It’s International Women’s Day! At Datactics we are proud to buck the trend for proportion of tech roles held by women. More than that, we are lucky to have such a strong presence of female experts and leaders in the company. Today especially we want to thank them for all they do for us at Datactics and share with you a bit about who they are, what they do, their journeys thus far in the company and what their goals and ambitions are!
Gaye Lightbody – Senior Developer
Gaye decided to chat to us a bit about the transition she experienced between working within education and moving into the technology industry.
How have you found the transition between working within education and industry?
As the country was going into its first lock-down in March 2020 I was stepping out of an academic job and moving into Datactics as a senior software developer. The excitement of making this switch was only slightly overshadowed by the growing pandemic. Despite the challenges of working from home as a new-start, I was moved by the collegiate ethos within the company and the sense of belonging it instilled in me. Deepening my technical skills during this time has given me great job satisfaction and has galvanised my existing knowledge base. With still a lot to learn about the technologies and products, I am kept pleasantly challenged and fulfilled. Although circumstances have not been easy at times due to the pandemic, it has been a rewarding experience, and I am delighted that I stepped out of my comfort zone last year and embraced this new opportunity. I look forward to a time, hopefully in the not so distant future, when I will be able to sit with my team in a bustling meeting room, drinking coffee while sharing ideas and biscuits!
Daire McCotter – Client Services Support Consultant
Daire decided to chat to us about her degree background, why she decided to join Datactics and what she most enjoyed about her placement within the company.
What did you study?
I studied a bachelor’s degree in Business Information Technology including Professional Experience. I chose this course as I have always been interested in IT and enjoyed studying it in school and therefore wanted to further develop my IT Skills. I also understood the growing reliance businesses had on technology and therefore this course helped greaten my understanding on the application of IT in businesses. Additionally, I enjoyed the balance between the IT and Business modules as it entailed both practical work and therotical studying.
Why did you join Datactics?
In my second-year studies I really enjoyed a module called Data and Statistics which involved analysing data and presenting it in certain formats. The role at Datactics that I applied for as a Data Engineer was very appealing to me as it involved this degree of analytics and interpretation. Additionally, when I joined in 2018, Datactics was half the size it is now, and it had a great sense of community with everyone being so welcoming and friendly. To this day, Datactics still holds this great culture which is such a lovely aspect at work.
What did you enjoy the most about placement?
An element of my placement that I enjoyed was taking on my own Internal Project. This project was designed to create a solution that would automatically create documentation for my colleague’s work. Also, I loved working with other members in the different teams whether it was for internal projects, support etc. Lastly, applying my own experience and knowledge from using our software tools enabled me to answer our Client support issues and help them resolve any difficulties they were facing.
Daiva Vencevičiūtė – Data Engineer
Daiva decided to chat to us about how she came across the company, how she joined the company and why she joined!
How did you come across Datactics?
It’s a very interesting story! I have an awesome professor (who always has suggestions for students) that told me about a role in the UK. After reading a job description, I thought, why not get in touch? I then proceeded to apply and then an interview was scheduled with Elspeth, Stuart, Ruta, and Josh. I was very nervous, and I was not speaking in my native language! The interview was sometime in October (in Vilnius!) and by the beginning of February, I was in Belfast.
What did you study?
I studied a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics. My educational background wasn’t related to Data directly and I have found in my role as a Data Engineer that I have had to learn from the beginning. Having the background knowledge of economics does help but you can learn on the job. I felt incredibly lucky to secure a placement in Belfast.
Why did you join Datactics? What attracted you to the role?
I was keen to travel, and I thought why not go for different opportunities (I knew that one Lithuanian girl was working in Datactics which made me feel more at home.). Stephen and I joined on the same day, so we embarked on learning the capabilities of Flow Designer and DQM together. I remember one of the projects I worked on involved helping Mattias who was working on a LEI based project, and he needed help with manual review. Settling in took a while, but I loved the patience that was ingrained within the team. I was able to learn at my own pace, and I was supported in doing so.
Helen Long – Finance Manager
Helen decided to chat to us about what she has most enjoyed about her career at Datactics so far and what her advice would be for those starting out in their career.
Helen, you’ve been at Datactics for 12 years, what do you enjoy most about it?
The continually evolving nature of the role is great but also increasingly challenging. The ‘small company’ feel has also been maintained despite substantial growth over the past number of years since I joined. One of the best points of working for a Fintech such as Datactics is that your efforts are noticed, whereas in a larger firm you can often feel like a small cog in a big wheel. It’s been great to watch people join and gradually become managers over time.
I also enjoy the flexibility the company gives particularly with work/life/family balance. I have a young son, as well as a slightly older daughter so for me having that flexibility at times is necessary to allow me to meet the needs of my children as well as my job.
What would your biggest advice be for someone who is starting out in their career?
I would say the most important thing is to feel valued within the company you work in. That has been my experience at Datactics. Whether you want to move your career along at a fast speed or you want to stay at the level you are at, I think feeling valued in the work you are doing makes the world of difference.
Thanks so much to Gaye, Daire, Daiva and Helen for sharing with us today. We are proud to have such talented women within our organisation and today we thought we would pull together a piece to celebrate them! Happy International Women’s Day!
Read more ‘Meet our team’ pieces on our DataBlog here. We also have spoken at length with Helen and Daiva, allowing us to unpack even more.
Tomorrow, Dr Fiona Browne, Head of AI will be contributing to a fantastic panel discussing AI and Ethics, which will be moderated by Ramesh Dontha, Data Transformers. You can register for free here.
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