Recently, around 80 colleagues from across Zalando attended our internal Women in Tech event, where they networked, discussed career growth, and heard from a panel of expert speakers: Alejandra García (Principal Product Manager), Ana Peleteiro Ramallo (Director of Applied Science), Sonja Mönkemeyer (Head of Engineering) and Tian Su (VP Customers). The panel shared some inspiring advice for women working in tech — so we thought we’d share it here with you!
What should you do if you’re just getting started in your STEM career?
Sonja: If you’re at the beginning of your career, it’s important to try out lots of different things so that you can find something that you love. At Zalando, it’s an open culture. You can say what you want to do and achieve.
Alejandra: Stay really open to opportunities and change. Think about what you like and don’t like so that you can make the right decisions, make sure you share your aspirations with your manager.
Tian: Get to know your manager, so that when it comes to your career development, there’s a mutual understanding and common ground. It’s a human relationship: “This is where I am and this is what I want to do.”
Ana: It’s also important not to assume that your manager knows what you want. You need to tell them.
What’s the best way to keep growing in your career?
Alejandra: Challenge yourself to learn and grow on a day-to-day basis. If you want to learn a new skill, find a way to collaborate with different teams and people who can teach it to you.
Sonja: It’s important to keep the bigger picture in mind and use this as your guiding light — keep moving, and don’t stay too long in your comfort zone. It’s also important to keep asking questions — if you don’t ask, you don’t learn, so don’t be shy.
Tian: Think of your career as a journey. Where do you want to be in a year, in three years, or five? Be open.
Ana: We need to think strategically about our careers — looking ahead and building our skills.
Why is it important to have women in tech and the Women in Tech Employee Resource Group?
Alejandra: It’s important that women are role models for each other. Seeing other people’s leadership styles and working styles helps you to be yourself.
Tian: We can learn from others, we don’t need to make every mistake by ourselves.
Ana: It is important to have a diverse environment. It is great that Zalando is committed to that, especially around women in tech.
Thanks go to Ana, Nour, Sandra, and Zeenat (pictured above) and the Zalando Women in Tech (ZWT) Employee Resource Group for organizing this event.
About the Group:
As one of our Employee Resource Groups, ZWT organizes events, webinars, re-skilling, and workshops to support women in tech throughout Zalando. Find out more about ZWT or any of our other Employee Resource Groups here.
