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The Story: Viktoria Szép, the face behind migration engineeringPosted almost 3 years ago by Client Server

Viktoria Szép is a Migration Engineer at Juniper Networks. She talks to Client Server about how broadened her job search to Europe allowed her to find the perfect job.

JA: What does a day in the life of a migration engineer look like?

I normally work two nights a week as migrations are deployed at night. We work in data centres in Italy and the migration can take between 2-6 hours to happen. Luckily, 100% of the migrations I’ve been on, have run smoothly. We put a lot of work and preparation into our fixes and configurations which can take days or weeks to prepare for, which I enjoy. Once the deployment is completed it’s really satisfying as all our hard work has finally come to life.

This role is the perfect mix of technical and project work. Technically-speaking, it’s the perfect level for me right now, where I’m comfortable enough but I can still learn new things as well. The team is very supportive and if I come across something that I’m uncomfortable with, there is always someone to help out.

JA: How have you found being a woman in tech?

I’ve worked as an engineer for 13 years. I used to get a lot of comments about being a woman working in technology. I’ve had employers tell me that I was a diversity hire which was hugely off-putting. I mean, why can’t I be an engineer? My job title doesn’t specify “male or female”! As a young girl, I was never pushed to do Mathematics, IT or Science. I wish more girls were shown that they are talented and capable to go in any direction when it comes to studies, so that comments I once received become obsolete.

JA: You started a new role recently through Client Server, how is it going?

Everybody that I’ve worked with has been really professional. The teams are mixed and very supportive which is vital in a job that depends on teamwork. Some of the seniors I work with are women, which is really empowering and shows me where I could progress to and I’ve learnt quite a few new skills already which is very beneficial for me.

JA: How was your experience working with Client Server?

Everyone was really impressive, especially Luigi. After discussing my needs and matching my experience to roles, he really encouraged me to push myself and try something new. I’ve worked in other countries before, but I’ve always relocated, so applying for an Italian role while being in London was new to me, plus my Italian was a bit rusty. But Luigi put me at ease and did all the admin work so there was a really quick turnaround.

My interview with the client was in Italian and there were a lot of them; the coordinating manager, the project managers, and all of the senior engineers who were all Italian. I haven’t spoken Italian in eight years, it was really tough. I was very worried that they wanted someone more professional, however, they were impressed with my experience and could see that I at least understood them. Since then, listening to them for eight hours a day has brought it all back.

JA: What advice would you give to someone looking to get into a tech career?

Trust in yourself. As long as you have the willingness to continue learning and studying, everything will come together. We always compare ourselves to others but everyone started from somewhere, especially as an engineer it takes a long time. When you get more experience, your confidence will build and you will start to believe that just because someone is very knowledgeable doesn’t mean they can do the job better than you.