What did you want to be when you were little?
Atanaska Zelyamova
Senior Quality Assurance Engineer
If I had made any of my childhood dreams come true, I would now be a pharmacist, actor, consultant, or archaeologist. I have come close to one of my dream professions, as often my work is like archaeological research in the field – I do not know what I will encounter. That is why I love it so much.
Ksenia Dirman
Backend Developer
Going back in time, I never dreamed of anything else, I always wanted to be a programmer. It sounded strange from the mouth of a 10-year-old girl, but it became clear when I said that my mother was also a programmer. This is my first job, and I am happy with my choice.
Maria Merkova
QA Specialist
My childhood dream was to become an actress. But I had to go to live in Sofia to study at NATFA and since I am from Plovdiv, this dissuaded me.
How did you pursue a career in the IT sector?
Atanaska
I wanted a career that gave me a huge opportunity to develop. Since my previous jobs are in stark contrast to my work today, it was hard for me to imagine being in front of a computer all day. To my surprise today, hardly anything can make me look up from the monitor.
Ksenia
My choice was influenced by my computer science teacher at school. His name is Sergei Georgievich and he gave me a love for algorithmic thinking. He taught us that a good result requires a lot of effort. There is a phrase that he used to say: "The hedgehog is an extremely proud bird, it will not fly unless you kick it". And so, with each passing day, the tasks he gave us became increasingly difficult to strive to be better at solving them.
At the age of 13, I was already writing on Pascal at school. Then I continued at the University of IT and studied hardware engineering. Now I am part of VSG Bulgaria and work as a Backend Developer.
Maria
During my bachelor's degree in bioinformatics, I studied programming fundamentals, databases, and abstract data structures. Then I completed a master's degree in medical biology, and I intended to develop in the Pharmaceutical Industry. The market at that time in Plovdiv dissuaded me and I decided to focus on the IT sector because I had the necessary base for development. Since I am a perfectionist, I wanted to be prepared enough before applying for a job and I trained in programming for 2 years. I studied Java SE and Java EE, Spring, algorithms, abstract data structures, Hibernate. Then I took two courses at SoftUni with honors - Manual Testing and Automation Testing.
How would you explain to a small child what you are doing?
Atanaska
Like I explained to my grandmother years ago. However, I will miss the long part with the explanation of what a computer is :)
Ksenia
I would say that the computer cannot make its own decisions, so I must write down step-by-step instructions to show it what to do. And we speak a programming language because the computer only understands it.
Maria
I have a 4-year-old son and he loves to write and solve problems in educational books. If I must explain to him what I do, I will tell him that if he does his task and then gives it to me for verification, so in my work I check whether my colleagues have written their tasks correctly.
Was there a mentor at the beginning of your career and what did you learn from him?
Atanaska
Thanks to my mentor, I learned that discipline and diligence are the main driving forces of success. Almost four years have passed since the beginning of my career, but there is one thing that I do not forget for a day - having a faithful companion crowns efforts with success.
Being a mentor is not an easy and very responsible task, in which I have recently been involved. And this is another role in which I feel incredibly good.
Ksenia
My team leader has been my mentor since the beginning. I learned from him that you should not stop learning, because there is always room for improvement. Nothing is impossible. Another important thing I know from him is that there must be a balance, both in code and in life. After the end of the working day, it is good to remember that there are other important things. Work is not a horse to escape.
Maria
My mentor when I started working at VSG was Emil Bibinovski, QA Manager. I learned a lot from him. One of them is the ability to keep your composure in tense situations. This is a useful quality, both in work and in life.
What is most interesting to you in your work? Why do you like working at VSG?
Atanaska
I love the feeling of satisfaction I feel when I close the lid of my laptop in the evening. I like it to be unfamiliar. I like things to be more complicated.
I have great colleagues and my team is amazing!
Ksenia
There is a vast variety of new challenges. Our project is big, and we do not know everything. You can learn something new every day, both in business logic and code. We regularly introduce modern technologies to keep up with the times, which allows you to use and learn continuously.
I like the project and the people on the team. I like the values and culture that the company has: Do the right thing, Do whatever it takes and Have FUN. They describe well how the work goes, real teamwork, mutual assistance and understanding.
One of my last challenges is learning at least one functional programming language. As we now introduce an API project rewritten in F#, it is super interesting.
Maria
For me, the most interesting thing in my work is writing programs. Automating software is my true passion, in which I put all my heart and soul.
For a person to develop professionally, she/he must love his job. I am glad I am one of those lucky ones.
I like working at VSG because I have complete freedom to choose when to go and work from the office and when to work from home. My colleagues are very funny and helpful. I like the very culture of the company.
What is the most important thing for success in the IT sector?
Atanaska
Set specific goals to follow. The surest step to success is to take responsibility for your actions, as well as to be able to give and receive help.
Maria
The most important thing for success in the IT sector is to be purposeful, consistent and love your job. With these qualities, you cannot fail.
Ksenia
To succeed in the IT field, be ready to study constantly. The sector is developing rapidly, so you need to develop at its pace. It is significant to communicate with colleagues and accept constructive criticism. There is no best solution, and it is good to accept other opinions. It is important that the customers are satisfied with the product and the overall result. We work in a team, and we do compete only with ourselves.
