Ángela Sanchez, a Software Engineer based in Málaga, discusses her career path and challenges she has faced, favourite elements of her role, as well as career advice for women in tech.
I consider myself an energetic person, with lots of ideas and who likes challenges. I am always in continuous change because I like to be busy. I joined Version 1 in 2021 as a Java engineer for one of our clients, and I’m still working on the same project where we develop bots with cloud infrastructure on AWS. On top of that, I am a member of the Buzz Committee of Malaga who organise all the fun things to do in and around the office, and I am part of our Women in Tech Network. In my free time I like to go to the gym, cook and go out drinking and eating with friends.
Can you tell us a little about your career path and how you’ve ended up where you are today? Did you always have a passion for techy things?
I have always liked logic and technology since I was very young, and was definitely not the typical girl who played with dolls; instead, I used to play with puzzles, toy computers, toy robots. When I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would say that I wanted to be a computer engineer, as I loved computers and mathematics. On top of that, I liked how my father explained to me the physics problems he had to solve in order to get certain certificates for his work!
Little by little I began to focus my studies on computer science, and I ended up studying Telematic Engineering. Thanks to my hard work, I got the “Talentum” scholarship from Telefonica to continue my education in technology. This scholarship allowed me to study how to make web pages, program servots, and help my employers to program robotics classes for children.
During my degree, when I started playing around with programming it seemed like nonsense to me, but when I dedicated more and more time, it began to make sense that everything fitted together using simple sentences. That’s when I started to really fall in love with it. You could connect all the code to get the desired outcome. For me, tackling programming problems is fun because it puts your logic to the test.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I get up and get my coffee (no day starts without coffee!), then I start the day by reviewing pull requests for code from my colleagues. Later, I review the alarms that come in from DataDog and CloudWatch. From there, I continue with my development task, or I review the priorities to pick up a new one. Whenever a colleague has a question, I try to solve it myself, or if it is more beneficial, I get into a call to do pair programming. No two days are the same really, there’s always new challenges to face, and that’s what I love about it.
You’ve been with Version 1 for a year and a half - what attracted you to the company, and what do you love most about the organisation now you’ve been here a while?
A colleague told me about Version 1 and said that he was delighted with the technology and what the company was doing, but also the values and what they mean to everyone. So, I said to myself, that sounds brilliant! I have always liked to face new challenges and I was offered the chance to work with a team from Belfast that would help me improve my English. I didn’t even have to think about it and went for it.
What advice do you have for women looking to get into the tech industry? Is there anything you wish you would have told your younger self?
My advice to women who want to be part of this industry is not to be afraid; it is a challenging but very satisfying job. There are no men’s or women’s jobs so don’t hesitate if it is what you are passionate about. My only advice to my younger self is that perseverance and hard work will get you through.
