Meet MOIA

Join us on a MOIA ride with?Viktoriya?

Get to know the people behind MOIA! Learn about their role and how they perceive their time at MOIA.?

Hi Viktoriya! Can you tell us more about how you are making an impact at MOIA?

I?am?a working student in the Street Routing Team at?MOIA.?Within my team, I mainly contribute to the development of tools to evaluate the quality of routes.?Occasionally,?my work also consists of analyzing data for evaluation of the quality of routes we as a team?provide.??Personally,?I?have the feeling that I not?only?make an impact?on the possible technical aspects of the MOIA system, but also?on?contributing to the?reduction of the environmental damage, which we as humans inevitably cause.?This gives me a whole new motivation for my daily work, because I am aware that our goals?as a company?are?in line with my personal?values.?

What led you to the role you are in today, and what is worth knowing about yourself??

Previously, I worked?in another company as a frontend developer.?However, I did want to dive more into data analysis and backend related tasks.?Therefore, I was planning to switch jobs.?One day as I was checking my university mail?and?I discovered an open?working student?position at MOIA. The job ad involved?the?exact?focus on what I wanted to do?in my further professional life and studies. I researched the company,?and I was fascinated by the idea of MOIA.?Therefore,?I decided?to apply directly?for the position.?I was lucky that they saw me as a good fit for the team as well.?Thank you for that!??

Why did you choose to study in the field of computer science and what do you like about it??

The story is characterized by a lot of luck.?Back?in?Bulgaria,?we?had to?choose a subject to?focus?on for the last two years?of school.?My original plan was to study?a field?more common for girls?back then, like economics.?I chose mathematics,?but it was mandatory to take computer science as a subject in parallel.?Then, in?class, my teacher approached me and told me?to?try computer science?because they thought I would be?good?at it.?I?had?never?considered that option?but over the course of a few weeks, I decided it might be a promising idea.?Back then,?my mother wasn’t?supportive of this choice?at all because she thought this?was?only an impulsive decision and I?would?drop out?before completing my studies.?Nevertheless, I decided to?go through with?it and here I am - 4 years later with a?Bachelor's?degree, currently enrolled in a?Master’s?program.?I can't thank my teacher enough for giving me that advice back then. It?changed my whole life.?

I?really enjoy the fact that there’s no defined path to take?in order to?find the best solution.?Computer science is a new field, so it gives you the opportunity to investigate many unsolved problems. This also leads me to my second point:?It's easy to test your skills. Each of us has a computer and doesn't need heavy machinery or anything extraordinary to test our own abilities. Compared to other subjects, such as law, computer science isn’t?so strictly defined and doesn’t?have such strict guidelines, which I appreciate. Also, computers have no subjective aspect, your solution can be either right or wrong, there is no in-between.?

What is?challenging???

Sometimes you spend hours on a problem and can't find a solution, which can be tiring and overwhelming at times. However, in such cases, I would advise to just let the problem settle for a bit and look at the solution after some time or together with a teammate. It's important to have a different perspective when it comes to problem solving. Also, I always found the purely technical computer science difficult, but with a little more effort and guidance, it can be done.?

The quota of women working in tech jobs is way higher in Bulgaria than in Germany – what do you think are the main reasons for that??

Maybe each of us was lucky enough to have great teachers who guided them in school. Now seriously, I was also very surprised by this result, and I initially had no idea why. However, your question prompted me to do a little research and I found out two main points. First, salaries in Bulgaria are low compared to those in other EU countries. The only sector that pays comparable salaries is the IT sector. This, of course, motivates many people to look for a job in this industry, including women. If salaries were good in other sectors, many of these women might choose other careers.

The second important point is the required education. There are many academies in Bulgaria that offer six-month courses about a particular programming language and issue you a certificate that you can then use to apply for a job. In my studies in Germany, we put more focus on concepts and not on programming languages. Additionally, it takes a longer time to finish the classes, also because most internships in Germany are at least six months long. From my point of view, this makes it easier to enter the IT sector in Bulgaria, because you need to invest less time, which in turn allows women to take a new course in their lives.?

Four years?ago,?you moved to Berlin. What’s the story behind that???

I first studied at the German Gymnasium Sofia in Bulgaria, which is considered one of the best?school?in?the city. I wanted to study there, because Germany is one of the few European countries that have managed to keep the cost of higher education low while maintaining its quality. Moreover, Germany is known for?a high?quality of engineering. I couldn't afford the higher education costs all by myself,?but my family could have. At this time,?I really wanted to learn to stand on my own two feet. This brings me to the second point of why I decided to study abroad in the first place, and that is the self-reliance aspect. I knew that in Bulgaria,?I would only be a phone call away from my parents, which wouldn’t?put me in real?situations where I could only rely on myself. Due to the?obstacles,?I faced through this experience, I now have the confidence that I can always trust myself.?

What is worth knowing about myself???

I am originally from Bulgaria. I love sports as well as cooking and coding obviously???.?

What?do you like best about working at MOIA??I really like the knowledge sharing sessions, which we have within my team.?It allows me to learn new concepts from people who are way more experienced than I am. I also really like the office?-?it makes you feel like you?aren’t?working when you are?actually are.????

What do you think is special about the student community at MOIA???

I really appreciate the guidance we find here at MOIA. It is nice to get in touch with like-minded people. The support we get from People & Relations is also helpful?and?I've never had any problems with organizational things. The onboarding process is great to get an overview of the whole company, to learn what the different teams are concerned with and of course to extend your network.?

How do you move? What?are?your favorite mobility?options?

?It is public transport in winter and bike in summer.?

Get in touch with Viktoriya?on?Linkedin!

Interested in learning more about our career opportunities at MOIA? Learn about our?open positions.