Interview Summary

Interview with Ivana Irene by Bhairavi Shah

As part of the #connect theme the participant whose interview I chose to listen to was Bhairavi Shah. She interviewed Ivana Irene , the 2018 GHC scholar.

It was a very informative interview and I am glad I came across it. Ivana is from Indonesia and is an undergraduate student there studying Computer Science.She is interested in front end web development which is something I too have an interest in.She said she started learning by being part of the team that does websites for events at her college.She talked about how great the GHC was when she went there and about how she got internships at both Facebook and Microsoft because of it !!

She is part of an organisation in her college which aims at helping the students develop skills by peer learning and doing projects.She is the head of the web development team there and she said that writing about her work there in her application to the GHC scholarship was one of the major reasons she became a scholar.She has participated in hackathons and has done volunteer work as part of Leo club and fundraising which they donate for causes.She hopes to concentrate on open source more and work after she graduates.

Key Takeaways from the interview

• The best way to learn web development is by doing projects and being part of groups with people who can help you and those who you can help.
• Irene’s portfolio alone is enough to know how passionate she is about web development.So when you are presenting your work make sure that it reflects you in the best way.
• Don’t be discouraged while applying to scholarships. Build up your resume and prepare for interviews.
• Follow women in tech news letters to know about opportunities coming your way.

Another thing I noticed is her willingness to help others. The best example is that during her hackathon she made a system to ensure that wages are distributed to workers fairly based on their contribution . Doesn’t she sound wonderful :).

Thanks to Bhairavi I now know about an inspiring girl in Indonesia. Bhairavi clearly did her research, asked all the important questions and was obviously interested in knowing more about Ivana.

Here is the interview.