My hackajob story: Solving tech challenges improved my coding skills

When deciding to look for a new job, Manjari Avasarala wasn’t quite sure where to begin. Now a software engineer at Argos, Manjari has kindly shared her experiences of what it’s like to find a new career via the hackajob platform.

I found my current role as a software engineer at Argos by using hackajob. I have over two years of general coding and Java experience and work in the backend with spring boot services. When trying to find a new role, I was quite literally just using Google to find jobs, when by chance I stumbled across a digital hackajob ad on the search engine. The ad really stood out to me because it looked promising, it was saying that hackajob help to hire based on skills, and I felt that it was such a different approach compared to other job platforms that I’d seen previously.

Setting up a hackajob profile was SO quick. In fact, it felt like it took about two minutes. As I said previously, I really loved the skills-based matching element, as well as the fact that companies apply to you instead of the other way around. It’s obviously a win-win. I found the technical challenges really enjoyable and it was great to see where my strengths lay vs where I needed to improve. I actually think that the platform is incredibly useful in that sense because it really helped me to improve my skills - something that I don’t think that the platform promotes enough - as well as feel prepared for different interviews. I could literally see where I was doing well and why.

One of the things that I loved the most about my hackajob experience was my personal contact, Phil. He was always available to talk too and would call me often, telling me about different roles as well as talking me through my interview prep - he was fantastic. That kind of in-depth communication was a game changer and it made me feel even more confident about my chances. Other job platforms really lack the support that hackajob provides.

It also has to be said that hackajob is really easy to use. It’s great that companies are trying to find you (it makes a change) and I loved that I didn’t have to manage a personal calendar as Phil did it all for me.

In terms of bias within tech, I have to be honest and say that it’s not something that I’ve experienced before. I feel really lucky that I’ve always worked in balanced teams with both male and female software developers, so I just haven’t had the misfortune of that kind of environment. That being said, I’ve heard stories from my friends and past colleagues and the bias towards women definitely exists.

There’s certainly room for improvement when it comes to getting more women working in tech. I’d love to see more of a community being built and I think it would be fantastic to bring lots of different women together and share our experiences. I want to see initiatives such as regular meet-ups and hackathons become the norm.

My advice to other women in tech is that if you really love it, then go for it. Being a woman shouldn’t stop you and you certainly shouldn’t hold yourself back. If you really like to code and are interested in different technologies then I really recommend that you open yourself up to new opportunities. There may be some bias now but times are changing and the stigma is slowly but surely being removed.