I was looking forward to a dynamic, exciting, and challenging job. Independent work and creative freedom are important to me. I was also aware that I would be working predominantly with male colleagues.

I work with different personalities who often have very different, strong opinions and in some cases decades of experience in the product environment. It can sometimes be challenging to make your voice heard and bring in new perspectives.

I really enjoy my job and would definitely recommend it to others. I consider certain personal qualities - communication skills, persuasiveness, assertiveness and empathy - to be just as important to the role to the professional qualifications.

I had to learn how to deal with many characters and different ways of thinking depending on the department or industry. Depending on the situation, I consider whether we should stick to proven views and approaches or if we should adapt them. I must also master a variety of systems and bring the information from them together.

In my experience women often work very precisely, myself included. This takes a lot of time at first, but after I have gathered all the information I can examine the topic from all sides. My observation is also that women are less numbers- and prestige-driven, sometimes turning their attention to what others may consider “smaller” matters, but these can often result in medium- to long-term large effects.

I would like to be able to say 'no' more often, especially when I’m in a large group. I'm often asked to work through something and communicate further because that's my strength as a woman, but those are skills that colleagues of any gender can accomplish.

On one hand, I contribute to the further development of processes in sales with my technical expertise. On the other hand, my communication skills allow me to have good access to customers. This often results in close and personal relationships that can provide new insights. For example, I often have exchanges where customers give me ideas and suggestions which then results in improvements to our products.

Yes, in my opinion there are definitely differences. My colleagues often take a very factual approach and focus on the product features - What can it do? What are the costs? How quickly can the job be done? I also pay attention to the people and emotions behind a product – Is it easy to use? Do I feel secure when using the product? How does this product affect the rest of my daily work? Thinking in this way often results in new and valuable perspectives and insights.

No, I wouldn't change anything. My colleagues and customers are wonderful to deal with!

My favorite thing to do is meet with customers, share my knowledge and experience, and help them with their individual safety requirements. I know that everyone involved benefits from this exchange and it helps keep our customers safe. Ultimately, this benefits not only the individual workers, but their entire families.

In my professional experience, I have observed that men tend to delegate more. They assign tasks and responsibilities and then rely completely on the designated person. The way the task is done is not important, only the end result matters. My female colleagues, on the other hand, tend to use their emotional intelligence and like to be involved in the entire process. They pay attention to the details to make sure everything is done right throughout the project.

The division of roles - whether at work or at home - should never be about gender. While I believe that men and women may approach challenges differently, at the end of the day, both can achieve a good result.