In our latest interview, we sat down with Valentyna Chycha, Senior Software Test Engineer at Paylocity, who shared an inspiring look into her career journey - from a surprising start in software testing during her studies in Ukraine to a leadership role in a fast-paced U.S. tech environment. Valentyna reflects on the power of resilience, mentorship, and self-advocacy in navigating challenges such as micromanagement and underrepresentation. Her thoughtful insights highlight how continuous learning, clear communication, and inner confidence can shape a successful and fulfilling career in tech.
The topic of 2023’s International Women’s Day is #EmbraceEquity. The aim of this year’s theme is to make it clear that equity isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have. In this International Women’s Day blog post, we asked four women from the Femme Palette community to share what equity means to them and how they practice embracing it.
Angeley Mullins is a successful commercial leader with over 20 years experience leading growth and expansion in top technology companies across different markets and cultures. Throughout her career she has learned what is required to be a great negotiator, amongst other things, which is why we asked her to share some of her advice on the topic.
To many, corporations offer an exciting career experiences and benefits such as access to formal training for career development and growth, opportunities to take part in large-scale projects, and better job security. Femme Palette recently organized a mentor-style webinar on how to be successful in a corporate career run by Radka Lang. During the webinar, many insightful tips were shared on the topics of the corporation structure, shared ways of working, and networking and PR, so we put together a 6-step guide to achieve success in the corporate world.
If you desire quality relationships, you'll probably agree with the old cliché that tells us that “communication is key”. And so for our relationships with others to be good, our conversations should have some quality as well. But that's much easier said than done. And even if we feel good about the conversation, it doesn't mean that the other party feels the same way. Communication is simply a science.
Have you ever wondered if a mentor and a role model mean the same? While for some, it might seem there's no difference between a mentor and a role model, the truth is quite the opposite. A mentor is someone who can show a good example and teach best practices. In contrast, a role model can offer both positive and negative examples, and it will be up to a person to understand the difference and learn only good. Let's look at what the difference between a mentor and a role model is.
Good news – the first challenging step is behind you, and you're in the top 20%! Your resume and experience were attractive to the company, and now you're invited to an interview. But what's next? What should you not say in an interview and what you should? What are the most common interview questions and answers you should be prepared for?
A common misconception about mentoring is that it can only benefit junior employees who are just starting their career. However, the truth is that any level of seniority can benefit from it, and this includes leaders. What is a leadership mentoring program? Why is mentoring important for leaders? How to develop leadership skills in employees through mentoring and run a successful program? In this blog post, we dive into what you need to know about leadership mentoring.
