Clearcover Women In Tech: Anna Gluszak, Senior Software Engineer

Written by People Team | March 18th, 2022

Over an upcoming series of posts, we will be highlighting some of Clearcover's Women in Technology through interviews with several members of our engineering team.  We'll speak to an engineer who is new to Clearcover, someone who has been with the company for over two years, one of our leaders in engineering, and two engineers who are also new mothers.  Each has forged a unique path that has led them to Clearcover: some of them have been career-long engineers, others graduated with degrees in non-technology fields and were drawn to engineering later on.  All of these engineers will share stories of the impact that mentors have had on their careers, and the importance of mentoring others.  They will offer words of advice to new engineers entering the workforce and, in their own words, describe what sets Clearcover apart from their experiences at other companies

Anna Gluszak, Senior Software Engineer at Clearcover

In this post, Senior Software Engineer Anna Gluszak describes how her first job in the compliance department of a start-up piqued her interest in engineering and how the support of mentors and team members helped her to change careers and develop her skills as an engineer.  She offers advice to women entering the engineering field as well as anyone thinking of applying for a new role at Clearcover.

Please tell us a little about your career path and what led you to Clearcover. 

I started out my career in a compliance department in a fast paced startup, Avant. It was at this company that I was able to transfer over to engineering thanks to the amazing support of many engineers that worked with me at that time. I really enjoyed working in a fast paced environment surrounded by supportive and super smart coworkers. Unfortunately, there was a good amount of turnover and many of the people I became friends with ended up moving on to other opportunities. At that point, I ended up joining another company, hoping to pick up a different programming language and technology stack. While it was definitely a valuable experience, the company I joined did not move quite as fast as what I was used to and enjoyed. Clearcover seemed like a perfect fit for me. 

You began your career in compliance before becoming a software engineer.  What drew you to engineering?  Did you have any mentors along the way?

I started out as a math major with an actuarial science focus. I picked that career path because I always enjoyed solving math problems, and it was one of the few career choices I found that would involve math but would also allow me to enter the workforce with just a bachelor’s. It wasn’t until my senior year in college that I realized that actuarial science wouldn’t actually be a good fit for me. I accepted the first job offer I got, hoping to find what I want to do with the rest of my life while having some sort of income to pay off the student loans. I got lucky to get hired at a lending tech startup as a compliance analyst where I was able to work closely together with people from almost every department in the company. Although with my educational background I originally considered working towards switching to the accounting or finance department, I realized that I enjoyed working with the folks over at the engineering department the most. I always enjoyed playing around with computers, customizing my MySpace page, and even writing scripts for video games I played, but I never really seriously considered a career in programming, as it for some reason didn’t really seem like a field for me. Looking back, I feel like I enjoy the same things about programming that I always enjoyed about math. The way programming relies on strict logic and while there’s multiple ways and approaches to solving the same problems, it all follows the same basic principles. I feel like I get paid to solve fun logical puzzles for a living, which is amazing.

It is an understatement to say that everyone I worked with on the engineering side was supportive. I remember I offhandedly mentioned that becoming a software engineer would be cool while hanging out on the engineering side of the office. Over the next few days I was bombarded with private messages from different engineers, some of them that I didn’t even know beforehand, offering to answer any random programming questions, pair up on some tasks, and recommending tutorials. Gabe Saravia, who worked at the same startup as me at that time, even bought and gave me my first ruby on rails tutorial book. I was overwhelmed with support and I don’t think I could have made this career switch without so many people being happy to help me learn. 

Who is a woman who mentored you or inspired you in your career?

Nicole Lopez, she was a software engineer at Avant on the team I was trying to join before becoming an engineer myself. There were very few women on the engineering team, so having her on the team made me feel a lot less intimidated when trying to join the department. She was always happy to pair and talk through any questions I had, and became one of my close friends. Although most of the male coworkers I’ve worked with were always very friendly and supportive of my career journey, as a woman she understood a lot of the struggles that male engineers haven’t experienced or did not relate to as much. 

What advice would you give to women engineers who are entering the workforce?

Most of all, you can do it, and you can be great at it. There’s absolutely nothing about software engineering that is tied to Y chromosomes. Secondly, anytime someone questions you, assume positive intent and take it as an opportunity to learn. If you ever feel like your decisions are questioned more often than your coworkers’, remember that this just gives you more reason to research different approaches and learn more, as well as showcase your knowledge. And finally, remember that there are lots of places that care about diversity and their employees, so if you ever feel like your workplace is becoming toxic for you, don’t be afraid to switch to a more welcoming environment.

If you were asked by another female engineer who was considering applying for a role at Clearcover, how would you describe your experience at the company?

I’d say it was pretty positive. I am given a lot of autonomy in my work, I feel like my opinion and feedback is taken seriously, and my coworkers are great. We have some women in leadership positions but the ratio of female engineers could definitely be improved. As a company, Clearcover also takes diversity and inclusion seriously, so I’m optimistic that this ratio is going to continue to improve as Clearcover continues to grow. 

Clearcover's workforce is currently 44% women, and we are currently filling over 60 roles across all departments, including engineering.  If, like Anna, you're looking to work for a fast-paced company that values diversity and strives to ensure that all team members are able to contribute to their maximum potential, we invite you to apply for an open position today. 

We're currently accepting applications for summer 2022 intern positions in all departments.