PrestaShop

Elise Griset quit her career in event management and decided to become a developer. Today, she is a front-end developer at PrestaShop. She loves the company’s good work-life balance and inclusive culture.&nbsp;From bootcamp to new careerWhile I loved my career in events, I realized I didn’t share many of the values of the industry. I would organize corporate parties and seminars with lots of champagne, bad music and food waste. The budgets were really huge just to bring people together, while at the same time I wasn’t being paid well compared to the amount of work and stress I was dealing with everyday.&nbsp;I realized there are bigger problems in the world and decided to quit, though I had no idea what I wanted to do next. As I wondered what my next job would be, I remembered a time during an internship where I met people coding, and it seemed interesting. That, added to the fact that I saw (on instagram)&nbsp; Karlie Kloss's program to teach girls how to code, made me think, "why not me?". Before, this profession always seemed very complicated — something that only engineers or mathematical people could do. But I realized it was actually really fun, and I found the idea of doing something that very few people understand really appealing, as if you’re learning a language not many people around you can speak, like Chinese or Russian.I started looking for ways to learn how to code, and that’s how I discovered several bootcamps in Paris. I discovered IronHack through their ads on Instagram and Google, where I saw women and girls coding and meeting in real life. Suddenly, something switched in my mind, and I thought: maybe I can do this too. I did a 9-week bootcamp, and after that began looking for a job.Problem solving modeA friend of mine who followed my path and did a bootcamp last year just landed her first job. Every day she writes to me saying, “I don't know anything, help”. I tell her it’s normal and that it will get better each day. Even now, 90% of my job as a developer at PrestaShop is about problem solving. I’ve actually been stuck on something for the past five days, and it feels terrible, but I know that once I figure it out it’s going to feel awesome.&nbsp;If like me you’re worried about passing the technical tests to land a job, my only advice is to always remember that they want to know how you think — they don't actually care if you succeed, they just want to know if you ask the right questions and you are able to work through the problem in your mind. It's about your thought process to get to the final result.The importance of teamworkI had two jobs before, both in startups, which meant small budgets and small teams. I was the only front-end developer, which was extra challenging because I had nobody to help me except for Google. At the same time it was really cool because I learned a lot by myself. But I think I could have improved faster if I was working in a team. Now, since PrestaShop is a bigger company, I can rely on colleagues whenever I'm stuck because we have a lot of tech people, which is super useful.Work-life balanceWeb development is one of the few jobs where you can have a great work-life balance, especially in my position since I’m not a tech lead or senior developer. I just go to work, do my stuff, and once I close my computer, I don't think about it.&nbsp;It's also thanks to PrestaShop that I have a really good work-life balance. At the start of each 3-week sprint we have a work pace assigned to us, which means even if I’m available for 15 days, I’ll be assigned with 8 days of coding. They take into account time for other tasks, like meetings and personal time. Not all companies are that conscious of their employees’ time.On top of that, PrestaShop is just such an inclusive, friendly and safe space. They really understand that we are not machines. If I have an appointment during the day, I can go and come back later. I’m free to decide my own schedule. As long as the work is done, they don't mind if you work early in the morning or late at night, and don't push you to work late because they value work-life balance. And we have a full remote policy, which enables a lot of flexibility.&nbsp;The job postings at PrestaShop were written in an inclusive way, which is more noticeable in French because you have masculine and feminine grammar. This immediately appealed to me. Then the vibe I got from the HR people was also really positive and I felt an immediate fit with my values.

“Suddenly, something switched in my mind, and I thought: maybe I can do this too.”

Elise Griset