I scrolled through Twitter one day and stumbled upon tweets from women in software engineering. One thing led to another, and I ended up on a page for the Ladybug Podcast, a tech podcast hosted by women. My curiosity urged me to find the show on my phone. I got hooked.
As a woman majoring in computer science, I’m always looking for ways to feel confident in my field. The podcast name was cute, considering that women host the show and coding errors are referred to as bugs.
A group of women software engineers living in different places across the United States and Europe detail their experience in the field. Podcast topics range from opportunities in tech to delving into a specific technology.
I started listening to these podcasts while I worked out. I always learn something new or relate to the female software engineers who share the same doubts. I also follow the podcast hosts on Twitter and get a laugh hearing snippets of their lives.
One of the episodes I listened to was called “Career Paths in Tech.” Although I have insight from my internships on a typical software engineer’s job, I learned about a few other career options.
The episode mentioned a quality assurance engineer as an alternate career path. Quality assurance engineers ensure that code works and find errors in the code. A user experience engineer is another role. These people enhance the software application design by advocating for the user’s needs. I don’t feel as restricted as I initially did about my career options.
Another podcast I found is called Git Cute podcast, a play on words from the version control tool, Git. Jocelyn is the sole host who details her experience as a software engineer. She talks about the difficulties of coding interviews and meetings. Jocelyn speaks in a friendly tone, so it almost sounds like I’m listening to a friend. I enjoyed the “Coding Interviews” episode. It’s a relatable episode since I’m about to enter the real world.
Jocelyn mentioned that whiteboard interviews are the hardest since people must come up with the solution to a question on the spot without any external resources. I liked hearing the perspective of an established software engineer since it reassured my feelings about the daunting process of coding interviews.
The Women in Tech Podcast, hosted by Espree Devora, details women’s lives — from engineers, female founders and journalists to investors and UX and UI designers. Espree interviews each worker, talking to them about their experience. She discusses the resources each woman used so listeners can know their goals are attainable.
I love hearing the different perspectives from every woman on this podcast. My favorite topic in Dalana Brand’s episode was when she talked about having purpose both in work and in her personal life. It inspired me to put my goals into action among other things to help better myself in my day-to-day life. It made me believe that I can do big things if I put my mind to it.
Podcasts are a great way to learn about new topics as well as gain advice and hear about common experiences within certain fields. Whether you listen to these podcasts or find others, there is a podcast for everyone.