Engineers of Endava | Meet Gisela

Senior Test Consultant, Gisela Vivas, has worked her way to the top of Testing through constant education, resulting in her mastery of more than 20 skills and programming languages.?

“I’ve known I wanted to become a system engineer since I was at school. My secondary school had one of the first IT labs in Rosario, and I spent all my spare time there discovering more about technology. I was absolutely fascinated.” she said.?

“It wasn’t until my teacher, Mr Panero, suggested I should do it as a career that it really occurred to me. Nobody knew what a tech career was at the time.??

“I feel grateful to have followed my intuition and dedicated my time. The more I’ve progressed in my career, the more I fell in love with it.”??

After studying for her bachelor’s degree in System Analysis, Gisela graduated as a System Engineer from Universidad Tecnológica Nacional in Rosario, Argentina.??

Gisela found her way into Endava when the company joined forces with Velocity Partners, where her experience and detailed knowledge of software testing grew.?

“Good engineers are not born; they are made.” She explained.??

“Endava gave me the chance to grow, supported me and taught me that we have to keep training, so I’ve never stopped studying,” she said.

“An essential trait of a good tester is to keep learning about the latest trends, methodologies, and technologies to identify and solve every possible problem."

To date, Gisela has gained experience in Accessibility Testing, Game Testing, Cross-Browser Testing, and Usability Testing. She is a certified Scrum Master, Agile Leadership Coach, a certified ISTQB Foundation Level, and an ISTQB Agile Tester.??

“When I started as a tester almost 14 years ago, I didn’t know how many angles I would find.?

“My daily work is dynamic and interesting. I have been able to move around within the discipline and do so much, like manual testing, management testing, leadership, coaching, and designing and delivering training.”??

“One of my favourite projects was for an airline. Our solutions helped transport authorities ease passenger movement more efficiently. We worked on-site where we made friends and learned the culture and how they do business.”??

“But I believe that only developing technical skills is not enough. We need to have good soft skills to communicate effectively with developers, project managers and stakeholders and ensure that all parties are on the same page about the testing process and any issues that could arise.”??

For Gisela, it’s not just about her own pursuit of technical excellence but also about encouraging other women.??

“Amazing things can happen when women in technology help each other by promoting our achievements in the industry. Our growing presence reduces unconscious bias patterns too.”??

Gisela believes there is still much more to be done to get women into tech at a societal level, especially in Latin America.?

“There is still limited awareness around the roles women can play in the industry,” she said.??

“Getting that early exposure of women to technology and really educating children, students, parents, and teachers about the fact that technical fields are not just for men is so important.??

“Highlighting and encouraging inclusion and diversity at all levels has such a positive impact on technology, but inspiring women to choose a technical career path requires a common effort from different social actors, from primary and secondary schools to governments and companies.?

“The best thing I do is encourage and mentor young people to study, never stop learning, stay on top of technologies, and share knowledge.”??

Thanks to the bold leadership of women like Gisela, the gender gap in the IT industry in Latin America is starting to close, and attitudes are changing.??