Entrevistamos, esta vez en inglés, a Sarah Nogueira, Staff Machine Learning Engineer en Criteo y Doctora en Machine Learning por la Universidad de Manchester. Nos habla sobre el primer empleo, la mujer referente que la inspiró y ¡la importancia de hacer muchas preguntas!
Spain: Could you tell us a little about your academic and professional career?
Sarah: After a PhD in Feature Selection (Machine Learning) at the University of Manchester, I joined Criteo (an adTech company) to work on predictive models used in auction pricing. Today, I am the manager of a team working on finding the right users and ad spaces to advertise for a certain brand or category of product.
“Women could be encouraged in pursuing tech jobs by creating more inclusive working environments and by outreaching to women more.”
Spain: Why did you specialize in the technology sector?
Sarah: If you are passionate about computer science engineering, I believe the tech sector is a great choice! It offers a great working environment and many opportunities to grow. I am surrounded by other passionated engineers which is very stimulating and a driver to innovation.
Spain: When you were a child, did you imagine that you would specialize in this sector?
Sarah: No. As a child, I knew very little about the tech sector, but I knew I wanted to work in science: I wanted to be a mathematics teacher.
Spain: Throughout your career, have you had a woman who has inspired you and served as a role model? Could you tell us about her?
Sarah: When I first joined Criteo as a data scientist, my manager at the time was a very young woman that had started working in the company as an intern just a few years back. When I arrived, she was supervising and coordinating several core projects of the company while being really attentive to the needs and the development of the people in her team. Collaborating with such a successful and talented woman has been inspiring to me.
Spain: What do you consider to be your greatest professional challenge?
Sarah: Right now, my greatest professional challenge is to propose and develop innovative and efficient solutions to build the open internet of tomorrow. More specifically, my team is currently working on identifying the right advertisement spaces that will drive measurable outcomes for our clients, based on contextual signals.
Spain: And the next?
Sarah: I believe my next professional challenge will be to be able to constantly adapt the technical roadmaps in advertising landscape that is constantly evolving.
Spain: What would you recommend to another woman starting out in your field?
Sarah: In general, I would advice not to rush into the first job offer that you will get. Make sure you feel comfortable with the working environment, the company culture and try to get as much information as you can on the position before committing to it.
Spain: Is there anything you would have liked to know when you started in your position?
Sarah: When I got my first job as a data scientist, I would have liked to know more about the different positions that could have fit my profile and the day-to-day reality of the job. My advice in that respect would be to talk to as many other data scientists as you can and ask them questions on their jobs!
Spain: How could any of our readers access your sector?
Sarah: There are plenty of positions opened! You can find them on LinkedIn, Jobteaser, Indeed…
Spain: What is, in your opinion, the role of women in your field? Do you think representation has increased in recent years? Do you have any idea how women could be encouraged in tech jobs?
Sarah: I believe that diversity is empowering and in that respect, having more and women in tech companies is critical. I have been working in the tech industry for four years only so it would be difficult to have an unbiased opinion on that. I think women could be encouraged in pursuing tech jobs by creating more inclusive working environments and by outreaching to women more.
Spain: What technologies do you use in your work?
Sarah: Today, I use a lot of python and Spark. In my previous team, we were using mainly Java and Scala.
Spain: How does your work contribute to the achievement of your company’s objectives?
Sarah: I contribute to the achievement of my company’s objectives by translating the business needs into technical roadmaps and by planning and coordinating the projects with my peers. I also dedicate part of my time to hiring new talents and helping people in my team grow.
Spain: What are your company policies to promote equality and diversity? Is there any measure to attract women to technical positions?
Sarah: Promoting equality and diversity is one of the big streams on which my company is actively working on! The ongoing initiatives includes people from HR department, but also include engineers from R&D like me. My company pays a lot of attention to having a fair hiring process, but also a fair promotion cycle and an equal pay for men and women in the company. Job offers and technical innovations are promoted and presented during tech events, school fairs and conferences. My company is also actively working to improve the work-life balance, the work flexibility and is committed to its company culture . As a women, I would definitely recommend Criteo as a place to work.
Spain: Are there any vacancies in your company right now? What kind of profiles are you looking for? How can our readers apply for these positions?
Sarah: Yes, we have plenty of opened positions! We are looking for software engineers, data scientists, but also Product data analysts, account strategists, marketing coordinators, sales managers… And we have open positions in many different countries depending on the position (New York, San Francisco, Paris, …)! You can find them all here: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/criteo-jobs-worldwide or directly on our website: https://careers.criteo.com/
¡Muchísimas gracias Sarah por compartir tu experiencia con nosotras!
