WWCode Podcast #15 – Anusha Rutnam, Technical Support Engineer at Adyen
Written by WWCode HQ
Tell Women Who Code a little bit about who you are, your background, and what you do.
I work for a payments company called Adyen. My role is Technical Support Engineer. It’s somewhat customer-facing, kind of a bridge between the devs and the people who give us money. It’s a really interesting role. I got into tech in 2017. I worked for a year as a web developer and then moved into tech support. I feel it is my passion.
For people thinking about moving into a technical support engineering role, can you describe your day-to-day? What are the things that you think are most valuable that you bring to that space?
Interpreting the problems people bring to the table is important and asking the right questions. Quite often we get these questions that are something along the lines of, X isn’t working. You have to think outside of the box and try to figure out what they’re talking about.
You shared with me earlier that documentation is really important in this process. What role does that play and how does one even go about making really good documentation?
I love good docs. For me, it comes from understanding the concept of an API. I just loved it when any technical documentation included examples. I think simple examples are very important.
One thing I run into working in product is you can have the best documentation in the world, but getting people to use it, find it, and access and organize can be really tricky. Do you have any advice for how to get people on the same page?
I think a bit of empathy is probably called for there. Also if people aren’t finding it, that’s a problem with the documentation. If you are searching for something on the site and it doesn’t come up in the search results, that’s on the company.
What platforms and tools do you prefer to use? Do you have it all housed in your site, or do you use other spaces to document wikis and things like that?
We use a product called Hub. It’s fine. I’ve been at other companies where the indexing and searching on search queries was very odd. It was very hard to find results on whatever query we’re trying to look into. I think it needs to be improved. Internal documentation feels quite essential to all tech support. I’m not sure that the problem has been solved.
I’m always trying to improve documentation, how-to’s and, to get all of the information into a place where people can use it.
It’s essential. I understand not wanting to have to think about the solution and then also having to write it down. I always request a note on the ticket about how it was solved.
That’s a great pro tip for people. And do you find that people respond to that pretty easily?
Yes if you leave an emoji, like a smiley face, not ending the sentence with, please.
That’s fascinating about human behavior. What do you think is the difference between saying please and leaving an emoji?
It doesn’t feel like a judgment. It’s more like, a fun thing for next time.
You mentioned that you transitioned from web dev to technical support engineer, tell us a little bit about what that transition was like.
I did a web dev three-month Bootcamp course. I was super fortunate, got a job about a week out from that in a small startup. I met people who were amazing and with who I will have lifelong friendships. It was such a small engineering team, I didn’t have the support that I personally needed. After a year of that, I was a bit burnt out.
What steps did that lead you to take when you were feeling burnt out, what did that look like for you with your career map?
The next time I applied for a job, I specifically said, what is the mentorship profile you have? Will I be left on my own? There are so many job opportunities out there where they ask for independent workers who can learn on their own. I wouldn’t apply to those, I think it’s fine and I applaud the people who do.
You’ve come into your power around what you value in the workplace and from a learning perspective. I think that’s something that a lot of our members can really relate to, feeling stuck, unsupported, and not knowing how to create something different for themselves. How do you do that? How do you get to the point where you say this is what I need and won’t settle for something else?
If you feel like you need more support, ask for it. Don’t feel like you have to be stuck working 25 hours a day. Find your niche. Now I know I’m very good at my job and I’m contributing. That means everything to me.
When you say it’s everything, what does it feel like to get up every day and have a job that you love, know you’re doing a good job at, and know you are making a contribution?
A lot of my work is objectively boring, but I find it so exciting. There is so much stat work. I find a logline and I’m so psyched for myself. I will literally high-five myself during the day. That’s what it means to me, little wins.
There’s a lot of data around about half of the women leaving the industry by the 10-year mark because they don’t feel like they belong. If someone’s thinking, is this the place for me? What would you say to them?
I would say, it’s getting better. But at the same time, I wouldn’t discount their experiences. It’s unfair the way this industry treats women. We can make it better and men have the responsibility to make it better.
What are some signals that a company might be doing it better or is working towards making it better? What are some things that people can look out for when they’re considering where to work?
I use Glassdoor and that’s how I found this current gig. I read through every single review. At Adyen there is the most intensely charismatic DNI team. I have no idea how a payments company has assembled such a charismatic group of people. There was a Pride Week festival a couple of weeks ago. It was wonderful. Doing a bit of research, there are bad eggs at a lot of companies. I wish this industry was a bit better.
That’s what our whole community is about. Demanding something better for women, for more women, and for more diverse women. In terms of resources, you’ve mentioned a bootcamp and mentoring. What other resources would you recommend for technologists who are building their career?
Especially for women, ask questions of other women. It’s not like anyone owes you their time, but I think there are a lot of women in the industry who want to help. I would never have asked a question when I was just starting. I wish I had. Present me would answer.
I hear so many women say they don’t wanna ask questions. Why do we do that? Where do we get stuck? What happens there?
Shame coupled with imposter syndrome. I’m so scared to ask questions. It’s a big thing I’ve tried to talk about in Adyen. I think publicly asking questions is so important. Not because people need to know the answer, but to show that not everyone is certain of the knowledge.
What I’m learning from you today is that good documentation is everything, ask questions, you belong, and if you’re fortunate enough to find a supportive workplace, honor that space. Is there anything else that you want our community to know? Anything else you wanna share about your career or who you are that you think might help someone?
I have one very specific technical thought that I’d love to share. When I was first starting coding, I did a lot of exercises on browser-based, like, CodePen, JSFiddle, sort of sites. I was so dispirited when I then tried to build my own website. I was like, ‘where do I start?’ I would say, try. Do try and do it from scratch.
When someone has a great idea and they’re trying to build something, web app or mobile app? Which one first?
Web app. Mobile apps are so hard.