Erica Whyte, Team Lead in software engineering, says you need to find a company where you feel safe asking questions and has a solid support system. Read how she’s found that at Q4, and her advice for women in tech.

Meet Erica Whyte, Team Lead in engineering at Q4

I’m an engineering Team Lead here at Q4, and my first year here has been the most productive of my life, career-wise. I’ve got to work on a new product, see the value in that product come to life, and help build a team.

I wanted to work somewhere I feel safe and supported, and my best advice for women growing their careers in engineering is to be particular about finding that place for themselves.

Over my nine years working in development, I became very careful about where I was working and even the job interviews I was taking. If that company was going to be somewhere I’d feel like I didn’t belong or like I noticed that I’m the only woman in the room, it wasn’t for me.

After one of my interviews with Q4, the recruiter called me on the phone and said okay this is what we’re thinking and when we’re looking to make a decision, walked me through things to see where I was at. I’ve never had that before. You normally finish the interview, close the zoom and wait for an email you hope comes. The Q4 team communicated through the whole interview process and showed me what I could expect as an employee. 

I’ve learned a lot to get to where I am today, and I know growing your career in a male-dominated engineering field can be challenging for women starting out. I’ve mentored young women in engineering and started women in tech mentorship groups in the past. 

At Q4, we are deliberate about creating an inclusive, supportive culture for women on our engineering team. I want to share what that feels like for me at work, and my top tips for women engineers growing their careers in the tech industry. 

Find a company that allows you to say “I don’t know” without judgement. 

I think once you realize that everybody has struggled with some version of impostor syndrome, of feeling like they’ll be exposed for not knowing what they’re doing, the better off you are.

I've learned that a company that allows you to say I don't know, without judgement or negative consequences, is a company that you want to be at. When you feel that you can be open about that in a team meeting or while you’re working on a challenging project, it’s such a breath of fresh air. That’s something I get here at Q4. I don’t worry about: if I say I don’t know something will it hold back my career? Will I be treated differently? It takes so much stress off of you as an employee, and in my case as a woman in tech, to not have to worry about that anymore.

At Q4, we’re very adamant about creating a safe work environment where you feel safe to fail and try things out. Safe to make mistakes.

There have been times recently when I've sat there, and I realized I’ve made a sprint too heavy for my team. At our team meeting, I say I’m sorry that’s on me. That was my mistake, here’s what I’ve learned and what I’ll do next time. You see that all the way up the chain. Senior directors are transparent and I encourage my team to do the same.

It’s really hard to show up at work if you’re feeling like you don’t fit in or you’re overthinking how you’ll come across when you say you don’t know. But I think the best thing you can do for yourself in those situations is to realize that is not the place to be.

Think about finding somewhere that's going to support you, because that's the only way we grow. And it took me a long time to learn that!

Ask about growth paths in engineering. 

The growth potential was a big reason I joined Q4. In the interview, they shared the career paths for senior technical engineers, the people manager path, and examples of how employees have made horizontal moves to different teams within the company.

I joined Q4 as a Senior Developer interested in becoming a people manager and was clear about it. After we got our new product Engagement Analytics on the Capital Connect platform, I was promoted to Team Lead. Now I manage a squad with five developers, one QA, one designer, two product managers, and two interns. 

With some tech companies, you may have the image of people sleeping at the office or long hours on weekends and evenings. Burnout as a developer is a very real and common issue.

I want to work for a company where I have lots of opportunities to grow, but not at the expense of my life and personal time outside of work. From the beginning, my team at Q4 was very clear that we value employees as people first and this job doesn’t take over your life.

Sometimes we can give companies too much benefit of the doubt, I think especially women if we’re promised a promotion or new responsibilities that don’t come. Nobody else is going to sell yourself or take ownership of your career except you.

Engineering teams usually have their own kind of subset of culture. Take the time to learn about what the team works on, in our case at Q4 we share it on our R&D blog .

Don’t be afraid of asking tough questions in the interview process and get specific about your engineering career goals and ask how the company can support them.

Learn about roles and tools outside of your daily tasks. 

One thing that’s made me successful in my development career is understanding what's happening outside of the portion I'm working on.

My background is in front-end development, but I would dabble around in the back end and learn new technologies online to better understand the full picture of what’s happening. If my team needs a little bit of extra help to complete some work, if we've got tight deadlines, or if we've had some unexpected things pop up, I jump in there, and I will do what I can. It also helps me troubleshoot, which is another big thing, the higher up you get in your career.

Any time you can try that new project, or volunteer to help with something that’s a little out of your comfort zone at work, go for it. That’s been one of the biggest things that have helped me.

Focus on your team members’ motivations and temperament.

A leadership role managing a team is not for everybody. That’s definitely not the only road for somebody in tech, it all depends on what you want to do. I know there are very experienced engineers at Q4 who want to continue coding or move into senior architect roles.

If you do want to become a people manager, I’ve learned that there’s a lot of emotional intelligence that goes into it. You have to look for signs on the temperature of your team, and check in often about where they’re at.

When someone is overwhelmed or dealing with a personal issue, they may not bring that forward right away or have the words to communicate it. I see my role as a manager to ask the right questions:

Are they engaged and excited to talk about their current work?
Are they working well together?
Are they growing in their role?
Are there distractions getting in the way of my team doing their work?
How do they prefer to communicate?

I’m thankful I’ve had great leaders and mentors in my career and I’ve learned these questions and signs to help my own team. That’s the difference between being a successful leader and somebody who’s in a leadership position.


Trust the team that leaves you feeling fulfilled and valued.

I’ve seen and heard a lot over the years and being in an environment where you don’t feel safe and supported can get to you and make you feel stuck. I recognize what that feels like but I also know what it feels like to find a place that recognizes your worth. Somewhere you show up to work and you leave feeling fulfilled and valued. It’s taken me nine years to learn a lot about this and I’m still learning all the time! 

As you grow your career in engineering, there will be times when you’ll likely be the only woman in the room. But I hope you find a place where you don’t notice that you’re the only woman in the room. Find a company where you’re able to feel safe saying you don’t know something, and have a support system around you.

I’ve found that for me at Q4.

If you’re interested in learning more about what it’s like to work here in engineering, you can read our R&D blog .