I’m Anni Roinila, a recruiter, a mother of two little women and a Goforean. I’ve been working in both recruitment and the IT-industry for over 10 years. I didn’t especially choose IT myself, but after all these years I’m so happy we ended up together. I started my career by recruiting IT support specialists and as a big bunch of the candidates were female, I didn’t even think about women being minority in the IT -field for a long time. It was only when I got deeper into the industry and the roles that we were recruiting for started to vary more, when I realised that there’s absolutely no balance between my female and male candidates. Pretty much all the candidates I met were male.
While working for a big consulting company a few years back, I had a chance to get more familiar with this challenge. We were trained to better understand our biases and making sure that we, the recruiters, were able to make non-biased decisions based purely on the recruitment criteria. I also started to learn more about diversity, inclusion and women in tech by myself, and got super intrigued by the subject. As a recruiter, I found another meaning for my work. I’m not just helping people to reach their dreams, but I can also encourage women to enter the industry in various ways, and be the shout-out person for diversity and inclusion matters whenever possible. How cool is that?
In my current job at Gofore, I feel like having all the possible opportunities to make these things reality. Not only because we have a strong ‘gals-network’ inside the company, but also because the benefits of diversity for the company have always been well understood and inclusivity is at the heart of our values. Though the base has been well built, the work is never finished. As a recruiter, I feel it is my job to make sure our recruitment and decision-making processes are as non-biased as possible. We need to do everything we can in order to make the industry appealing for everyone, no matter the gender. If it means starting from kindergarten, then we’re ready to do it.
My core message for people considering a career in the tech-industry has always been this: You do not necessarily need to be interested in coding when entering the industry. At Gofore over 25% of our employees are female or non-binary, and they work in various roles such as web development, design, project management, advisory roles, sales, marketing, and data analytics for example. They also come with various different backgrounds and fields of study.
The tech industry and IT are extremely interesting fields to work with. Though not being especially tech-savvy myself, I’m learning new things every day, as I’m surrounded by extremely talented people, who are willing to share their knowledge. The IT industry is a forerunner in many ways and by working here, I feel I’m getting to be at the top of the latest development trends all the time. But to continue that way, we need to make sure we stay innovative and competitive – and that, I believe, comes from diversity. In order to be successful in the future too, we certainly need more Women in Tech. So do not fear; you are capable, you are intelligent, you are brave. Just give us, the tech industry, a chance and I’m sure you’ll fall in love with us! ?
My favorite quote:
“What if I fall? Oh, but my darling, what if you fly?” – Erin Hanson
Anni Roinila
Lead Recruiter
Gofore
Psst, we are attending the Women in Tech Forum, so if you have any questions or just wanna have a chat, meet us there. More information: https://womenintech.fi/week-forum-2019/
