This week International Women’s Day is taking place on Tuesday 8th March, and with so much female Tech talent at Options, we felt it was the perfect time to shine a light on some of the incredible females who have relocated around the world; thanks to their careers at Options.
Through the week, we’ll catch up with females who have moved to New York, Singapore, Toronto, and London.
First up, Project Manager Aileen Kennedy and Team NYC…
“New York City, the concrete jungle where dreams are made alongside being the city that never sleeps, is now also the city that three Irish Options’ team members have been calling home for the last number of years.
Sarah Adrain, Daniella Harbinson, and I have been living and working in New York since 2018. Calling Midtown Manhattan home and commuting daily to our new office in the heart of the Financial District still seems a little unreal. There is something special about the East River Ferry ride home from work on a summer evening and soaking up the views of the city from the top deck.
Joining Options
The three of us have come a long way since we first started in Options. Daniella (2016) has worked her way from Technical Support Engineer to Software Developer, and Sarah (2017) from Technical Support Engineer to North American Technical Account Manager for our Managed Applications team. I began my Options career as a Financial Administrator (2017) and now head up the Project Delivery team in North America.
We come from varying education backgrounds; Sarah and Daniella have their BSc in Computing and IT, and I hold an MA in Irish History, so we are perfect examples of the differing pathways for graduates to join the company.
We all applied through the Graduate and Placement Programme, a fantastic opportunity for young graduates and placement students to get involved in a thriving company culture, gain invaluable experience in the industry, and travel the world. Between us, we have visited London, Hong Kong, Toronto, Geneva, Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, and the Cayman Islands, to name a few.
Career Development
One of the wonderful things about Options is that it allows you to pursue a career path that suits you. While both Daniella and Sarah studied the same degree, Daniella preferred to go down an engineering route, enhancing her programming skills and working with the latest tools and products to build APIs and put her front-end skills to use. Sarah preferred the business management route and has found herself working with some of our largest clients in the world of Managed Apps.
Living in New York has given rise to countless development opportunities, from rubbing shoulders with industry leaders to networking at Women in Tech events, and we have all thrived since joining Options and calling New York our home.
Settling into New York Life
Moving to New York is something I had only ever dreamed of until Options made it a reality. Daniella and I moved within a week of each other in early 2018, and settling into NYC life, came naturally; we found pursuing our interests outside of work was important to settling into a fast-paced city like New York.
Daniella, an avid tennis player, used the city’s player permits that allow you to play in any public court around the city. Few things beat playing a game of tennis under the floodlights along the East River beneath the Williamsburg Bridge or in Central Park on a hot summer’s day!
I joined Irish dancing and football teams, making many Irish and International friends along the way. My Irish dancing team even found ourselves travelling to the World Championships in 2019.
Sarah made the move a few months before Covid-19 hit and found herself in a unique situation, the city that never sleeps was going to sleep by 11 pm! However, there was still a thriving New York City community to become involved in, which meant that by the time the city opened, Sarah was settled in and had the opportunity to jump headfirst into the unique experiences New York has to offer.
The city has fantastic gyms, restaurants, and live music industries, as well as being a short train/car ride from the beach and mountains.
We are so lucky to have a wonderful community here at Options too. Between office socials, business travel, and weekend trips with friends, we have had the chance not only to see what New York has to offer but also the rest of North America.
With the full support of the company behind us, we look forward to seeing where our future with Options leads next!”
- Aileen Kennedy, Project Manager at Options.
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Fancy joining Aileen and the team in NYC? Check out our careers sections to apply for our Graduate and Placement Programme 2022.