In honor of Women’s History Month, Pragmatics is proud to celebrate the unique stories of our outstanding female employees who are supporting missions of national importance.

Meet Women in Information Technology. Explore their profiles and get personal with women from a diversity of backgrounds, expertise, and experience who are essential to our growing team at Pragmatics.

How did you get started in your field? What was your journey to Pragmatics like?

I joined Pragmatics in November 2020. What attracted me to work at Pragmatics was the people. During my interview, I had a full chance to talk and get to know everyone on my team.

Before becoming a recruiter, I was a Pre-K school teacher in Herndon, Virginia. After four years of dedicating myself to the education industry, I started moving toward a career pivot. A new door of opportunity opened – one of my friends offered me a position in the Department of Human Resources at her company. I was initially unconfident to start this new job, especially since I was coming from an entirely different work environment. It turned out that my educational background made me a good fit in HR. I was grateful to meet a great mentor who helped establish my confidence and trained me to be an IT recruiter.

 

Tell me about your role as an IT recruiter at Pragmatics. Why is your role important?

As an IT recruiter, I am responsible for all aspects of sourcing and hiring exceptional professionals to fill technical positions. IT recruiting is a fast-paced and exciting profession. It requires me to be a quick learner to stay on top of industry development because of how rapidly technology evolves. I see myself as a business partner who helps project leaders find the best talent to shape and grow their teams.

 

How do you support women in technology? What advice do you have for females looking for a career in IT?

Things need to be changed from two sides.  To be confident, women need to trust themselves. On the other hand, during my career, I always suggest hiring managers give more thoughts on the criteria they use when evaluating talents.

Be confident. Be brave. Be strong.

It’s normal to feel nervous when interviewing; however, based on my experience, it is still very common to see female candidates failing interviews due to self-doubt.

Things need to be changed from two sides.  To be confident, women need to trust themselves. On the other hand, during my career, I always suggest hiring managers give more thoughts on the criteria they use when evaluating talents. Some of those have been prevalent for years in this male-dominated industry, in which inequity is deeply embedded against women. Fortunately, I work at a company where my voice, as well as inclusion and diversity, matters. 

Building a strong network and learning how to tap into opportunities to grow is essential. I always recommend women continue expanding their network even after they land ideal jobs because the benefits go beyond just job searching.

Networking! Networking! Networking!

Building a strong network and learning how to tap into opportunities to grow is essential. I always recommend women continue expanding their network even after they land ideal jobs because the benefits go beyond just job searching.

There are lots of tools and resources that you can leverage, such as LinkedIn, woman-focused technology organizations, industry events, and your local communities. Volunteering is also a great way to meet other people in this field. In recent years, I have seen more and more organizations dedicate themselves to goals such as helping girls learn to code and supporting women returning into the workforce. Many of the female employees at Pragmatics are contributing their time and expertise to support charitable activities.

 

Outside of work, how do you describe yourself? 

Outside of work, I am a full-time mother with a side hustle related to my hobbies. I am big on charitable activities supporting different purposes – last year, I completed a virtual 35-mile challenge to raise awareness of breast cancer and raised $250.

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