Tanya talks about how does she find balance between the two important roles in her life – being a full-time mom and a Lead Software Engineer.
Introduce yourself
Tanya Petrova (33).
You are one of the first employees at Astea. Tell us how it all began?
A friend of mine was working at Astea at the time, and I told her I was having a hard time finding an interesting job. She introduced me to her colleagues at Astea, and that is how my long-term relationship with the company began. At the time Astea was a small team, and we were literally side by side. That helped us create a friendly atmosphere where we put the person first, something that we have carried over to this day.
What would you say about your current work at Astea?
My work here is very interesting and dynamic. We are working on a diversity of problems, which not only helps us grow as experts, but also presents us with many opportunities and reveals the directions in which Science and the world are evolving. To me, helping innovations come to life is very motivating. Our colleagues are young and intelligent people, who not only have diverse ideas, but also the energy to bring them to life. They are all wonderful people; I cannot really find the words to describe them.
What has been the most challenging problem that you have encountered in your work at Astea?
For me, the biggest challenge is dealing with our personal differences and finding common ground with a particular colleague or client. As for the products we develop, there are many challenges we run into, but each one is solved in the best possible way with one or several meetings in which we discuss all possible solutions as a team.
How do you find the balance between the two important roles in your life – being a full-time mom and a Lead Software Engineer?
It involves a lot of running around. It is not easy, I am not going to lie. However, at the same time, these two roles complement each other in a way. Teamwork and parenting both require a lot of patience, answering various questions in such a way that the other party understands, discussing all kinds of possibilities, and many other special abilities. But when you love many different things, regardless of how incompatible they may seem, you always manage to find the balance between them.
What is your favorite technology?
I’m not sure I have one. And this doesn’t bother me at all.
What inspires you?
I find inspiration in watching how my colleagues evolve, how our products not only serve the purpose for which they have been developed, but they exceed the expectations as well; in the feeling of creating something, and then being able to watch it evolve step by step into something even more valuable and precious.
What would be your advice to the newcomers at Astea?
There is one thing I always like to say – talk to each other. This is of critical importance to teamwork, which is how we traditionally operate at Astea. I’m not saying that each team member wouldn’t be able to solve any problem by himself. But imagine having five people, who are not communicating with each other, whose task is to draw a picture of an animal. Each one is responsible for drawing a certain body part – head, body, legs, etc. The likelihood of having the end-result match the task at hand, in this case – to draw an animal, is minimal. It’s the same with software development and, actually, with any other job that requires working as a team.
