Klaudia Szyszka
Communication Expert
Women in technology - Interview with Ewelina
On the occasion of International Women's Day, we invite you to read a series of interviews with our colleagues from Raiffeisen Tech. We bring you the profiles of five extraordinary women with different experiences and professional paths, who play amazing roles in the world of technology.
What is the female face of Raiffeisen Tech? How do you find your place in technology? How do we work and what makes us different? We talked about this with Ewelina Kulesza - Business Analyst. We invite you to read the first interview in our Women of R-Tech series.
Ewelina, your career at Raiffeisen Tech has been a real adventure with many developmental changes. Could you tell us your story?
Ewelina: I have been with Raiffeisen almost forever. It is now 13 years. FirstI worked at Raiffeisen Bank for 9 years and now I have been co-founder of Raiffeisen Tech for 4 years. Over the years I have worked in different positions, roles and projects. The variability in my job has been very high andI think this is one of the main reasons why I still choose Raiffeisen and Raiffeisen Tech.
What gives me the most satisfaction is the opportunity to constantly learn. My responsibilities are largely business related, but I am also deeply involved in the IT world, which has always interested me.
What are you currently doing?
Ewelina: I am a Business Analyst in the Copernicus team. We are building the Copernicus application - a CRM for different networks of the RBI Group. My role is to gather requirements from the business, analyse them and transfer them to the development team in the form of user stories.
Is there anything about your job that gives you the most satisfaction?
Ewelina: What gives me the most satisfaction is the opportunity to constantly learn. My responsibilities are largely business related, but I am also deeply involved in the IT world, which has always interested me. My current role gives me the opportunity not only to delve into the database, but also to observe the entire software development process.
So many tasks around you and you still find time to develop?
Ewelina: I just like to learn and it doesn't bother me in any way. I like to go into new areas, even if they are completely unknown and I have to learn everything from scratch. I really enjoy learning.
What about the work-life balance?
Ewelina: At Raiffesien Tech there is room for work - life - balance. I can finish work at 5 pm and take care of my own affairs 😊 Sometimes I need to improve and develop myself after working hours, but this is related to my more personal development. After work I like to exercise and walk around the city. It's a nice distraction for me.
Do you have a particularly memorable situation at work? Something that surprised you in a positive way?
Ewelina: There is one situation. When my mobile application project was coming to an end and it was known that it would not be continued, I was afraid - what would happen to me next? But it did not last long because my manager came to me and suggested that I could choose another place in the company where I wanted to develop. It was a shock for me, something I wasn't prepared for. Of course, it's a very positive shock that I can decide for myself. This shows a very nice approach to employees and support that is visible at every stage of our work and in different situations.
Is the support you are talking about visible at every stage of the work?
Ewelina: Absolutely. I feel that if I need help, I can always ask for it. The willingness to give it is always great.
How do you think women see their chances of working in technology?
Ewelina: Perhaps many women associate technology with programming. They may be afraid that their job will involve writing code. It is well known that this is a big part of IT, but not only! You don't have to have programming skills to work in technology. There are many career paths - e.g. business analysis, scrum master, manual testing. Of course, knowledge of software development is very useful and can make your job easier, but it can be developed on the job. However, we need to think about continuous development, learning and training. If we have the will, anything is possible.
Who would you recommend this job to?
Ewelina: People for whom the desire to learn is paramount. You need to be open to new knowledge and experiences. The work of a business analyst also requires the ability to think logically, analyse and draw conclusions. If you have these qualities and are also willing to work with others to achieve a common goal, then this career in IT may be what you are looking for.
What advice would you give to someone at the start of their career? What to do, where to go to gain knowledge and experience?
Ewelina: At the beginning of your journey, I would recommend talking to someone who works in the position you are interested in, reading about it, doing a course or training - this will show you the basic scope of the job and explain the role a bit more. This is a good starting point that will allow you to gain theoretical knowledge and find out if this is what you want to do. If we know that a particular role is for us, postgraduate studies may also be a good choice. With this basic knowledge, we can now go out into the world. Look for internships or junior positions. In our team we have an example of a person who joined us after an internship and, although she had no previous experience in business analysis, she fitted in very well with the team. And thanks to her natural analytical skills, she has been successful in her role.
Ewelina, thank you for the interview! See you next week for another interview in the Women of R-Tech series.
