Starting an IT Career at 16 - The Story of Roxana Koleva

The story of Roxana Koleva, junior expert at Schwarz IT Bulgaria

Three years ago, Roxana, a 10th grade student at the National Vocational School for Computer Technology, took part in the annual programming Olympiad organized by Schwarz IT Bulgaria especially for 10th and 11th grade students. The Olympiad consisted mainly of logical tasks.
Two months later, Schwarz IT Bulgaria (then Kaufland IT Hub) called her and informed her that she was one of those selected for an internship. In the summer of 2018, she started her first internship at the company. She learned a lot of new things - JAVA, HTML, CSS, SQL, TYPESCRIPT.

Roxana is currently 19 years old, a junior specialist at the Web Development Global Team with three years of IT experience, while also studying Informatics at the New Bulgarian University. Impressive, right?

A bit of background history

Roxana comes from Vratsa and has a brother and a sister. In the 7th grade, she took part in an IT Olympiad on the recommendation of her IT instructor and almost made it under the national championship. Later she went to the vocational school in Pravets. Her goal is to become a team leader, inspired by her mother.

A flying start in IT: Schwarz IT Bulgaria

What impresses Roxana and motivates her to grow at Schwarz IT Bulgaria is the special attention she receives. Roxana also values the role of her mentors in the further development of the company. Roxana believes that a manager understands their colleagues and has a feel for satisfying them, which leads to a job well done. This is how her own mentors proceed - in the beginning it was Teodor Dimitrov, followed by Petya Petkova and Kiril Dimitrov, who also plays a big role as the Head of the department in which she works. Roxana wants to become a team leader. Her colleagues are helpful and Roxana is sure that she can always turn to someone in emergency situations.

Work style and challenges

Roxana likes to describe herself as a multi-tasker. She juggles with ease and manages to combine work and study. She is grateful to the company for giving them the freedom they need to study. As a Junior Expert, Roxana constantly faces challenges, some of which she herself. Otherwise, she can always rely on her mentor and colleagues when she needs support.

A look at the IT sector: women, the future and young people

Roxana is an inspiring person: an ambitious young lady with a successful career start. This industry gives you the opportunity to feel that your presence is driving the company forward. Of course, you have to put in a lot of effort and the results do not come right away, but it is so rewarding to experience them. She hopes that more and more people will choose this profession. “The more different visions there are, the more this field will grow. Technologies are made for people, ”she summarizes.