February Employee Spotlight: Rita Soldi

Name: Rita Soldi

Job Title: Software Engineer

What do you do at BitSight and when did you start?

I’ve been here since 2018 - almost two years now. One year and eight months. I work on delivering new features to the BitSight Security Ratings customer portal. From a tech point of view, my job is middleware. I write Python and Django.

What is your background and how did you get into cybersecurity?

I fell in love with computers in high school - hardware, software, everything. Since then I’ve studied a lot, and I have master’s and bachelor’s degrees in computer science from the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil.

Are you from Brazil?

Yes! I think that I was the first Brazillian to be here at BitSight. Now we have just me and Franco.

What is your favorite thing to work on at BitSight?

I have something that I’m working on right now that I’m kind of proud of. When I was on the support team, I found an issue that customers were having. And I thought, how can I do that better? So it was one of the ideas in the Hackathon this year. I talked to a lot of colleagues and they got inspired by the idea, and now it’s going to be launched soon as a new feature for the customer team.

What advice do you have for someone first getting into this field?

In my opinion, your first focus should be the computer base. Like, go to the basics instead of investing time into database or programming languages or any tech related stuff. You should study data structure, programming logic, and design patterns - those are going to be your best friends forever, regardless of the technology or the language you’re going to work in.

Where was the last place you traveled?

That’s easy - it was Brazil! I spent Christmas there, so there were delicious home cooked meals, sun, beaches, and a lot of quality time with my family.

Before working at BitSight, what was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had?

I worked in a company that made mobile apps. I worked on one that was kind of special, because it was part of a politician’s campaign. So it’s kind of Twitter on a smaller scale - you could ask him questions, but really you were talking to people who worked for him. It was definitely weird.

Do you have any hidden talents?

Before I chose to pursue computer science, I was also a ballerina. It came time for me to choose between computer and ballet, and I chose computer. I don’t do ballet anymore, but I still love to dance. When I have some music, I dance all the time. So if you see me in the office I’m dancing all the time. I’m programming and dancing, walking and dancing - dancing all the time.

If you were famous, what would you be famous for?

Sleeping. I can fall asleep very easily. Give me some comfortable place, and I’m sleeping. I also like to cook.

What’s your favorite thing to do in Lisbon?

I love bouncing. We have a trampoline park and I love to go there.

If you could switch jobs with anyone at BitSight, whose job would you want?

I don’t know, I kind of like my job. I don’t think I want to change. Do I have to change?

What would be the title of your autobiography?

Fuzziness. I think I like to change, I don’t like to have a shape. Professionally or in my private life, I want to go with the flow. I really don’t like to have a target or to be a specialist. I want to be able to do everything that I want.