There are many initiatives started by the IT industry to attract more women into the field, one of which is the Women Rising Program. 

With thanks to cubesys, I have had the opportunity to enroll in the Woman Rising Program, in partnership with Microsoft. This program has been helping me cover some fundamental elements that will serve as the foundations for my journey in IT.  

In addition to technical information, I’m also learning a lot about myself and what my goals are for my new line of work, which ultimately helps me answer what creates value and fulfillment for me. I’ll be documenting my journey with these blog posts, where I will summarise my main takeaway from each module of the program.   

I hope that this is as helpful to others embarking on a new career path as it is for me, whether you’re taking your first steps into IT or simply re-evaluating your goals and aspirations.   

It’s important to mull over what creates meaning for you and what alternatives you can pursue to get there.   

The very first aspect to cover is defining your purpose and vision.  

There is no easy answer for this, and it will require you to really think deeply about yourself. You must ponder what is most important to you in all aspects of your life and how they all come together. To help answer this loaded question, you need to break it down and into smaller pieces by answering a few other questions first:  

• What are the most important things to you?  
• What are the things you would like in your life?  
• What is the balance you would like to have in your family life, social life, community, spirituality, lifestyle, finances and wellbeing?  
• If you were to follow the joy in your career and life, where would it lead you?  
• What is your definition of success?  
• What is your greatest dream for your work?  

Once you have answered these questions, you can move on to defining what your vision is for yourself for the next 5, 10 and 20 years. But keep in mind that circumstances change, and your vision may also change and evolve over time. This is not a bad thing; you must learn to be flexible and kind with yourself.  

While defining a vision for what you want is important, you need to analyse how this reflects the work you’re already doing. Ask yourself what you can do to bring more meaning to your daily work and find purpose in what you do. 

Finally, I’d like to end this post by emphasising the importance of engaging with other like-minded women. You can always learn new things from them and widen your perspectives and vision, or simply get inspired by the awesome things other women are doing out there!