Consultant Spotlight: Corina Serban
Digital Futures 
We caught up with Corina, who told us her story about changing her career from hairdresser to technology consultant. Having been turned away from opportunities due to her lack of experience, Digital Futures gave Corina the chance she needed to start and accelerate her career in technology.
Before joining Digital Futures, I was a hairdresser for many years. I had no technical background; tech was more of a passion. I would say that passion came from childhood. I spent years on computers, trying to figure out how they worked, and I have always been tech savvy – it comes to me quite naturally.
"I came from a completely different field, and nobody gave me a chance. That was when I found Digital Futures."
I had made the decision to walk away from hairdressing before I’d even considered technology as a career move. It became more of a reality in my second year of university where I met new people who helped me to change my perspective. As a woman, I didn’t think I’d be able to get into tech. Those people really encouraged me to try, and I took pursuing tech as a career path far more seriously. I didn’t always make the right choices along the way – I paid for a lot of courses online which I now know wasn’t necessary. Like so many people, it was a case of not knowing what I didn’t know. I was convinced that I needed a diploma or a certificate to get into tech but all I really needed were the right skills and some proper industry-aligned training. I would definitely approach it differently now.
Finding a job was a major challenge – for starters I didn’t have a degree in tech which felt like a major obstacle at the time to me. I also had a bit of a language barrier with English not being my first language, but more importantly, I didn’t have any office working experience. I came from a completely different field, and nobody gave me a chance. That was when I found Digital Futures.
The Digital Futures application process gave me faith. It was so transparent, and I was able to showcase what I could actually do by sharing my GitHub link. I remember being so scared for my interview with Ed [Lead Engineering Instructor], but he was so nice, and he made me feel so comfortable. I was able to show him the work I had done in JavaScript and React, and he gave me the opportunity to explain my code and the API. He could see I had the potential to successfully learn, grow and finish the Academy. He was the first person to give me a chance, and I then finally decided to give up on my role as a hairdresser and start my new career journey.
"When I reflect on my development from before the Academy to after, I am a completely different person."
The Academy was intense, and I chose to put a lot of extra time into my learning. But when I reflect on my development from before the Academy to after, I am a completely different person. I learned more than I ever thought I could. I am so proud of my evolution. Of course, there is always room for improvement, but it’s a journey. My technical skills got better, my English got better, and my professional skills completely transformed. I didn’t know the rules of the office or how to work with people in a corporate environment. I’m now completely comfortable with that – I can work in any office, and I approach my work with the right attitude and skills.
I have been deployed three times as a Digital Futures consultant which has been great – it has allowed me to experience several different roles and fields. I started off as a front-end engineer at a multinational telecoms and media company where I worked on the internal page that the networking developers would use for their orders. I worked on both the coding side and the styling side – the dark mode design was created by me which I’m incredibly proud of. After a few months of front-end work, I got the opportunity to do some back-end work as well. That was a good experience because I was able to learn Python, although I realised quickly that front-end development was definitely what I liked the best.
As I came to the end of that deployment, Digital Futures helped me to secure a second deployment that had more of a business focus. This was due to combination of factors – challenges in the software engineering job market, but also my genuine desire to move into a more business-focused role. I had a degree in business, so it felt like a natural progression for me, and I had always been interested in going back to business, having run my own before moving to the UK. The team at Digital Futures helped me to upskill as a business analyst and I then started a new deployment at a global technology consulting company. My engineering background was incredibly useful, and I really enjoyed working with the developers, who were working with data and SQL.
"I’ve joined a team and client with several other Digital Futures consultants and it’s really reassuring. They are all very warm and also open to teaching and helping me."
In my third deployment, I am still working as a business analyst but this time at a global bank. I do less technical work here but having that genuine technical knowledge from my previous roles has helped me to understand what’s being done and has helped me to hit the ground running.
My team is a platform engineering team that is migrating data in Scala. It’s a language that I wasn’t familiar with, but it’s very similar to Java. In my day-to-day, I create tickets, write documentation, and get the requirements for the engineers. If the engineers need technical things, I can also support them with that because of my GitHub and Java experience so it feels really well rounded. I’m really happy in the role.
I’ve joined a team and client with several other Digital Futures consultants and it’s really reassuring. They are all very warm and also open to teaching and helping me. If I need something, I know I can go to them. It definitely helps a lot that almost my whole office is Digital Futures. They all understand the process I’ve been through – we’ve been on this journey together. It feels like a safe place. We have a huge group where you can ask questions, and everyone will come back with suggestions or ways to approach an issue – it’s incredibly supportive. Even moving to multiple clients, I’ve been able to build relationships with my peers through the Digital Futures socials and events – it’s important to feel part of a community which is exactly what Digital Futures provides.
When I came to the end of my first deployment, I had two options – to stay with Digital Futures or to look for a job on my own. I told my Delivery Manager that if I didn’t care about the specific role, I wanted to stay with Digital Futures. I wanted to feel safe and to have the opportunity to grow in confidence. Digital Futures allows you to do that. As someone that was still incredibly new to the industry and to the corporate world, I knew I wasn’t ready to go out on my own and I needed Digital Futures’ support. I’ve been fortunate that I haven’t had many issues in any of my roles, but I know that if that were to happen, I can call my Delivery Manager and ask for advice and guidance. After so many years, I don’t need as much support anymore, but it’s always good to know that the team at Digital Futures is there for me if I need them.
For anyone that’s thinking of starting a career in tech without having a tech background like me, I’d encourage you to just try. We all believe we are not good enough at some point, but you shouldn’t be afraid to make mistakes. That’s the only way to learn, so just go for it – start learning and take that first step.
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