Who is Kritika Shekar, an inspiration to women in financial IT everywhere?
As we've pointed out before, senior-ranking female IT professionals within investment banking are a rare breed and more needs to be done to encourage greater numbers of women to the sector.
Step forward Kritika Shekar, executive director at JP Morgan, who was recently handed the 'outstanding contribution by a female in financial technology' award by Banking Technology magazine.
According to Women in Technology, who judged the award, Kritika was chosen because of her "contribution to the success of the company's technology business and dedication to inspiring her female colleagues".
So, what can we learn from Kritika's career trajectory that might offer tips or inspiration for aspiring female technologists?
Yes, you need an IT-related degree
Having attended the East West School in Bangalore (where, incidentally, she enjoyed debating poetry and drama), Kritika then studied Information Technology at Bond University in Australia from which she graduated in 1993. Technical skills, as so many graduate recruiters tell us, are a prerequisite for a technology post, even at entry level.
Be prepared to start at the bottom
Kritika may now hold the long and important-sounding title of global head of production management for equity derivatives, credit hybrids and commodity exotics at JP Morgan, but she started out as a humble developer.
She honed her C/C++ programming skills working for in the equities development team at an anonymous Swiss Bank Corporation for three years since 1994.
Get into a management position early
Kritika joined JPMorgan in 1997 as a support analyst in Japan and has worked her way up over her 13 years at the firm. During her four years in Japan, she held various positions; eventually making it to head of technology for equities - a position that required managing a team of 40 people. In her current position, she has a rather hefty 175 people in her team.
Maternity leave is OK(ish)
One of the reasons often cited for women failing to make it up the career ladder is the need to take career breaks to have children. Kritika is evidence that maternity leave needn't stem your career progression. Well, kind of.
She's had two maternity breaks during her career (one for 8 months in 2000 and another for 6 months in 2002) and, while she's returned to the bank in both instances, she also handed her current role to a successor.
She moved from her role in Japan to take the position of head of technology for equities for Australia and New Zealand after her first child. She then relinquished this job and returned after maternity leave to JPMorgan's London office as co-head of global AD services for equities.
Clearly, taking maternity leave requires a degree of career flexibility.
Get involved in change projects
In 2006, Kritika was took the role of system migration programme manager for credit hybrids - a relatively short-term position overseeing tech projects during a period of mergers for JP Morgan and general market turbulence. This cemented her reputation for strategic thinking and innovation, which no doubt helped propel her up to her current position.
Be a bit humble
Know when to take credit for your achievements and when to give some to others. Like, say, during an awards acceptance speech:
"I've had the opportunity to lead from the front, and work with some of the finest technological minds to create change in this industry. I have greatly benefited from inspiring role models, male and female alike, and I hope that my own experiences help advance the careers of top female talent within technology," she said.
