“What drives me is to help people and focus on people"
29-year-old Hanan Salem began her IT career as a developer, but now sits in a more process- and people-oriented role as Senior Consultant and Scrum Master at Delegate.
"While working as a developer, it gradually dawned on me that I would rather have more focus on process and people, rather than development and product. And I cannot describe how happy I am that I made that switch. It's amazing. I love what I do."
Hanan Salem is a Software Technology engineer and started as a developer at Netcompany shortly after completing her education. She was there for almost five years, before in 2022 she had the opportunity to change her career path when she was offered the role of Scrum Master in Delegate's Azure team without having any real experience in the job, but with a great interest in the role and a willingness to learn.
As Scrum Master, Hanan's core task is to lead processes in IT projects:
"I facilitate scrum meetings, which is a process with a framework that helps the team get the most out of the process and deliver a good product to the customer. On a project like Clever, for example, I, along with my colleague, facilitate, coach, and help seven to eight teams on a daily basis to do a good job."
Another important task is to ensure that Hanan's teams' work can proceed smoothly by removing any challenges that may arise during a project:
"It is a very important task as Scrum Master to spot the challenges that the team has. There will always be challenges of different kinds. It is my job to remove these challenges by, for example, contacting and talking to the right people who can help."
A job that matches the personality
The job of Scrum Master is, to a large extent, much better suited to Hanan's personality than her previous job as a developer:
"As a person, I am very caring and considerate, and I like to help the people around me in my private life as well as in my work life. And this fits very well with the role of Scrum Master, where I am the 'go-to person' that people come to when they have challenges and need help."
And with a shift in focus from product to process and people, Hanan experiences a completely different drive in her work life:
"As a developer, I could feel that it was not the focus on the product that drove me. What drives me is to help people and focus on people. That's what drives me in my work as a Scrum Master."
Father as role model
In a male-dominated IT industry, Hanan's own father has inspired her to pursue the IT path. He is also a Software Technology Engineer and has worked with SAS programming for almost 30 years:
"He opened my eyes to programming and the many opportunities within IT. He has also been my biggest support during my education and always believed in me when I doubted myself during my studies."
What would you say to a woman considering entering the IT industry?
"IT is amazing, and if a woman wants to study IT, she should not let herself be hindered by prejudices about the industry. I think it's cool and hardcore to dive into something you want to do despite what others might tell you."
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