00:00So I will give an advice that I always tell my daughters as well, what I always say to
00:05the young girls is, by the time you graduate, on the graduation day, you will not be standing
00:10alone on the stage, you will be having a lot of, maybe 30, 40 other students who will be
00:16graduating with you.
00:22What really matters is how do you differentiate yourself, nobody will actually compare you
00:25to someone else.
00:27In the field of technology, we have a lot of opportunities, I tell my young friends
00:31and my daughters as well, start very early on in the university, do not depend on the
00:37fact that you will be graduating with a bachelor's degree, you have to graduate with a bachelor's
00:41degree, plus certifications in different technology fields, plus attendance in international conferences,
00:49plus participating in the university as a leader of initiatives, as a winner in competitions.
00:55This is how you actually give yourself competitive advantage when you graduate.
00:59My first job was a programmer, that's 25 years ago, however as a programmer I was doing a
01:04lot of other things, I was not only doing application development, I was involved in
01:09security related projects, I was involved in infrastructure related projects, I might
01:14not have the entire knowledge, but I had the opportunity and I took it.
01:19And this is where my knowledge actually expanded, I never said no to an opportunity at that
01:23time.
01:24And this is what young need to do, not only women, but anyone who works in technology,
01:29they need to differentiate themselves, they need to equip themselves with qualifications
01:33and differentiating factors, and take risks and learn from every opportunity that comes
01:39to them.
01:40To me it's about an integrated life, I call it an integrated life, where my life as a
01:45professional contributes to my life as a social person, as a mother and as a wife and a friend
01:50and everything else, and both of them is an extension of myself.
01:56Whenever I am actually in the workplace, I allow myself to think about home, and maybe
02:01attend to some of my home responsibilities, being at work.
02:05In a similar manner when I go home, I also sometimes have to attend to work when it comes
02:10to urgent tasks that I need to do, it's really an integrated life.
02:13The secret in this equation is enjoying what you do.
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