How to make the move from Marketing to Software Engineering
We sat down with Katharina Papke, Software Engineer, to learn more about how she went from studying Communications to now developing a machine learning approach with her team at idealo.
What is your name and what do you do at idealo?
My name is Katharina and I am a Software Engineer in the Product & Tech area in the Inventory Knowledge Team.
What are you working on?
Our team has been working for about 1.5 years on clustering the offers from the different shops. This is currently done with a very simple approach, where the offers are clustered with the help of the European Article Number (EAN) number. However, this approach has a few problems, as many offers do not have the EAN number. Therefore, we have developed a new Machine Learning approach by using pretrained models in the area of Natural Language Processing and Computer Vision to create — what we call an embedding — for every offer in the shoe category. Think of an embedding as a number and if some offers have similar numbers they get clustered. The advantage is that we hope to bring together significantly more offers faster.
Who benefits from your work in what form and how does this help us as a company to achieve our goals?
If the cluster works, significantly more offers can land on our platform. With our approach we can automate the process of product creation and significantly more offers can land on our platform. As a result, idealo can earn more money, and support the content department by pre-structuring the products which allows them to focus on other areas.
What was your career like?
I studied Communications in Berlin and worked in an agency for strategic communications after graduating. But I realized that working in an agency wasn’t my thing and that I didn’t want to work in PR or advertising. So, I started working in marketing in different companies and realized that I was missing a strategic aspect and felt very underchallenged. I had a feeling of boreout and knew that something had to change. I knew that I always wanted to work on a product and create something. I wanted to be the one to shape the product and be the core. Through a mentoring program and a women’s network, and knowing that I enjoy logical and structured thinking, I got into programming. I quit my job and started a bachelor’s degree in computer science. I also knew then that the decision had to be made at that time. Because if I hadn’t done it then, I probably never would have done it. After the three years of studying, I joined idealo.
Do you benefit from your communications background in your current job?
I benefit a lot from my previous experience. Instead of just focusing on the code and what I’m building, I bring an all-encompassing business view to the issues. I can look at the big picture faster and see what value we are creating or can create for the business. Many things I did in my previous job are also relevant now. In addition, I have also learned critical thinking through my humanities studies, which helps me in many areas of my professional as well as private life.
“Women should be able to consider careers in IT as a real option for them much earlier.” (Katharina Papke)
What do you think makes your work at idealo so exciting? What motivates you?
At idealo, you always learn new things and develop yourself further, which is also challenging. However, that is what motivates me. I want to become faster and better at programming, develop myself further and challenge myself. That’s exactly what I can do at idealo, especially through my experienced colleagues, from whom I learn a lot.
Why should someone at idealo work in the tech area?
I started as a beginner in a new area and was treated as an equal from the very beginning. At idealo, a lot of trust is placed in you. No matter what your status is, it’s important for everyone in the team to be able to speak their mind and contribute their own ideas. In addition, you have a lot of freedom. In our team, we are very free to determine which technologies and programming languages we use. What I also really appreciate is the flexibility I have at idealo. It helps me to shape my work-life balance the way I need it with two children. For example, after my first four months at idealo, I had to take a four-week break because my daughter was settling in at daycare. The fact that I was able to do this after such a short period of time without it being a problem shows me that idealo gives you a lot of flexibility and trust.
What do you wish for the future?
I would like to see more women in IT. I also actively try to push that with my daughters. Of course, they don’t have to work in the field later, but I would at least like to offer them access and show them opportunities. Women should see careers in IT as a real option for them much earlier. I didn’t have a role model in the past and only had one IT course at school, which didn’t exactly teach a lot of useful things. That’s why I never saw it as an option after graduating from high school, but in retrospect, I would have liked to study computer science right away.
Thank you, Katharina!
Want to learn more about Product & Technology at idealo? Check out our career website here.
