Fresh from the college graduation podium, programmer analyst Sidra Gaffoor had little to no industry experience before joining the ranks at Oracle. Now, she feels part of the team and is growing from strength to strength via the multitudes of learning opportunities available and the inspiring people surrounding her. From a smooth onboarding to creating a brighter future, she’s sharing her experience with the company thus far.
A virtual start with real-world impact
Making the jump from student life to a fully-fledged employee can sometimes be a daunting task, but for Sidra, it went off without a hitch.
“My entire onboarding process went really smooth, even though it was done remotely due to the current pandemic. We had the Campus to Corporate sessions, which immensely aided us in our understanding of the corporate world and the work culture at Oracle. We also had four weeks of well-designed training on various programming languages, which helped us expand our technical skills,” she remembers.
Settling in quickly with the support of her team, she has been able to make an impact from the get-go. Learning something new every day, as she progresses in her career, she can see how bettering herself individually is in turn, helping her team succeed.
She says, “I’m really proud of my journey. All of this was possible due to the various learning platforms such as certifications, live virtual training classes, guidance by my colleagues, free learning platforms and the opportunities for hands-on experience assigned to me by the team. Being here, I’ve been able to learn something new each day, as we are pushed to explore and be flexible in the current world of ever-changing technologies.”
Women supporting women
A common assumption when it comes to the tech industry is that a female face is rare to find—something that at Oracle, we’re working hard to stamp out. Such was the case for Sidra when she first joined and, to her surprise, was greeted with supportive women.
“It gave me immense pleasure to see a large number of female representation in the tech industry!” she shares. Continuing on, the programmer analyst reflects on the efforts made by the company to be an entirely inclusive workforce, “Our CEO Safra Catz is a woman, it signifies the equality in talent recognition of women at Oracle. Besides that, there are various programs aimed at uplifting women and occasional internal conferences for women at Oracle that showcase women in leadership and their inspiring journeys.”
An opportunity-rich industry
Aside from the help offered for personal progression, one element of working at Oracle that’s really grabbed Sidra’s attention is the room for accepting opportunities when it comes to career.
She explains, “I’ve realized that working as a programmer analyst, I have the flexibility to explore and play various job roles in the team. It helps me not to limit myself to just one learning path, but to grow in all aspects.”
It’s not only internal advancement that she feels her new role will help her with, “Cloud is one of the biggest buzzwords in the current tech industry! Before joining Oracle, I had theoretical knowledge on cloud concepts but no platform to implement the same, but now I’ve gained in-depth practical knowledge on the widely adopted Cloud Computing and Oracle Databases.”
Secrets to success
We all know hindsight’s 20/20, and so Sidra has some pieces of advice she wished she’d known at the very beginning of her journey in tech.
“Stop chasing the money, and start chasing your passion. This career advice is one that I follow diligently. Since the beginning of my journey in the world of technology, I always knew that I wanted to be passionate and content with whichever role I end up in.”
Her parting thoughts? “You will unquestionably advance in your career and deliver quality results when you’re devoted to your work. If you are enthusiastic about your work, it will naturally be reflected and appreciated in the workplace and also help you climb the ladder of success.”
Fancy joining a team of supportive tech enthusiasts like Sidra? Explore our career opportunities and start your journey with us today.