Women In Tech: Rasim
In our Women in Tech series, we regularly feature female talent from our community and talk about their experiences in their careers. For this edition, we spoke to a woman from our own tech team: Rasim, Product Manager at expertlead.
Born and brought up in India, Rasim moved to Europe to pursue her Masters in Business Administration in 2017. She originally comes from a Business/Commerce background, and has worked in multiple business functions, including (not limited to) Audit, Consultancy, and Finance. Rasim started her journey of Product Management in late 2019, at expertlead where she was first working as a Partnership Manager. After helping out the tech team on a product project, Rasim discovered her passion for product development and her natural skill to effectively prioritise and communicate project parameters.
In the following interview, Rasim offers insights into her profession as a Product Manager and what inspires her to strive for greatness every day.
What do you love most about your job?
The high you get when you are able to solve a user problem and add value to the product(s) using business acumen with tech solutions.
How and why did you choose the path into the Tech industry? What initially sparked your interest in this industry?
Working in the tech industry was never part of my plan, ever! However, I always knew there is this plethora of tech languages and frameworks that exist outside of my domain at the time, business, which makes up the foundation of every business (quite literally). At expertlead, I got the chance to take a sneak peek into what tech development looks like. More precisely, I assisted in bridging the gap between my own department and the IT team, taking over the requirements management for a new product we were developing at the time. After that first experience, one thing led to the other, and soon, before I could realise, the concept of Product Management had consumed me. This new found passion in combination with the knowledge that Product is an effective function of business and IT, meant that moving into that direction only seemed natural.
Have you been confronted with gender prejudices, had to master special challenges or have received special support?
Although the gender ratio inside the expertlead IT team is representative of that of the tech industry overall, I have never been confronted with any prejudice or differentiation at any time in my role as Product Manager. If anything, I have always been made to feel empowered, encouraged to ask questions, learn, and be supported through knowledge exchange sessions. That being said, I know many other women find themselves in environments that are much less welcoming. Consequently, I am a big advocator of improving the representation of women in IT, to achieve equal recognition and opportunity.
Do you have any role models to follow?
There is no one specific that I follow as my role model, however, by virtue of her magnanimous personality, I highly adore Angela Merkel for her grit and calm in everything she does/says.
Do you have any advice for other women who want to start a career in the IT industry?
Voicing opinion and seeking guidance are the two most important aspects for excelling at any profession.
Are you a member of any community which stresses the role of women in tech?
By virtue of interacting with hundreds of freelance product managers for our company over the past two years, I have come across many extremely talented members of the PM community, which has been a very enriching experience. Along this time I have seen many women stepping up in the PM space which fills me with joy. Hence, I proudly associate myself as an active facilitator in expertlead's women PM freelancer community.
Just quote yourself or tell us your personal motto:
My personal motto for 10 years now: "Shoot for the moon! Even if you hit the stars, Good Lord you're in Space! "
At expertlead we are proud to share the success stories of our female experts in IT, hoping it will be an inspiration to those still trying to find their way. We look forward to hearing more about other female professionals and their stories, we strongly believe in supporting them in their careers as IT professionals.
You're a female Tech Freelancer and would like to be featured as well? We'd love to hear from you!
