She Taught Herself To Code, Then Got A Job At BuzzFeed

She Taught Herself To Code, Then Got A Job At BuzzFeed Giorgia S works as a frontend developer at BuzzFeed from her home in Berlin, thanks to PowerToFly. Learn how she got her job and check out her tips for staying efficient.What are your job responsibilities?At BuzzFeed my gruppes job is to make the code better and mora beautiful, which makes the application work better. Its exciting because we have new techniques. My background is a bit more on the graphic side. I studied graphic design. I started as a web designer, then I taught myself code, step by step.What advice would you give other women interested in working remotely?I would say its elend as scary as it seems. My friends ask me, How do you it? You are alone all the time. I need to go out to lunch with my colleagues. I dont think its like that at all. It depends what kind of person you are. It depends where youre working. I feel like Im super lucky. At BuzzFeed, were a team of all women and were all remote, so that already he lps a lot. I never feel like Im outside the team. We always communicate. Our team leaders rely on us a lot. I never feel alone. I go to a small office in a co-working space with other people. So when no one is online because of the time difference, I have other people around.Do you have any strategies for staying efficient outside of an office? What tools do you use?The first thing I do is open our team chat. (We use Slack.) Its a way to say, OK, Im online and you can contact me. If people contact you, youre held accountable. Ive found the time during the day when Im most productive, so at that time I try to be at the office or at the table, sitting down. It sounds stupid, but just sitting at the table instead of the sofa helps. We use a task manager, like JIRA. Its very nice because you already know what your tasks are for the day. You get a lot of notifications, but its great because you can really stay in contact, even if youre not in the same time zone.What are the biggest chall enges when working remotely? How have you overcome them?The biggest challenge is getting to know the system and the product youre working on without having someone sit next to you. You cant point out stuff and say, This is the problem. Instead, you have to send a screenshot or video. Sometimes when Im speaking with other remote people, they are frustrated because no one is helping them. I say, Why dont you ask? And they say, No, I did yesterday. I can understand. I dont want to bother people. I would like to show that I can do it alone, but sometimes its better to ask ten more questions, instead of losing days of work.How has this job changed your day-to-day life?Completely. I can manage my time however I want. For me as a European, usually the companies are smaller and have stricter deadlines. You have to always deliver stuff, even if it is not good. Here at BuzzFeed I suddenly find myself able to manage my time better. The quality of my work is more important. Its helped me to dea l with my stress at work, which was something I always struggled with. One thing I noticed in the beginning??I was really surprised??I can work less hours and finish more tasks. I can sit down when I really feel like I want to work, I work very focused (I never open personal emails, Facebook, or anything), and when Im tired I go home. Its much better than being in an office for 8 hours every day. One of the biggest challenges in almost all industries today is achieving gender parity. Gender diversity provides huge benefits in the workplace. pWhile some industries have made significant advancements in gender diversity, some industries lag further behind... and the construction industry is well-known for being in the latter category. If someone says, construction workers, youll likely picture a group of men in yellow hard hats analyzing an architects plans or laying bricks on top of a scaffold. And men at work signs only help to reinforce t his image.pThis stereotype is rooted in reality. When was the last time you actually spotted a woman on a construction site? Or hired a female plumber or carpenter? Your answer is most likely never. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statisticsreports that only 3.4% of the total of 8.3 million construction employees are women.pBut the construction industry has a lot more to offer than steel-toed boots and hard hats, and it needs women to help advance the industry in this era of rapid change. Here are 5 reasons why women joining the workforce or looking to make a pivot should consider a career in construction.h21. Fuel Innovation/h2pNot only is diversity the socially and morally right thing to do, but it is also actually an excellent business strategy. pResearch presented in the Harvard Business Reviewshows that diverse teams develop more innovative ideas. This is further supported by a study conducted by Gallupon the performance of gender-diverse teams versus single-gender teams, which fo und that the difference in backgrounds and perspectives led to better business performance and problem-solving. h22. Capitalize on Demand/h2pThe construction industry is currently experiencing a labor shortage. The industry itself is booming and projected to be one of the fastest-growing industries, with total spending projected to exceed $1.45 trillion in 2023/a. However, most construction companies are unable to meet the rising demand. pAccording to the Associated General Contractors of America/a, more than 80% of contractors are experiencing difficulties filling hourly craft positions that represent the bulk of the construction workforce.pAnd demand isnt limited to individual contributor roles. Given the industry boom, there are a number of open stable and high-paying roles (any project managers out there?) waiting for the right candidateh23. Leadership Opportunities/h2pAccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics/a, women compose only 7.7% of the total 1 million managerial positi ons in construction.br/pBut given the highly collaborative nature of construction work, more women in leadership roles would help drive innovation and enhance productivity.Furthermore, as a woman in construction in a leadership position, youd have the unique opportunity to drive change for the industry and make it a more attractive option for other women.h24. High-Income Potential/h2pSalaries for many skilled positions in construction are on the rise, making a construction career a prime choice for women looking for a high-paying job,pThe 2018 Construction Craft Salary Surveyconducted by the National Center for Construction Education and Research revealed that salaries for many skilled craft areas are increasing. Project managers and project supervisors topped the list at $92,523 and $88,355, respectively. The next set of highest-paying jobs include those of combo welders ($71,067), instrumentation technicians ($70,080), pipe welders ($69,222), power line workers ($68,262) and indus trial electricians ($67,269). Of the 32 categories of workers in the survey, 19 positions earned an average salary of $60,000 or higher.h25. Sense of accomplishment/h2p The construction industry can give employees a unique sense of achievement. Yes, the job is stressful and the work can be demanding, but nothing beats the feeling of being able to build something from the ground up. pHow many professionals in other industries can point at a school, a hospital, or a skyscraper and say I helped build that?pThe construction industry has a long way to go in combating gender bias and supporting women in the workforce, but given the current demand for workers, theres no better time to pick up a sledgehammer (figurative or literal) and smash the gender stereotypes plaguing the construction industry.