The tech industry is still woefully imbalanced in the gender department – which irks us massively, seeing that we’ve met some of the best in the business. We should know. They work here.
Here at Starship Zailab, our people are everything. They’re plucky, adventurous and absolutely brilliant at what they do. Let’s put it this way, we only hire the best of the best.
And as for the phenomenal women of Zailab?
We’ll let them speak for themselves.
Meet Catherine, Zailab’s chief product officer
What does a product owner do exactly?
I wear three hats at Zailab:
Product: I make sure we know what we need to build and when we need to build it.
Marketing: I make sure the marketing strategy and content is aligned with what we are building.
Support and Sales: I play the pivot between sales and support so that customer requests and bugs are prioritized into our roadmap.
So how crazy is your day really?
It’s meetings, meetings and more meetings. I complete most of the work I need to do at home. When I am at the office, my time is generally split between collaboration sessions with the marketing team, collaboration sessions with the product team about upcoming features and the priority of these items in the roadmap, and the CTO around our roadmap. The CTO and I need to work closely together to negotiate a solution that incorporates what is desired from a business perspective and what is possible to build technically.
What advice do you have for women wanting to work in the tech industry?
There are certainly less women working in tech than men, a trend that I would like to see change in the future. The work environment is therefore predominantly male-dominated. I would like to encourage women to see this in a positive way as opposed to a negative. It is an opportunity to expel any misconceptions people may have about woman’s affinity for this type of work (unfortunately these still exist). I would advise women to not accept anything less than equal treatment. Know your worth, stop doubting yourself, and make sure you get given a seat at the table.
Meet Siyasanga, frontline support
Describe your role at Zailab?
I deal directly with clients, assist and provide tier one frontline support. I also handle webchats that come via the website.
What’s a typical day in the life of Siyasanga like?
I perform a morning test of the software to ensure everything is working smoothly. This prepares me for the client interactions I will receive throughout the day via webchat and the phone. I also monitor our clients’ dashboards to ensure everything is working. If there are system issues, I make sure that tier two support is aware of them and if necessary, escalate anything that requires urgent dev-support.
What made you want to work in the tech industry?
We live in a tech world, everything is changing, why wouldn’t you want to become part of such an extraordinary world? The challenge excites me! Having to wake up everyday knowing that it’s a different day and you will be dealing with issues on your table. I never get bored as my brain is always busy. I love questioning and finding solutions to problems. I just have a passion for being in the tech industry.
Any advice for women wanting to join support?
Pull up your pants and join this industry, you will never go wrong. If you are hardworking, committed and want to change the world, this is your time. Don’t think twice and join the tech-world!
Meet Martea, frontline support
What’s your typical day like?
I’m usually the person you go to if you need something. I will find whatever you need and do what needs to be done. No two days are the same for me. I am in charge of renting out our offices for photo and film shoots. I am usually accompanying people around. When I’m not doing that, I integrate with the development team to find out what is being deployed and then I do all of the documentation to inform our customers.
What specific skills do you need for your role?
You need to be super organized; I’m still working on this. And be the most friendly you can be.
What interested you about working in the tech industry?
Coming from a non-tech background, I found it to be one of the biggest challenges life had to offer. I needed to make a change and get out of my comfort zone. The tech industry offered just that. I knew we’re moving into a tech run world, and this girl was not being left behind!
What do you love about working for a tech company?
Advancing my knowledge about technology. I never knew how much work it took to create software. My eyes opened to a whole new world. Technology is forever changing and I’m loving being in the loop of everything.
Watch this space for more day-in-the-life goodness of our Zailab staff.
Want to work at Zailab? Visit our Careers page to see if you have what it takes.