FIRST PUBLISHED ON 18 AUGUST 2020 BY BRIGITTE HULLIGER and Be like Grace

Dear Maja, tell us about you. Who are you and where are you from?

Maja: I was born and grew up in Serbia, where I also completed my studies in information systems and technologies at the University of Belgrade. Since my early years I was interested in computers and programming and to this day the interest and passion have not waned, on the contrary.

I have been living and working in Switzerland for almost 20 years and I can now call myself a 99% Swiss.

Professionally, I worked for Swisscom as an agile tester and testing lead before I decided to go my own way and start my own business.

In my private life I am the mother of 2 wonderful girls and I am very committed to all women and especially women in IT.

Quite the journey! What valuable advice did you get from your parents?

Maja: Determination (GRIT in EN), courage, and integrity.

Valuable advice indeed. How and when did you get interested in Innovation and Tech? What fascinates you about it?

Maja: The Commodore 64 was the biggest for me as a child. From an early age, I was interested in computers and to this day the interest and passion have not waned, on the contrary. While my brother and friends mostly played computer games, I was more interested in programming and media in general.

I’ve always been interested in technology. Later I wanted to study something with a future and decided on information systems and technology. In my home country Serbia it is quite normal for women to choose technical professions. When I came to Switzerland after completing my studies, I quickly realized that it wasn’t the case here. It bothered me a lot.

That was also my motivation to initiate a Swisscom internal community – Women in Tech & Lead. We are around 100 women in technical professions, network, exchange ideas and increase our visibility at Swisscom. I looked after the community in my spare time for 3.5 years. People are very important to me.

Congratulations on how well you handled that fact. And to have built a community with a 100 tech-women is amazing. What would you say drives you at work?

Maja: For me, solving the right problems for our customers is the most important thing to me. 

Of course, following lean and agile principles is also very close to me and if you can quickly see and check the early and first results, my motivation is even greater.

What aspects of your life are you most proud of?

Maja: I am particularly proud of the fact that I came to Switzerland myself after I found a job in a start-up in Lausanne in 2000 (!) And also managed to stay in Switzerland and find the next job, despite the strict rules and quotas for third countries.

Definitely something to be proud of. And what would you say was or is your biggest challenge at work?

Maja: I, unfortunately, have to repeat what so many other women have said already: The biggest challenge so far was actually a few clichéd moments in which I had to assert myself as a woman and as a mother in the technical world until I stopped doing it and learned to profit out of the situation. By the way: I will speak about these learnings and experiences at the Digitaltag in November.

Oh yes, we will talk about that. Can you give a sneak peak: What advice would you give young women in tech and innovation?

Maja: To always stay committed. Get yourself a mentor and a coach and join different networks to keep in touch with others.

At work, always show your results and be brave and persistent.

Thank you very much Maja. Let’s hope young women out there follow your advice. We think it is a very good advice. 

Now for the next part, we would like to know, what first comes to mind with the following terms.

Diversity

Maja: Multi-Cultural

Future

Maja: Young generation

Women in Tech

Maja: YES

Algorithms

Maja: YES

Internet of Things

Maja: Cool

Job-Sharing

Maja: My Business. Sharing Tribe.

Health Roboters

Maja: Looking forward to them

Nice. We can see, you definitely are a techie  Now, let’s put that to the test with some either…or questions (Majas choice is Highlighted)

Online or Face to Face?

Artificial Intelligence or Human Brain?

Digital or Analogous?

Ballot Box or e-Voting?

Cocktail or Beer?

Career, Family or Both?

That was it! Thank you so much Maja for this interview. You really are a role model for women in tech and innovation. We wish you all the best, especially with your new business Sharing Tribe. Let’s keep in touch and we will see each other in November! 

We hope you enjoyed reading about our founder’s experience. If you are intrigued to learn more about the advantages of the job-sharing model then please join our community, post a free job ad on our platform or contact us to make an appointment.