After working for a couple of years in a bank as an economist, Daria - known as Dasha around the office -  decided to make a career switch to the tech industry.

In the four and a half years she’s been with RUSH, she’s risen from intern through the ranks to senior software engineer and now has taken on an extra special role as mother to her first child.

To understand how women can successfully carve their own path into software development, we talked with Dasha about her story right before she went on maternity leave.

I'm Daria, but everyone calls me Dasha. I'm a senior software engineer at RUSH, where I started my tech career, and I've loved every minute of it.

I didn't always want to be a software engineer. I started my career in banking, but I quickly realized that it wasn't the right fit for me. I wanted something more interesting, challenging and rewarding.

My friend introduced me to the idea of web development. That's when I decided to switch to tech which was a really popular career path in the Ukraine where I come from. I knew it would be a lot of work, but I was up for the challenge.

I started learning programming from scratch, teaching myself using online resources such as Codecademy, Udemy and online tutorials. My husband is also a software engineer and he really supported and encouraged me in my self-learning journey.

After one year of studying I decided to put my skills to the test and worked as a freelancer in Ukraine on small website projects. When my husband got an offer of work in New Zealand we decided to take the plunge and move across the world.

We’d been in New Zealand for one month when I was invited to interview with RUSH. It was my first interview with a Kiwi company, and I was given the “test” as all RUSH interviewees are; a technology task to be completed and submitted for review.

Even though it required technology I’d never used before, I spent days and nights working on it and was rewarded with a trainee contract for three months.

When I first joined a software development team as an intern, I was the only woman. While this initially felt odd, I had a supportive team and quickly adapted. I know that gender doesn’t define my capabilities. And being in a supportive environment has allowed me to thrive and focus on work.

Obviously I never left! Within two years I was promoted from an intern to a junior software developer, then again to intermediate software engineer, and this year - while I was pregnant - I was promoted to senior software engineer.

So I'm excited to see what the future holds, balancing motherhood and working. I'm planning to continue learning and growing as a software engineer. I also want to take on more leadership roles and help other women succeed in the tech industry.

I’ve worked on so many exciting projects at RUSH including one of the largest client accounts, Z Energy.

I also got the chance to help develop the RUSH graduate programme which launched in 2021. From this programme, I was able to step into the role of People Leader for two female junior software engineers, mentoring them in their career growth.

For any women thinking about a career in software engineering, I would highly recommend it. It's a challenging but rewarding field, and there are so many opportunities for growth.