Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Hello! My name is Lee, I’m 23 and work at Bechtle Rottenburg as an IT consultant. I studied business informatics at the University of Applied Sciences in Stuttgart with another IT company before making the switch to Bechtle.
What made you choose this career? Have you always been interested in IT?
It was never a dream of mine to do something IT-related. After high school, I wanted to become a photographer and make my hobby my profession. However, that changed when I switched schools. There is so much to learn in this industry and I really enjoy it! After high school, I wanted to become a photographer and make my hobby my profession. However, that changed when I switched schools. There is so much to learn in this industry and I really enjoy it!
Were there any obstacles to you starting a career in this industry? Are women still facing such challenges today?
I never really had any issues during my studies. There has never been an incident at Bechtle which was specifically related to my gender. I did however have the experience that some customers didn’t really seem to take me as seriously as other colleagues. That probably had as much to do with my age as it did with me being a woman working in the IT industry. The assumption is that women are clueless when it comes to IT and technology, and that’s something I want to change as quickly as possible. The skills, knowledge and experience that I’ve gathered while working for Bechtle go a long way towards convincing my customers to have faith in me.
What are you working on right now? What do you like most about your job? And what do you like the least?
So far, everything’s been really cool! The tasks and topics are many and varied. There’s never a dull moment and I can take part in lots of seminars and webinars. I have a lot of customer projects at the moment, the majority of which revolve around Microsoft products, Exchange servers, migration and the transition to the cloud and they are so much fun!
Would you recommend young women today to start a career in IT?
Women could breathe a breath of fresh air into the industry Lots of studies have proven that women boost team performance. We talk about girl power for a reason!
And last but not least, what advice would you give young women who would like to become computer scientists?
You should definitely look into the content of the course. Do your research because each uni is a little bit different. You should also really enjoy maths because that will make the course a lot easier! If you do decide this is the career for you, then I recommend studying to become an IT specialist or an IT systems management assistant. Bechtle does a lot to ensure equality among its employees no matter their gender.
Thank you Lee for the really interesting interview.
AZUBIT Tri-Sang
