Ladies in Know-how: Alis Klajda

Liquid Internet Software program Engineer, Alis Klajda, on what drew her to tech, why she loves her colleagues, and the significance of letting passions information you.

One in every of Alis Klajda’s earliest recollections is of her father establishing his work laptop of their Michigan basement—a Commodore 64. “It was love at first sight for each my brother and me,” she says. “At first, we performed video video games, however that rapidly escalated. Quickly, we have been studying BASIC to put in writing our personal and finally constructing our personal desktop computer systems.” Now, in any case these years, Klajda and her brother are each software program engineers.

Klajda acquired her first job working at a tech firm straight out of faculty in 2011. “That was the period of know-how consulting teams earlier than distant work turned widespread,” she says. “The consulting firm I labored for would spend a ton of money and time flying their consultants throughout the nation to work in shopper workplaces, away from their households for lengthy intervals of time, residing out of resort rooms. It’s type of onerous to think about now, with the widespread adoption of distant work. I wished a greater work-life stability, and finally ended up at Liquid Internet in 2014.” She’s been right here ever since.

Now at Liquid Internet, Klajda is a software program engineer within the Know-how and Growth division. “My workforce builds and maintains most of the programs important for day-to-day operations inside the firm. For instance, our billing and invoicing programs, buyer portals, buying cart and cellphone programs, and even most of the merchandise we promote have been constructed by us, in-house.”

What Klajda loves most about working in tech is the folks. “I work with many tremendous good people with intense and attention-grabbing hobbies. I’m all the time rising as an individual and studying new issues from my coworkers,” she says.

Klajda says that her household has been very influential in her profession journey. “They’ve all the time unconditionally supported my life and profession decisions,” she says. “Once I was younger, my mother and father instructed me they didn’t care what I did for a residing so long as I used to be joyful. That type of assist actually gave me the power to take dangers and make selections primarily based alone long-term achievement relatively than social expectations.”

The folks on the opposite facet of the apps maintain her motivated. “On the finish of the day, it’s all in regards to the folks. The purposes I construct are utilized by hundreds of shoppers and a whole lot of coworkers on daily basis, and if I could make their lives simpler, that’s actually satisfying,” she says.

Outdoors of labor, Klajda likes to journey. “A few years in the past, I set a aim to go to each Nationwide Park in America, and up to now, I’ve visited over a dozen,” she says. “I prefer to journey old-school road-trip type in order that I can see all of the quirky little bits of the US alongside the best way.” She additionally has two cattle canine, Jewel and Chloe. “We spend plenty of time outdoor, mountain climbing or on the lake. I’m additionally an enormous fan of stay music and go to plenty of exhibits.”

Relating to the way forward for ladies in tech, Klajda says that’s the million-dollar query. “Extra ladies are searching for larger schooling in a single kind or one other after highschool, however we actually haven’t seen that uptick as a lot in tech,” she says. “Solely 20% of laptop science diploma holders are ladies, and solely 25% of tech staff are feminine. These are attention-grabbing, high-paying careers, so it’s onerous to think about that the work itself is answerable for that hole. I feel a bigger cultural shift is important earlier than we see full gender parity in tech.”

Her recommendation for girls enthusiastic about pursuing a profession in tech is easy: “If you are interested in tech — or something, actually — don’t let social expectations steer you away,” she says. “There’s a enormous quantity of strain from household and society with regards to selecting a profession. Most of that strain is said to conventional notions of what a lady’s function in society needs to be. Loads of ladies are steered into ‘nurturing’ roles resembling nursing or educating; and whereas these are great profession choices, on the finish of the day, you’re the one who has to stay your life and go to that job day after day. Let your passions information your course in life. I feel that’s the important thing to happiness.”