Her Story
About Srividhya
Coming from a data science background, I really liked working with the numbers because math was just really easy for me and it was constant in my life. Once I was in college, I branched out of just doing my courses and started working in other jobs where I got to interact with people and understand their backgrounds and problem solving. I realized that I would really like to work with people and help them solve whatever problem. So I tried to find a job where I can combine the two, where I can still leverage my technical expertise and continue learning in the world of tech, especially in the AI field, while also helping people who don't know much about the AI field and helping them solve their real-world problems with their customers and growing their businesses. It's been a passion of mine for a while, and the fact that I found a job that lets me merge the two has been very fun.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Srividhya
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my parents, because they spent a lot of time giving me the confidence and the different types of opportunities to be able to learn and grow on any topic that I was interested in. The fact that they were always there to help and told me if I truly wanted to achieve something, that they will be there in every step of the way to make sure that I can achieve my dreams. I've also had different types of mentors throughout my career, even from college, who have been my personal board of directors. They've helped me figure out the industries that I want to work in, or if I'm having a rough day, someone that I could reach out to. They're always there to either talk to me through any problems I've had, from work and career and personal, that have guided me through any problem that I've ever had.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I have received is that it is okay to say no. You don't always have to say yes to opportunities, especially when you're starting off in your career.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice is that there's going to be a lot of obstacles for women in our career field and our domain, because it's mainly male-dominated. There's going to be a lot of pushback. There's going to be times where our voices are not going to be heard, or will be interrupted, or there's different types of big roadblockers that will happen in our career. We have to find that group of people, our mentors, our family, and our friends, who we can rely on and work through our problems to overcome those obstacles. That's how I was able to go from being not confident in being able to get a job in this market to being very confident in helping other women who have been in the same position as I have, being able to achieve anything that they set their mind to.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges are our voices not being heard, whether we are a woman, a person of color, or someone who is new in the career. It is very hard to be able to voice our opinions, whether it's in a team meeting, to your whole company, to your college, etc. I've noticed for myself, and I've seen for my mentees and my friends, that it's very hard to put yourself out there. But the biggest opportunities are that we are going to be the first generation of women who are able to do great things and achieve amazing things, because we're coming in with a big driving force of wanting to do as much as possible and doing what we're passionate about. Now we have the opportunities to go to college, to get jobs in different career fields that weren't allowed before, having so much opportunity in doing what we want to do, and there's not much restriction from our parents or from society of what we should do and what we should not do. So, the opportunity is that there's a lot more now.
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