AHEAD of International Women’s Day, a Glasgow-based software developer has shared her career story to inspire women considering a role in tech to follow their dreams.
Lisa Mason works remotely as a software developer for Northern Ireland-based cloud computing company 3EN. She has been with the company since 2021 and works on designing, programming and maintaining software solutions for clients through Oracle NetSuite. Her role involves coding, investigations into how to deploy software to meet client needs and documenting project statues.
Having studied Computer Science at university, Lisa always knew she wanted to work in tech, specifically software development. She knew she was both interested in it and good at it, and wasn’t going to be put off by potentially being in the minority amongst men as a young professional.
As one of few girls on her course, she was aware that tech was a male-dominated industry, but the reality of moving from an inclusive, welcoming environment during her studies into the workplace still took Lisa by surprise.
After an interview for a role that Lisa was sure went well, she was excited to be called for a second interview with the person who would potentially be her manager at the company. The conversation surprised her, however, as she was told that she would be the only young woman in the department, and therefore wouldn’t fit in with the rest of the team. Lisa didn’t get the job as a result.
Thankfully, Lisa found a role that suited her elsewhere and has been working with Oracle NetSuite ever since, transferring to 3EN in 2021.
Speaking to other women who want to pursue a career in tech, Lisa said: “If you know you are passionate about something and it’s what you want to do, don’t let anyone stop you. Women often aren’t taken as seriously as men, but that’s got nothing to do with our abilities – don’t let yourself be overlooked if you know you’ve got skills to offer.”
Lisa enjoys the flexibility of working life at 3EN, and is pleased that living in Scotland was never a barrier to her employment with the company. As many of her colleagues also work remotely, the team stays in touch through video calls throughout the week, so Lisa never feels isolated.
She continued: “What I appreciate most about working at 3EN is that I’m given the freedom to do make decisions and do what I want for the good of our clients. I’ve worked at companies before that have a culture of micro-management that stifled creativity and development, which isn’t helpful for any tech professional. I’d urge women in tech to find roles in companies that suit them and fit with their values, rather than taking jobs that don’t suit them for fear of not finding anything else, because you will be rewarded.”
Does Lisa think International Women’s Day is still important? Yes. “It’s great to have a day where women can stand up and celebrate who they are. We are important and we are successful, which can be easily forgotten as women encounter problems every day, particularly in the workplace. There’s a way to go yet until women are taken as seriously as men, so until then International Women’s Day will remain powerful.”
In the future, Lisa plans to continue honing her software development skills to become the very best she can be at her job, proving that coding isn’t just an interest for the boys.
3EN is Europe’s most qualified Oracle NetSuite Enterprise Resource Planning Solutions partner. Its cloud technology helps businesses to drive growth through improving efficiency with seamless integration between Oracle NetSuite and other software platforms.
