Get to know Laura Santi, an associate software engineer at VGW and She Codes Plus graduate.
Laura discovered She Codes when she was editing a podcast in her previous job role, on the most influential people who are changing the game in the Perth scene. She Codes Founder, Kate Kirwin was featured, which inspired Laura to get involved in the tech industry.
Before joining She Codes, Laura felt that the tech industry was catered towards men and was difficult to break into without a high degree of knowledge. “I thought it was way too technical and you had to do a lot of years of study before you would be able to even aspire to any kind of role in that industry.” She shared.
Boredom encouraged Laura to seek a career change towards something that would excite her and where the learning would never end, telling us “The tech industry is the only industry until now that I actually found a constant challenge.”
Laura is enjoying the challenges in her role as a developer and claims she has “never once left the building without having learned something new” which motivates and excites her to go to work every day.
Laura shared that she loves the support and amazing people within the She Codes community, including the mentors and fellow cohort members.
We asked Laura who inspires her, and she shared that she looks up to Kate for building She Codes and providing opportunities to so many women within tech. “If you think about it I would never be a software engineer today if it wasn’t for her.” She confessed.
For anybody considering a career change into tech like Laura, she advises “just dive right in.” Laura believes that degrees are not the only way to get into this career path, sharing that “the network that you build is probably the most important thing because it is going to give you so many resources that will get your foot in the door.”
Laura’s plans for the future include growing in her career journey with VGW and potentially moving to Sydney.
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