During Women’s Month, we are giving the spotlight to a few remarkable women from the Sirma team, as they share their professional stories and journeys in the tech world.
Yaldaz Mehmedova is a seasoned professional with more than 15 years of experience in Sirma. As a Business Analyst, she is contributing to projects ranging from the National Customs Agency to the ambitious EEA Financial Mechanism and Norway Grants management project. In her interview, she reflects on her dynamic career, emphasizing the inspiring challenges of the IT industry and encouraging aspiring female professionals to thrive in a supportive and energizing environment with a constant smile.
What inspired you to become part of the tech industry?
I have been part of this industry since the beginning of my career. I’ve been interested in typically technical things since I was a student. Even back then I was asking myself “Hmm, how does this work?!” and wanted to find the answer by myself. It seems that I have gotten the direction right. If I could go back in time, I would go down that road again.
Tell us about your career path and how you got to your current position at Sirma?
I came to Sirma with a bit of luck, during the holding’s expansion process. Until then, I only dreamed of being part of a large and fast-growing company and at that time I was at a crossroads and considering what my options were in Ruse. Well, Destiny smiled at me and Sirma opened an office in Ruse and I have been part of the team for 15 years now. In that time I have grown both personally and professionally. I have worked on various projects: projects for the National Customs Agency, and the Sofia Municipality. I was part of the team that developed a software platform to deliver a product in a short time through minimal shortcuts. It was a very constructive period for me because a lot of professionalism, a lot of hard work, a lot of innovative ideas, and a lot of enthusiasm went into this platform. I saw the software from a different perspective. What followed were projects with large organizations in the US and Western Europe - very interesting but also very responsible projects, some of them for QVII, National Gallery of Art Washington, Financial Mechanism Office, etc.
Tell us about a typical working day for you; the projects you work on; the challenges you face.
The schedule for each day is different. In general part of the day is spent in meetings and the rest of it is working on my tasks. Of course, the day is not only filled with work, every day my colleagues and I make time for a short coffee break to see each other outside of work. We also have weekly breakfast gatherings and various other activities to get to know each other or just to distract ourselves from the daily tasks. Regarding the projects and the challenges, the serious ones require me to be focused and precise, after all, every other project I work on is in a business area that is new to me and that’s the main challenge - getting into its nature very quickly to start contributing to the project. This helps me to continuously develop and gain new knowledge and that makes me very happy.
What are your main sources of inspiration and how do they help you in your professional development?
What inspires me, above all, is the challenge. I believe that it pushes everything forward. You have to put enthusiasm into everything you do, you have to do it with desire. If you don’t sit down with a smile in front of your laptop in the morning, then something is wrong. The IT industry is very dynamic and offers unlimited development opportunities. Not everything goes smoothly, but that’s why it’s interesting - when you face a challenge, then you harness all your potential, and you start to develop. After each situation you are better than before, you know more, you can do more and you have more confidence in yourself.
How do you think different perspectives (female/male) contribute to the development of technological innovation?
Different points of view give rise to discussions, and out of those discussions new ideas are born. I believe that almost every new thing in the tech industry was born in a woman’s mind somewhere. Women are blessed with the ability to sense what would be useful in our daily lives, and to suggest changes that would make a gadget or an app for example. And they start talking, dreaming, until at some point the male point of view intervenes, part of the dreams get crossed off the list, and others get modified to be feasible and as a result, something nice and useful happens.
What advice would you give to aspiring female professionals just entering the tech industry?
Get ready to work in a great environment! I already said that this is the place where you can learn and develop continuously and even surpass your own ideas. And indeed the atmosphere is extremely friendly, positive, and energizing! There are also challenges, but with desire and perseverance, everything is overcome. And don’t stop smiling - we are always more beautiful with a smile!