I never walk away from a challenge
I never walk away from a challenge
Everything is open to you, if you really want something, don’t be scared, nothing will stop you.
I grew up in the port city of Ashdod in Israel. From early childhood I loved math, solving problems, challenges, and always wanted to learn more.
My parents always encouraged me and taught me never to give up. If I found something difficult, my mother would tell me to take a break, take a shower, and come back and try again.
It was clear to me then that I would go into the field of technology. This was an area I was always interested in, an area that challenged me. I’m determined and dedicated, and I never walk away from a challenge. My motto in life is: “Dedication, determination and devotion turn the impossible into possible”.
Like all Israelis, I did my compulsory military service after high school. It was important to me to do something meaningful, and I served in a combat support position in military intelligence. The army matured me and gave me confidence. It was in the army that I knew what I wanted and set my goals. Six months after my release from the IDF, I started studying math and computer science at Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheba.
Amdocs was my first job after university where I started working as a programmer. I’ve been working here for 12 years. As soon as I joined, I loved the organization, the people and the team work. It’s a wonderful place to be. I’ve been in a range of roles, including Delivery, Foundation, New Technologies and today I'm part of AI & Data Platform team in Amdocs Technology.
Every day is its own riddle
You arrive at work and there are new challenges and difficulties that we have to solve by a certain deadline. I believe that my personality fits with my unit at Amdocs where there are problems that we have to find solutions for. As a technical expert, I am a source of knowledge in my team and for others. When there’s a problem, I’m the person they come to if they can’t find a solution.
To this day, I learn every day. A few years ago, we started dealing with the cloud in Amdocs Technology in MS360. So I did courses on cloud computing and became certified. Recently I was given the opportunity to travel to Amazon’s AWS re: Invent conference in Las Vegas as a bonus. I was one of five delegates from Amdocs, and the only woman. But I wasn’t up to date on the latest technologies, and I didn’t want to come to the conference with a blank slate. So I set myself a goal to do two courses in AWS before the trip. I got my certification the evening before I left for the US. When I got to the conference, I knew what they were talking about I could ask questions and understood in depth what they were talking about, something I wouldn’t have been able to do had I not studied.
"I was always interested in technology, an area that challenged me. I'm determined, dedicated, and never walk away from a challenge."
It’s hard to succeed in the technology world if you don’t constantly enrich yourself
I’ve been in several different departments at Amdocs. Whenever I felt stuck, I just moved on to a new department, learned new things. I’m in a constant process of learning so I can enrich myself, and not only for work. Today I deal with cloud, Java, Spring Boot microservice applications, with a DevOps background, and I know all the technologies on which microservices run. As I moved from department to department, I learned and understood more and more. To get ahead, I study every day in my free time – even just half an hour, but it’s perfect for me. It’s hard to succeed in the technology world if you don’t love studying and don’t constantly enrich yourself.
My desire to succeed specifically comes from being a woman
Being in Amdocs Technology unit isn’t easy, it’s demanding, requires long hours that sometimes come at the expense of other things, and you need to provide solutions instantly. But as long as you love it and know how to properly allocate your time, you will succeed. There aren’t many women in this department, but it doesn’t bother me. I’ve never seen myself as “less than” and I’ve never seen anyone look at me differently.
Sometimes I feel like women are more creative, they make the most of their time at work. My desire to succeed specifically comes from being a woman. I am a mother to three young children, and I’ve learned to divide my time. I have flexible hours and I can spend time with my kids. And I do have time for the things I love like running, hiking, reading inspirational books and listening to music.
People automatically see me as an example
The best part of my job is waking up every day to new things, to new challenges. I get to use my brain and my creativity and look at things differently. I love it. I also love difficulty – maybe that’s my problem! And then I don’t sleep at night thinking about a problem, and I find myself in front of my computer at 2am! It’s fun.
When new women join the department, I help them, guide them to what courses are available, and encourage them. I tell them: “Everything is open to you, if you really want something, don’t be scared, nothing will stop you. Just set goals, work hard and you can achieve whatever you set your mind to.” I am always helping people, sharing my knowledge, so people automatically see me as an example, as a mentor.
