to become a volunteer and test the applications released by charity organizations. I tested two apps connected with the Covid-19 pandemic and one meant for English online learning. But I was still looking for new opportunities to get more and more knowledge and experience. The breakthrough point was when I found the "Mamo pracuj" (Mummy work, if you want to) foundation and joined the "Mom just go for it" project. Mentoring program for women coming back to the labor market after maternity leave. One of the mentors at the foundation was Honorata Stuczka-Kucharska, the Head of Solution Quality at DB Schenker Technology Center Warsaw. We matched each other, and I’ve became her mentee!
How did your mentoring with Honia look like?
Firstly, we set the action plan. I decided what my needs are and what I want to learn. We had coaching sessions once or twice a week. My mentor organized, e.g., a training job interview with HR and one or meetings with SQ team members when they make me familiar with their job and what testing is about. Besides that, I was getting regular tasks to do on my own as homework. I've learned a lot during that time.
The next step was to "test" the obtained knowledge in practice. How was your beginning in our company?
Yes, I've got the proposal to become an intern in the Solution Quality team and finally started a real tester job! I've joined the Lines, one of the essential development projects run at TSC. In the beginning, I've got a lot of support from the team. They walked me through the used tools and project routines. I've learned what agile is and how to work in a scrum team. My biggest threat was that I would be a burden for my colleagues, but I've never felt that way! From the beginning, everybody treated me as a fully-fledged team member. I got tasks that I was able to do on my own with little support. Finally, I became the tester in one of the minor projects, covering for a friend who was on vacation at that time. Recently, my internship was prolonged for the next three months. It seems that my job here matters for the whole team's success!
And what do you do in your free time? Do you have any free time with all the mom and job duties?
Yes, of course, I have! Before the pandemic, I was a very active person. I love the gym, biking, long walks alongside the sea. My daughter is a very vigorous child, too, so we spent a lot of time together outside. Right now, I spend more time at home. We bake cakes together and then try to burn those calories inside four walls. I love to travel, e.g., I used to visit the European countries by hitchhiking, but I also love Southeast Asia. We hope that the pandemic will be over soon, and we will hit the road again!
Let's hope for it :) Jagoda thank you for the inspiring interview!
The series of articles #TSCsuperwomen features inspiring female colleagues and their IT career paths at Technology Solution Center. Next interviews with our Super Women will come soon!