And welcome everyone to my talk on persistence, hard work and dedication to keep you going.I hope this presentation gives you some insight into how you can overcome some um limitations and boundaries that you face when you start out um in technology, I'll just talk a little bit about myself first as an introduction, I'll go into a bit about my background. Then the questions that I asked in the abstract when I submitted to this conference um regarding keeping going um talk a little bit about confidence versus confidence. Um The goals, technology skills, um personal skills, hobbies, which are important to keep going as well and success and then a conclusion. So I'll just dive into it. So, so my name is Alison and I graduated with an Information Technology degree and continued on to do a master's and then a phd specializing in gesture based technology. That's me there. My graduation. Um It was after a couple of years of doing a lot of research and enjoying myself doing the research as well. So, um that's when, when I started in, I started my degree in 2002. So it wasn't here yesterday. Wasn't here yesterday.

Um So it was a little bit of time since then and um I want to share some insights into what would have probably helped me when I was starting out as well as some research based stuff and feel free as well. I leave some contact information at the end of the presentation as well so that you can contact me if you want some of the research involved with this as well because this isn't part of my phd. But I did read a lot about the research involved from other researchers that also helped me when I was going through a lot of um working in technology and also studying in technology and things like that as well. So, um as I said, I've been in, I started my degree in 2002. Um We had what was, what's called in the UK, a sandwich degree. I'm not from the UK, but I do know that they use that term. I'm from Ireland and we had a third year work experience for a couple of months. And so that was my first kind of work experience in technology and it was in North L Networks in Galway. And my first experience I would say wasn't the best. Um I, my, the environment itself, a lot of the employees that were working in norte networks in 2004 were waiting for redundancy actually. And it wasn't a good time for that. Particular company, there was a whole section of a warehouse that they let go of workers.

And so coming into that environment as a 20 year old wasn't the best um environment to be introduced to technology. A lot of the workers were demotivated and they were just hanging on for their redundancy package. And then I worked a couple of years in other places. I moved country, I lived in Luxembourg for a year. I then went back to Ireland and I worked in Dublin. I did my masters. Um And then I had other experiences that were amazing experiences and really well worthwhile. I'm now currently in Germany and I work for a company called PA Consulting in Aberg and I really enjoy it. I'm so lucky that I have a good environment to work in. And I think that's one of the pinnacles of success as a young it professional starting out, I had kind of accepted the fact that the environment wasn't going to be so good. Um Just because my first experience in 2004 wasn't good. Um And then I had kind of more experiences that built on that, that also weren't good. So I had no comparison to make it a good environment and what was kind of a better environment than what it should be. Um And that was also my own um experiences through technology. The degree itself was quite intense, there is a high pressure and you just put your head down and you work through it.

And I think we started out with 88 people and we finished with around 30 people at the end of the degree, it was usually mathematics and physics that like cold half the class. Um I'm laughing now because it's just yeah, it was really intense time and a lot of people um especially the females as we know from research and also from real life experience. You don't see that many females working in a whole team and that's the leaky stem type pipeline. One of the presenters had also during the week mentioned this that I'd been to some of the talks and they had also spoken a bit about the leaky stem type pipeline um which usually occurs with females between the ages of 12 and 15 in school first um before they get to the degree level and then it's just there's more maybe their friends are having an easier time in a different environment than they are.

And then they make the switch. A lot of females also are lost to management or other roles. I currently am working. I do program every day and I want to hold on to my technology side of things. I really enjoy that side of things I can present. And I now value a lot of my education that I've had because we also did a course on professional skills in our degree program that everyone had to do. And that taught me a lot of the skills involved in presenting, which leads me to today that I can present and I'm ok with presenting. But, um, if you're coming from a place where you're a little bit shy or not confident, then it can also impede your progress, um which I'll come to in a little bit, um, as we go through the slides. So that's a little bit about my background. Then the questions that I posed for this presentation then um where to do it? What keeps us in technology when our environment is not as fulfilling as we would have hoped. So I can tell you from my own personal experience that the environment at the beginning wasn't as good. I've had a couple of bumps along the way.

I've fought through and thought mentally that I was going to be able to sustain working in an environment that was pretty much toxic. Um But that actually seeps into you eventually. And um it, it doesn't, it doesn't you lose sleep, you start getting sick and eventually there's a, there's some sort of a burnout that happens as well, which we want to avoid and we want a good environment, a happy environment. One that's creative, the talks as well. This week, I want to tie in with those as well because they're really good talks. Um mentioned that a psychologically safe environment is a necessity for creativity. It's from a study I think Google did. Um I can, if anyone needs to uh the reference or anything, I can link um after this. But she was really, really useful in, in tying in with this because it is true. Once you start losing your psychological well being, then you need to leave that environment and get a job somewhere else. When I was in that period of time throughout my working life, I had bought books on toxic environments. I had bought audio books and I bought everything to try and count track that and you just keep fighting and then eventually you're just exhausted. So what keeps us in technology then? Because it does make us feel as though maybe we're not the right fit.

Um And one of the other things that happens, especially with females is that we internalize that we're the problem and not outside when it could just be a change in environment. And then we, we reset and go to a different environment and it's a lot freer better, more creative, more energetic and you get back into your flow of things again and you can program and be yourself and that, that is one of the questions. So one of the main answers then is trying to find your way and your path within that environment. And I'm going to try and answer it throughout this presentation as well. So the other question is why stay in an industry that can be harsh and you can be ill treated then, why not, why not stay in an industry that you love? I grew up with, um, my sister had a Dell. She worked in Dell, computers in Limerick, in Ireland. I was really lucky because we had a remanufactured computer that she took home and I was on it immediately. They were like, how does she know how to work all this stuff? Um, I was also the computer mentor in school. I was really into technology and really fascinated by it.

And then of course, I did the degree but um that all along the way you have imposter syndrome or you might have environmental impacts that you never really thought were a bigger factor until you get put into that environment. And other people are, you know, driving ahead or they, they're saying, oh, can I help you and blah, blah, you seem to be sure. And you're like, I'm the one who got the first class in the class, but they still have you question your capabilities or your confidence as well. So the environment can really impact and not feeling welcome as well in that environment can also really impact why you stay in it in technology. So one of the key factors and it was actually mentioned in another talk as well. Um is is this confidence versus competence? So we already know from research that um men when they talk, they overestimate their, their competence, but women can underestimate their confidence. Um And then they come, they come across as not being so confident and this impacts their abilities to keep going in technology.

How do we address that? We address that by writing out our goals? It's such a fundamental thing. These are the soft skills that I underestimated and underappreciated. When I started in technology, I thought that I could just get like basically collect degrees and they would be my armor and I, I would go through and nobody would question my capabilities because I had all of this, all of these achievements built up in the background. And why would I be questioned? Then I've already proven myself and that feeling of almost not being good enough and having an environment where they question you being good enough on a daily basis or even an hourly basis or if you're on slack, it could be like it's not good enough or um then it's a case of you need to drive your own car, you need to drive your own ship.

Um And one of these skills is writing down your goals. Most people in life do not write out their goals. So where do you see yourself and be vocal about it? It's ok for me to sit here and say I am going to have a side business. I have set up a side business. Um I can publish books. I have a youtube channel, I can do all these things before writing out any of my goals. I'd never, um, I had thought about it, but if you don't write them down, you're not reminded of them daily to take action. And that will lead me to my next, my next point I see here. Um, as well that it's partially cut off, cut out. So let me just pull it down here. So even if it seems impossible now and communicate that you want to do that, it doesn't matter if they change in a year. So in a year's time, if it's, if you don't want to be to do your academic performance award in 2020 or your leadership excellence award in 2021 or your academic extinct distinction in 2022. As the examples show here, it doesn't matter. You write down your goals that you feel are good today. Um And this is what will keep you going because this is the part of the persistence. Um And the hard work comes. So the hard work is the solution is always within ourselves.

It is time now to look and find your beliefs regarding your own skills and confidence. Um If you want to feel empowered, empower others, this is one of the key things to build a team to make a good sense of where you are within technology. Sometimes that team does not mean the people you work with. Um it might mean a team of people outside of work and that's where you're going to build your community. So um there's a saying at the moment with their women, empowered women, empower women. So you can do this and then build a community outside of work. Um So your main focus isn't then on the environment, if the environment isn't working out very well for you, and you can still collect the experience and have the community and the team spirit as well and also gain your skills. Um If you want to feel confident, do something outside of the workplace, like I said, to engage more of those aspects that are creative mentor, new starters. That's another one. So um in a previous company that I worked with, um we had a buddy program and I was a buddy to about three people that moved over to Germany.

Um They were actually based in other offices in Canada and other places that I could mentor and you can give them an insight then of how the company works or you can also mentor new people within your community. Let's say if you're in third year in university, I assume mentorship in, in university as well. So I was in third year and I'd mentor first years and that was part of the program within the university. However, you can do that yourself anyway, because it's so empowering um that you will feel like you've progressed a lot more than you have as well. Feeling isolated, can feel as though you are the issue in the environment because when you feel isolated, you feel disconnected and as if like maybe technology environment isn't for me when it might be just an environmental factor. Um So talk to others and by talk, I mean, share experiences, not just how are you getting on at work and have the surface level like it's grand or it's doing well or anything? I mean, talk about like this is a bit strange that this person did this, this and this outside of the company, don't bring it into the company. Don't talk amongst each other.

I'm talking about your community that you've built from um the other people outside your company, then it's all to do with create, create, create. So if you want to be a programmer, you got to build, but don't wait for a company to give you the opportunity. Don't wait for things to happen and fall in your lap. You do it, you create your app, you create your, your things and start off with a small daily habits that you do every single day and by every single day, I mean, 10 minutes, you don't need to do a lot, but you do need to be consistent and that's consistent action daily. And if there's things holding you back, then you got to figure out what those things are and that's going to come to the next part. So you have to first write out your goals of what you want to do or what you want to be. And you have to say what you'd like to say, let's say in an interview, if you're going on a career path, I'm a team focused communicator and enjoy working in an environment that is inclusive and then you look for companies that are inclusive and diverse. Um There are companies that I have worked in that aren't inclusive or diverse and it shocked me. Um or if you want to be technically competent in a particular programming language and start write that down and say this is what I want my CV to look like.

This is what I'm going to do every single day to get to what it looks like on my CV. So I can be confident because we want the confidence in order confidence in order to keep going in this environment or uh and also it will ripple across, it will also impact your environment across everybody, all of the females that are in technology as well. And they also want to stay if more women stay too because there is a problem with people um leaving. So we want, we wanted to stay. Um or you could have also I've been known to for organizing team events and you can also have additional skills that are part and parcel of technical skills as well because a good organizer in a technology team is essential. So all of those build into it, um personal skills then here's how to, how to solve it. I only have three minutes left so I'm gonna have to play through it. Um So write down your thoughts about your view as a pro if you want to be a programmer or if you want to do certain other jobs, like be a web developer or anything like that, write out your thoughts about it because they're the things that are going to hold you back.

They're the things that you, I'd suggest you take a photo of this and do this as an exercise because they're the things that you'll find where your negative thoughts are. You highlight those and you choose other ones and you ask why you can ask um do a question of seven whys? Like why do I think that I can't be a good programmer? Why do I think that da da da and you keep going until you drill down um what your fears are and then you choose them other tips then to keep going in are always keep your hobbies, you persist through with your hobbies. Um building a community and communication as well as your connections outside of work will all tie into keeping you a persistent hard work and your dedication as well. Without those, it's hard to envision success. Another thing is how, what does success mean to you? So what does it look like? Are you running your own company? Are you working for a company? Are you working in a team? Is that team inclusive and diverse? Is that company um empowered? What does that company look like? What are the values of the company? What are the work ethics? Do they work hard, play hard? Are they like, I worked in a company where we had to get up at 5 a.m. to work with Japan.

And then in the evening times, I was working with Canada and these are the things that you have to look at and see and envision yourself. Are you working in a city? Are you working in a smaller company? Are you working in a start up? All of these things will build into your success? What are you doing daily? What are your habits and Lassie? So I'm going to conclude here because I have one minute left persistence, hard work and, and determination as well as dedication will all um build into your success in your career. The main things are being aware of your habits and your thoughts and writing out what your thoughts are when it comes to who I'm going to be as a programmer, who I'm going to be as a web developer or you pick your thing for me? It's programming. So I give that example. Um I'm working in a German company so I want to be able to speak German. So now I've got another goal of and I can see vision myself speaking more German in work and things like that as well. I also use a 21 day challenge, which I actually published a print book only two weeks ago, I think because I was using it so often since last year um where you can write out your 21 day challenges. But that's, that's another thing.

Then I have my contact information. You can also contact me in on Java with Ali the youtube channel. Um And I'm more than happy to answer any questions that you may have. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna close this now and then take a look at your tick over your questions. If you have any just started doing this, my thoughts on the skill level to look back and see how far. Yeah, it's really important. There's another part, um There's another exercise you can do as well. Um And I do it when I start a new job and that's the things I've learned today journal. So I have a Google Doc and I open it up and I just write out things I've learned today. And then when like all of a sudden you start like putting in some stuff, you don't have to dedicate so much time, but just keep it open all day. Um And you just throw in like, oh, I didn't know this or, or you might take a screenshot of something or it depends on the security level of the company as well to do with Google Docs. But a document is useful and reflecting back on how far you've come is so important. Thanks, Laura. So Carly said, thank you. No, parents are writing you. Yeah, it's so important to write down all your goals and steps necessary to achieve those. It really is.

And you know, a lot of people like they really don't write down their goals. They have it in their mind, they think about it all the time, but actually writing it down is the physical act of writing it down is a different thing and having it up, I have my, I have my post its and my pink post it. I love pink post it notes everywhere. Um And I also, before I, before I wrote this like two weeks ago, I think it was on, it's now on Kindle Direct publishing. Um I used to do my 21 day challenges like this that I just have a box and I'd write out what I want to do. Part of those were to do with fitness and getting outside and having my walks every day as well because I work from home. It's also important for my mental health and they all built into your success and people do not um do not actually like think about those things as well. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Um How do you work with introverts to spur and motivate them? That's a really good question. Introverts can um Basically, it's more thinking um time needed. So when you present some information to an introvert, then walk away, let them digest it for a bit. It's usually to do more to do with overwhelm as well.

So you don't want to overwhelm people. And if you notice there's a communication, there's some communication strategies that you can use when you work with introverts. And certainly I've worked with a lot of introverts and people that won't talk, maybe they, they might say 10 words in a whole day. I've worked with people like that as well. Um, and not in a bad way, they just are concentrating on work and they're programmers and that's the teams that I'm in. Um But yeah, usually you can find a connection on the things outside of work. So I used to set up a, I'm a Star Trek fan. I used to set up a Star Trek evening for the Star Trek Discovery evening when, uh when I was working in a different company and the person that I am referring to actually came along as well and everyone was so surprised. Um But he actually really likes Star Trek as well and finding those connections really matter a lot in building a good team that you work with as well. It's also to do with being psychologically safe and an introvert um can find it hard to, maybe they might feel like not safe if somebody else in their team will say something about them like, oh, and they like this and so openly about it and they're like, oh my God, I only told them privately.

Um, so being kind of cognizant of that fact as well because introverts don't want to share as much stuff as other people or they will see it as not being psychologically safe and other people will be like, it's no big deal. It was only Star Trek, but actually, it might have been a bigger deal for them than it is for you. Yeah. So thank you so much for coming to my presentation. As I said, you can contact me um through Java with Ali youtube or I've got Twitter and Instagram and my website as well or learn computers with Ali at gmail.com because that's my, it's my hobby as well. I want to empower more women to get into programming as well. So, um if you know anyone who wants to programming, please check out my channel. Um I'd be more than happy to cover new topics as well and thank you so much. Yeah, I think that's it. Now, that's the end of the presentation. Enjoy the rest of the wich Global Conference. I'm so glad we have this community. Um Yeah. So thanks. Thanks for watching. Bye.