Women in Tech | Shaping the Future as a Presales Engineer

3 min read

Laserfiche was founded by Nien-Ling Wacker, a woman who began her career building custom solutions out of her home in the 1970s. She grew her business into the world’s leading ECM software company, which works to enable the digital workplace of the future. Today, she is recognized as a visionary leader and a pioneer in her field.

This March, the U.S. will celebrate Women’s History Month. To celebrate, Laserfiche will highlight some of the employees that have been inspired by Nien-Ling’s legacy.

Anita Chiang is a Senior Presales Engineer at Laserfiche and has been with the company for three years. In her role, Anita creates and gives proof of concept demonstrations for potential clients and leads technical trainings around the U.S. Read on to learn more about Anita and what inspired her to work in the tech industry.

1. How did you become interested in a career in technology? Have you always worked in tech, or did you transfer from another industry?

I found my way to the tech industry a bit by accident, but it’s something that I have always been interested in. When job hunting, I was looking for opportunities that would let me flex my critical thinking and problem solving skills, as well as allow me to interact with customers. It turns out that being a Presales Engineer for Laserfiche fits the bill and has also deepened my interest in software in general.

*Anita Chiang is a Senior Presales Engineer at Laserfiche.*

2. During your time at Laserfiche, what are some of the projects or achievements of which you are most proud?

While I’ve gotten the chance to work on quite a few different projects, I have the greatest feeling of accomplishment every year as we wrap up our annual user conference, Empower. The Presales team takes a huge role in teaching classes and helping users at the conference. Over the years, I’ve gotten the chance to become more involved with the planning side. This past year, I taught three courses (including one I helped create from scratch), oversaw preparations for the Workflow product training sessions, coordinated the creation of the demo virtual machine we provide to our end users and even snuck in some work on our Laserfiche-themed escape room.

3. What advice would you give to other women who are interested in joining the tech industry? What about if they have no experience or formal education in technology?

Even though the tech industry, like many others, can be heavily dominated by men, I think it is a space that is especially important for women and other underrepresented groups to join since it’s continually shaping the future. Finding a place where different voices are valued is so important to sustaining your own motivation and growth. I’m lucky to have many powerful women to look up to in this regard inside of Laserfiche.

As someone who doesn’t come from a formal technology background, I’m always looking for ways to learn more. The great thing about technology, in particular, is that there are a lot of resources out there that you can use to bring yourself up to speed. I’m not saying we all have to become software engineers, but having a bit of technical expertise really provides context and validity for the folks who don’t create the technology.

4. What is the best career advice you have ever received?

I recently read a book that recommended “filling your cup” with knowledge–not only from your own field but across all industries and subjects. This really resonated with me because I’ve always believed in the value of being an interdisciplinary powerhouse. Inspiration for your own work can be sparked by anything!

5. If you could spend a day with any woman in history, who would it be and why?

There are so many to choose from, but I’ve got to say that meeting Ruth Bader Ginsburg would be my dream—she is the epitome of intelligence and sass, and I love her dissent collar.