Hi there! 👋 I’m Stella, a Software Engineer based in Budapest, Hungary. I joined Wise back in September 2022 and I’d love to walk you through how I became passionate about software development and my journey at Wise so far. 👩🏻‍💻

Finding My Career

I think I’m pretty lucky because I knew from an early age that I wanted to work in this field, and it’s quite funny how it all started. 👧🏻 When I was 12, everyone was creating fan pages for bands and TV series and so was I. It wasn’t possible to fully customise these sites, so I did some research on how to build my own. What I thought was just a hobby turned into my  future career. 📈

I was so excited about what engineering had to offer that I decided to join a Hungarian startup’s first development course for females. This 8-week course taught us the basics of programming in a super fun way like recreating popular games – ever heard of Snake or Flappy Bird? Who didn’t love these games! 🎮

My University Studies

During high school my father, who was working at BME back then, suggested that I could study engineering there as well if I was interested. Fast forward to 2015, I enrolled in BME. 📚

As exciting as Computer Science is, it can also be tough. However, these challenges helped me to develop my own practices to become a successful engineer. Let me share two that worked for me. First of all, have a google sheet for everything! 📊It helps you to stay organised and follow a strict schedule especially during exam periods. Also, celebrate all of your wins, even the small ones, because it really helps you to stay positive. 🌞

Looking back at these years I’m really proud that I completed both my BSc and MSc studies   and never gave up, and it was also really helpful to find my specialisation within Computer Engineering. 🎓

Joining Wise

A friend of mine had been working at Wise for a while and had nothing but great things to say about the culture, so last year I decided to check it out myself… and look where I’m at now! 🚀

Want to know what’s great about my team? Not only is everyone super kind, they are also available for a quick brain pick whenever someone needs a change of perspective. What’s more, they care about individual well-being as well. For example, when I was wrapping up my studies or my teammate was renovating his apartment no one hesitated to jump in and cover for one another – we have each other’s back! The cherry on top is that our friendships go beyond the office walls as well. 🙌

At Wise we all share the same 4 core values that everyone can identify with. The one I resonate with the most is No Drama Good Karma, because it encourages us to be open and honest while respecting one another. 😌

I also appreciate that we have a well established career map to keep us on track for professional growth. We also have a yearly 360 review process which means our performance is evaluated by our lead, people we work with and ourselves. 🧭

That’s just a little bit about me. If you feel like I did this time last year about Wise, you should check it out for yourself!