If you pay for something online, you can end up with Payconiq, a company that develops digital payment solutions. The links that have to be made with the banks to make payments possible, that is what NL News of the Week Manasi Dhayagude is responsible for. “I have been an integrations engineer for one year now.”
Integrations engineer, what do you need to have studied for that? Manasi Dhayagude: “I have a bachelor’s degree in Engineering in Computer Technology. I got it in India. After that I worked in India for about 7 years, after which I was temporarily unable to work there due to personal reasons. It took me 9 years to get back into the tech industry and I’m glad to be back. After India I lived in the United Kingdom for a while, but partly because of Brexit I moved. I have now lived in the Netherlands for 5 years.”
Manasi Dhayagude
Although she misses her family and friends, Manasi is happy in the Netherlands. “Now I have friends here too.” Plus, she’s thrilled to be working in tech again. “It’s so competitive and it gives me a lot of energy. You can learn so much there and that is very refreshing. You always keep learning: for example, I now do all kinds of LinkedIn courses that are important for my career.”
Manasi’s work consists of three parts: connecting banks to Payconiq’s services, offering help in the test phase and answering questions that come in from customers. In addition, Manasi is also a mother of two children. “I used to be at home with the kids 24/7, but now we spend half the time at the office for work. I think it’s important to include my children in what I do. The children first thought: ‘Mum is at home so she doesn’t do anything’, but now they see: ‘Oh, my mother works in this field.’ You can see that they are proud that their mother is so focused on her career in addition to work at home.”
Payconiq
Although Manasi is having a great time, her work has challenges that make it a bit more difficult. For example, at Payconiq they work with an extremely diverse team, which in itself is a big plus, but for her it means that the chance of miscommunication is greater. “Even if you both speak English! Because you both come from different countries, the way you speak the language can still cause miscommunication. My accent may be less familiar to you and then communication can be made more difficult.
Fortunately, the big advantage with Payconiq is that it is such a warm bath. People are very friendly and supportive. I never felt like I was out for 9 years.”
Manasi has a tip for women in tech: “Don’t restrain yourself: if you want to work in tech, give it 100 percent. You learn new things every day and otherwise look for a mentor or someone who inspires you. The tech world can give your self-confidence a big boost, as long as you keep believing in yourself.”
About NL News of the Month:
Every month we interview women in tech. We do this because we think it is important that women are seen and heard. Only 16 percent of people in the Dutch tech business are women. If we want to use technology, we have to make sure that it is made by an inclusive group of people who look at the product or app from different angles. No bias, but a product or service for and by everyone. But also: a working area in which everyone feels welcome. This is one of the reasons why these interviews are so important. Show that it can be done differently. And perhaps: show that things have to be done differently.
