How an Uninformed Decision Turned into a Rewarding Career
I have been in tech for a while now and there is no other place I’d rather be. I always get an adrenaline rush before I start to build a feature or resolve a bug, and it gives me the utmost happiness when I end up solving it. The journey has been interesting so far, but it all started with a rather uninformed decision at a very young age.
As a kid, I was good at both Math and Arts, and the software boom in the early 2000s in India really got me excited about computers as well. Unfortunately, in most education systems, kids find themselves having to choose between career paths at a young age when they don’t really understand them well enough. I too was unaware about what shape my future would take for each of the career options I was considering. I leaned towards my interest in Math and excitement towards computers and ended up taking a bachelor’s degree in computer applications. I always had an urge to perform well which compelled me to learn new technologies while maintaining good scores.
After three years of bachelor’s and two more years of master’s education, software engineering had become a known and comfortable territory for me. I joined a software company as an intern during the last year of my master’s, which led me to my first full time job within the same company. I was one of the highest performers among the interns in my office and the start couldn’t have been better. Things had started becoming addictive and I was really building on my skillset and having fun.
Once, someone very close to me told me that ‘software engineering does not suit me,’ but I paid them no heed. Today, nothing is more rewarding to me than building applications and solving software problems.
I still have the same penchant I had as a kid for sketching and painting, but I am able to pursue them as my hobbies.
Transition to a new country
Fast forward to 2018, after spending about three years in the software industry in India, my husband and I decided to move to Toronto for new experiences and opportunities. This was a big transition for us as we moved halfway across the globe, leaving friends and family behind. We were aware that starting everything afresh in a new country without any local knowledge or experience would be a challenge. We decided we would be patient in this journey and take it one step at a time. We were able to settle down pretty quickly, thanks to the help we received from some of our friends and relatives in Toronto.
While slowly getting used to the people, the culture, and the Canadian Winter, I started my job hunt in Toronto. A few months passed and then came the long-awaited summer which was pretty enjoyable. I could sense an energetic vibe among people and I then realized why North America has so many popular songs about summer. Sometimes, I used to watch people enjoying the pool through my window, but I quickly got back to coding and making sample projects on GitHub. I knew I had to be persistent.
I soon got an interview call from Jibestream and I was really excited when I read about what they were doing and the space they operated in. After a few interview rounds which involved some interesting assignments and discussions with the team, I got an offer. I was now an SDK Developer at an indoor mapping company in Toronto and would be working in my favorite arena — Android! I knew this would be a superb learning curve. Since the day I joined, I have been working on the core SDK and some really interesting and challenging features. As a team, we have been solving complex indoor mapping problems and we are happy to be growing with the company.
Venturing successfully into an uncharted territory
I have been in the tech industry for almost four years now and even though it is male-dominated, I have always been treated as an equal to my male counterparts. There was never a feeling of being out of place. However, a study conducted by The Guardian in 2014 suggests that the environment and language in tech business might get boisterous and “bro-friendly” at times. I understand that this might trigger a sense of insecurity among a lot of women and a feeling that they don’t belong, but the times are changing.
I’ve found that much of the software industry today is welcoming towards women and appreciative of women developers. I am sure that in a few years, it will be more commonplace for women to work in technical roles. It is heartwarming to see that people today are standing up for women and encouraging and supporting them in any field they wish to pursue.
There is nothing more fulfilling than being in a space which I believe is continuously building the future of humanity. For a brief period last year, I had the opportunity to teach underprivileged children in India remotely from Toronto through video conferencing. Every time I taught a class, it reminded me of how technology is playing a crucial role for the future of these kids.
I feel humbled and privileged that I am able to do what I love and be a part of this disruptive space.
Written by Priyal Divakala
Priyal is a full-stack developer with a wealth of experience in Android SDK & Android application development, Java, AWS, RESTful Web services, SQL, HTML/CSS and JSP. Her experience spans across service- and product-based development and she brings immense value to the team with her creative thinking, analytical prowess, and adaptability.
