As an agency with an internal tech team that primarily serves technology clients, we are huge fans of women in tech. We understand the unique obstacles women in the tech industry face, and we’re proud to highlight our female tech team members who are thriving. In this installment of Opus Women in Tech, get to know Quality Assurance Analyst II, Kristen Martin.

Where did you go to school/what did you study?

I attended Humboldt State in northern California and studied natural resource planning. Humboldt state is known for their natural resource program.

What led you to a career in tech?

I lucked into it! I moved to Portland ten years ago and had a hard time finding a job in the environmental field—there is a lot of competition. I took the first job offered to me as a secretary at a software company. During my time there I started getting to know the software professionals and offered to help where I could. I started assisting with quality assurance testing, project management, and design. I worked with the team to come up with mockups and functional designs for the software. Since it was such a small company I was able to try a lot of different things. From there, I went to a mortgage servicing company owned by IBM and was a user acceptance tester there. After that, I found my way to the technology team at Opus.  

What do you think is the future for women in tech?

I see a lot of opportunity for women in tech. I see a lot of businesses wanting to expand the diversity in their workforces. For as long as I’ve been at Opus, our tech team has had a good number of women on it. I feel lucky, I’ve never been treated unfairly as a woman in this industry, but I realize that’s not everyone’s experience.

What is something awesome happening in the tech industry right now? 

I am nerding out about business analysis. I am working on getting an entry certificate in business analysis and hope to do it for Opus! I’m interested in it because so often I see gaps between what technology is delivered and what the client actually wants. Proper business analysis allows us to find out exactly what the client needs.    

Thanks for the chat, Kristen! Interested in joining the tech team? Check out the careers page for open positions.