Meet three women who have
embarked on careers in the
information technology (IT)
industry. This program profiles
Coraleigh Hine, a computer service
support technician specializing in
sales and installation; Shawna
White, a desktop support analyst
who troubleshoots and repairs
client problems; and Nancy
Nadeau, a software developer producing high-end
tools for digital image creation. Remarks from co-workers and supervisors
provide additional layers to the descriptions of each job. View a preview video
clip and read below for descriptions of each segment, or scroll to the bottom to
order!
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Coraleigh Hine is a Computer Sales and
Service Support Technician who works for
“Business Pro Computers.” Her duties
include on-site customer support,
installing desktop systems, software and
user interfaces, peripheral maintenance
(printers, palm organizers, scanners),
server software upgrades and user
network administration, diagnosing and dispatching of all system problems,
responding to customer requests for hardware/software quotes and customer
follow-through to ensure needs are met.
After she had graduated from high school,
Coraleigh went straight into a two-year program
called Automated Business Equipment Technician.
In her second year, she specialized in computers.
There are three things that Coraleigh likes best
about the field: She enjoys the problem solving,
she likes interacting with people and she enjoys the challenge of learning new things.
The benefits of being in the computer industry are great. There are tremendous
opportunities in all areas and new ones arise quickly as the industry changes
extremely fast. It offers a range of salaries based on knowledge and technical
skills. “Educate yourself first, then look for a company that offers the
opportunity to grow and learn. Follow your passion and the money will come.”
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As a Desktop Support Analyst for TELUS
Communications, Shawna provides Tier 2
support, which is the level after the help
desk. This means that she actually goes
to the client's computer to troubleshoot
and repair the problem after the help
desk has received the call. With most
calls, she fixes software and assesses
hardware problems.
Shawna finds it very rewarding to fix a really tough problem quickly and make
the customer happy with the solution. Another reward for her is the personal
interaction. Everyone has her number and they all call her! When she gets a
thank-you from her customers, that's also a bonus. On average, she deals with
25-30 in-house clients a day.
After high school, Shawna took a year off and did
some part-time art courses in art and design. She
discovered that Art & Design wasn't going to make
her happy financially. Her compromise was
Computer Graphic Design, but she had no idea how
to use computers. She knew how to turn a
computer on but not much more! To increase her
computer knowledge she enrolled in a Computer
Systems Technology program.
Two years later, she graduated with a diploma in Computer Systems
Technology and went to work "on" computers rather that "with" computers.
“There are so few women in my area of expertise. This career choice not only
offers great potential for growth and diversity, but it is ever changing. The
technology and the type of work is always expanding which means we need
more women in it.”
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Nancy Nadeau works for Softimage as a
software developer engineer. Softimage is
a provider of high-end tools for creating
digital images. Nancy develops tools that facilitate the work of the software users,
so they can create better, more realistic
special effects or images. These tools are
mainly used for special effects in movies
such as The Matrix or in game creation at Sega and Nintendo. The company
also works with Industrial Light & Magic, which did the special effects for Star
Wars. Nancy has a bi-disciplinary in mathematics-computer science.
Directly after university, Nancy started working at
Softimage. She was the first woman to join the
Research and Development team at Softimage.
Nancy never really saw herself as a woman working
in the midst of a group of men, but rather as a
person working with colleagues, trying to make the
best software on the market.
Nancy encourages other women to enter the field of computer science, but also
recommends other fields outside of this realm. Computer graphics can be one
option, and there are also other fields such as Artificial Intelligence, Operational
Research, or Speech Recognition, just to name a few.
Computer science in general is a field where people are paid fairly well. Benefits
can also include stock options. “Things change so fast that there is always new
technology to learn, new algorithms created... I was once a project leader. I
liked it a lot, but I also like to be close to the code.”
Click the image to the left
for a preview video clip!
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Developed in 2006 in Canada, the Career Options for Women series is an
outstanding resource for schools wanting to attract women and girls to Science,
Technology and Trades!
Please Note: These videos are an excellent depiction of women in these jobs
and are interspersed with Canadian salary and labor statistics, which are
similar to the numbers in the United States. As there is a no-return policy on
these publications, please make sure to look at the preview video clip for the
DVD(s) you are ordering.
Pricing - Career Options for Women: Emerging Technologies DVDs
