4 Tips On Moving Up In TechFrom A Female Engineering Leader

4 Tips On Moving Up In TechFrom A Female Engineering Leader4 Tips On Moving Up In TechFrom An Engineer Whos Made A Huge Impact At Her CompanyGrowing up, Katealways loved math and computers. So, when it came to finding a career, softwareengineering welches a perfect fit. After graduating with a degree in ComputerScience from one of the best engineering schools in the world, zu sich passionsended up carrying herbei pretty far.Nowadays, Kate is aSenior Vice President at FactSet, one the worlds largest FinTech firms andhome to thousands of the best engineers, product managers, and techprofessionals. As a tech leader at the company, Kate manages and providesguidance to plenty of up-and-coming engineers.We sat down with herto tap into some of her wisdom about how to succeed in techand at innovativecompanies like FactSet in general. Heres what she told us.1. Learn To Solve Problems In Your Own WayNo matter how much you learn in school, a hrof essential engineering skills are learned on the job. Thats why its soimportant to find a place that gives you challenging workand the freedom toapproach it independently.Once I became an engineer at FactSet, myfavorite thing about my job was the freedom and empowerment I was given tosolve problems in my own creative ways, Kate tells us.While their business goals were usually thesame, Kate was able to approach each client and engagement with her owncreative way of thinking.I was told what our clients needed, and whatwe should build, Kate says. But how to architect, design, and implement afast, efficient, reliable application was up to me. This freedom, empowerment,and encouragement is what helped me most as I grew throughout my career.2. Find Somewhere That Celebrates Your SuccessesIt wasnt just thatFactSet gave Kate challenges, it was that they recognized when she overcamethem, too.I was given thespace to innovate, and as I gained the trust of those around me, I was giventhe responsibility to design more complex applications, man age larger projects,and then lead larger teams, Kate explains.Growth requires bothnew skills and new experiencesand the only way to get the latter is to begiven new opportunities. Or, in Kates case, to earn them.FactSet celebratedmy successes and helped me grow by increasing my level of scope and impact inan incremental way that gave me the confidence to be successful in each newchallenge and role in my career, she says.3. Cultivate Creativity, Aim For InnovationDont be afraid to look for different ways ofsparking your creativity. When its your job to innovate, you have to make ayayoure thinking outside the box. Thats why Kate enjoys the little challengesand events that FactSet sets up to help its employees cultivate creativity.One such example is their annual 48-hour,no-holds-barred hackathon.While I love my current role, I do missrolling up my sleeves and hacking something together, Kate says. Making anidea come to life through code is a real rush.This is why I love the FactSet Ha ckathon.Teams of FactSet employees, on both the techand business sides, come together to make something extraordinary. It doesntneed to be FactSet or even finance related, either. Despite that, Kate couldntresist working on one concept that was pretty Factset-friendly. My project last year was to integrate FactSetwith Salesforce in a way that the two applications could pass data back andforth and create a seamless workflow for our clients, who are often trying tojuggle many different systems and applications all at once, Kateexplains. About a year or so later, weve actuallyproductionized the concept, and its now going live to our clients, she says.4. Dont Forget To BreatheSuccess is not asprint (even though there are plenty of sprints along the way). And if youre taking along-term view on success, Kate emphasizes the importance of finding a healthywork-life balance.When I meetprospective candidates for FactSet, I make sure to let everyone know that weare a software company first and foremost, Kate says.Even though theyrein the world of finance, FactSet takes its lead from progressive tech companycultures. FactSet offers four weeks of paid time off to first-year employees(and that number only grows with time) and a ton of other health programs andbenefits to help you stay mentally and physically fit.Our vibe andculture is relaxed and collaborativedifferent from what you might picture whenyou think of Wall Street, Kate says. Our people set us apart, and thosepeople have lives, hobbies, families, and a good understanding of theimportance of work-life balanceThis employee-focused culture has attracted awide array of talent, which is good, Kate says, for more reasons than theobvious.Innovation in tech hinges on diversity of ideas, and those ideas come from diverse individuals, she tells us. If you like solving problems, working with others, building new solutions, blazing the trail, then tech and FactSet are for you.Want to put Kates wisdom to work? Check out open opportunities at FactSet on WayUp