Meet our 800th Girl Coder: Zinat!

As you’re used from us, we’re just in time to introduce to you our 800th Girl Coder before our 900th will press the ‘join Girl Code’-button, oops.

Zinat joined us at the beginning of March and is such an inspiring Girl Coder: we still feel it’s better late than never to make this post! Zinat can eat pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day and in between the pasta eating she is a software engineer at CGI and specializes in the field of GIS.

Why did you join Girl Code?
I joined Girl Code to meet more women in the IT field. I think it’s important to get to know different people, especially people who enjoy coding and want to learn more from each other. I have just attended one Girl Code meetup and it was already so inspiring for me. Talking to people with the same passion as me or people who want to start their way in coding gives me energy. I studied GIS and my interest in coding led me to work as a software engineer. I know that there is a lot to learn and a lot to share… That’s also a good reason to be a member of Girl Code. 

GIS? Could you tell us more about it?
GIS is the study of geoinformatics. Examples of everyday uses of GIS include any kind of navigation, GPS or even Google maps. I studied GIS because of my passion for maps and mathematics.

What does your workday look like at CGI?
My daily schedule is based on Scrum planning. I mostly work in a team of five or six people in sprints of three weeks. Each day starts with a standup and sharing the tasks for that day.

You mentioned you liked to be a member of Girl Code to learn. What do you think you’ll learn at our meetups?
Girl Code is a good opportunity for me to keep up with many developers from different backgrounds, learn from each of them, visit many real-life projects and discuss their techniques. It helps me have a better understanding of them and maybe consider those methods in my own work.

You also mention, there’s lots to share. What would you share at Girl Code?
What I can share with Girl Code is my experience as a junior developer. It is nice to meet and help people who want to start their career as a software engineer or developer. Each one of us has a different story but sharing our individual experiences might help one person to find their way in coding. We all benefit by supporting each other.

Hell yes, that’s exactly what we want Girl Code to be an to offer, as Zinat puts very nicely: “We all benefit by supporting each other.” Thanks Zinat for joining us and being a inspiring and valuable member of our community! If you’d like to get in contact with Zinat, join us at our meetups or contact her on LinkedIn. On to the 900th!

PS Our next meetup is about accessibility, RSVP here to join us! If you built an app, website or piece of software paying extra attention to accessibility. Or built an app, website or piece of software making the physical world more accessible for those for whom it isn’t: Apply for our open speaker spot now!