Sneha Malegavi joined our Financial Services Consulting team in India as a QA engineer last year. Some of the world’s most admired financial institutions rely on her team to build industry-defining software that can meet evolving customer needs head-on. Our team is growing, so we caught up with Sneha to get an insider’s perspective on what women in tech can bring to this role—and more importantly what they can get out of it.
Use your full skill-set
As a QA engineer in a consulting team, Sneha’s role involves a refreshing mix of technical, functional, and people skills. This versatility is what keeps her day-to-day exciting.
“As a QA the most important thing we do is find faults and get our developers to fix them. This involves troubleshooting and drilling down any potential bugs so that our customers don’t face any issues,” she explains. “So I get to interact with our customers but I also have the freedom to choose the technologies I want to work on and keep improving—that for me is the best part.”
Automation is an important skill in Sneha’s technical toolkit. “QA’s have to do a lot of repetitive work so I try to automate some of the boring stuff that we do on daily basis. This helps me work smarter and more efficiently. As you can tell, I have a lot of autonomy in my role and that’s what keeps me motivated, and gives me that extra boost to face new challenges.”
A culture that empowers innovators
Not every company gives their engineers such free reign to innovate, which is why Sneha emphasizes the unique environment at Oracle that facilitates this. “The work culture at Oracle is very open, dynamic, and flexible,” she describes. “It gives us enough time to figure out our priorities and get the work done. There’s plenty of room for growth and learning too which I’m really coming to appreciate. In a way, I would nearly describe it like your own personal journey. You decide what step you want to take forward, and Oracle takes that step with you by offering you the right support and resources.”
The eclectic mix of backgrounds, experiences, and skills in Sneha’s team are also a key factor in unlocking innovation. “Getting to work with such a diverse set of minds gives you a fresh perspective and helps spotlight new ways in which the work can be done much more effectively,” she shares. “Having a good team is not just about the individual technical skills they each possess but rather what, as an individual, we can bring to the table and use to work productively as a team. That’s what sets us apart in my opinion. Not to mention that there’s always a subject matter expert to offer you guidance and training.”
Women at Oracle are creating the future
Inclusion is something which is woven into the fabric of life at Oracle, and as a woman in tech, Sneha can vouch for this. “I work with a team which actually sits in a different city to me but I’ve never felt more included,” she shares. “We work together as a team and we all play a different role to keep the wheels running smoothly.”
Sneha is an active member of our employee resource group Oracle Women’s Leadership, which she describes as a great way to connect with amazing women in her field. “I’ve heard so many interesting stories that will help me as I navigate through the tech world,” she says. “I personally believe than be it a man or woman, we all have to keep upgrading and learning always.”
The powerful female perspective
So, given that her team is expanding, what does Sneha believe makes a great QA engineer? In particular, what can women in tech bring to the role? “One has to be very observant as a QA,” she advises. “Equally critical, is the ability to effectively communicate in time with your team and your customers and acquire the right domain knowledge. But more than the technical nitty gritty, I believe that a QA needs to have good common sense. That makes the work much easier. So yes, along with their technical skills, women bring emotional intelligence which is much needed in the work place. To me it’s obvious that gender equality makes every team better.”
So we now know what women can bring to her team. But what can they get out of it? A lot, according to Sneha. “There are no bars too high to achieve,” she emphasizes. “Who wouldn’t want to work with a globally recognized tech leader? You can have pride in your career here. On top of that, I must say we have fantastic work-life balance. I love hitting the gym to unwind and exploring new places.”
Want to join Sneha’s team? Our Financial Services Consulting team is hiring in India! Explore our career opportunities and create the future with us.