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Welcome to another episode of Develomentor. Today's guest is Sona Maniyan.

If you\\u2019ve ever wondered what it\\u2019s like to change careers into the tech industry after a long time as a stay at home parent, stay tuned!

Sona Maniyan received both her bachelor\\u2019s and master\\u2019s in accounting and finance. Subsequently, she landed roles ranging from consultant to customer service supervisor and financial analyst.\\xa0

But Sona\\u2019s career path took a turn after a few years as a stay-at-home Mom. She decided to go back to school to become a software engineer. In this second phase of her career, Sona has held roles for the likes of Symantec, Target and General Mills.\\xa0

In addition, Sona is also the leader for the Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology and the cofounder of the Social Data Science meetup in Minneapolis.\\xa0

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Episode Summary

\\u201cI wouldn\\u2019t say relaunching my career was just me alone. It took a whole village. Everybody has in some way contributed to help me get to where I am.\\u201c

\\u201cI didn\\u2019t care so much about grades. I cared more about what I was learning. So I would do the harder projects.\\u201c

\\u201cData science is becoming more of a consultant role where we work very closely with the business. Communication skills and understanding business requirements are becoming a lot more important.\\u201d

\\u2014Sona Maniyan

Key Milestones

1. What attracted Sona to finance and accounting at the start?
2. What was it like living in Kuwait during the Gulf War of the 1990s?
3. Why did Sona choose software engineering and tech? Why not go back into finance and accounting?
4. While colleges have certainly gotten better at supporting working adults, they aren\\u2019t exactly optimized for it. What was it like going back to school a bit later in life?
5. One of the things we see often on the show is how different backgrounds help people become better more rounded developers, managers and colleagues. How have Sona\\u2019s experiences in customer service, finance and consulting shaped her career as a developer and data scientist?

Additional Resources

Learn more about AnitaB and how it is helping women in technology \\u2013 https://anitab.org/\\xa0

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything \\u2013 by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner \\u2013 https://www.amazon.com/Freakonomics-Economist-Explores-Hidden-Everything/dp/0060731338

Develomentor Ep. 20 JP Sherman \\u2013 US Army PsyOps turned SEO Expert

You can find more resources in the show notes
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To listen to previous episodes go to https://develomentor.com/blog/

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