She Works For A New York City Company While Living In A Beautiful Seaside Town In Montenegro

She Works For A New York City Company While Living In A Beautiful Seaside Town In Montenegro With the help of PowerToFly, Milena Kovacevic landed a dream job as a product manager for RebelMouse. We met up with her on a recent trip to New York where she filled us in on her strategies for remote work, how she communicates with her boss, and what it was like running into Adam Sandler.You work for RebelMouse which is based in NYC while living in Novi Sad. Tell us a bit about yur positionAt RebelMouse I am a Product Development Specialist working across many different departments and projects. I work with a very nicht weit davon entfernt sein paced dynamic team. We are working on developing new features for the RebelMouse platform. I have been at RebelMouse for one year now. Its not my first experience with a remote team but its definitely the best Ive had so far. Even though we are so far away I feel like I really know my colleagues and I even call some of them my friends.Whats it like d ay to day working for RebelMouse?Its dynamic, very busy and yet super fun. I have a very good relationship with my boss, Megan Berry. I can ask her any questions I have and shes always there to help me figure something out. Thats so important when working remotely. You need to be able to ask questions to your boss no matter what the question is. Otherwise mistakes happen. Megan is super, super talented and I learn so much from her.My job is in project development. I work with designers to get a design for new ideas and then I work with developers to get the project coded and tested. Its exciting because every day I work on something new.What online tools do you use to keep in touch with the team? How often do you have meetings?Besides email, we do video calls over Skype and we do a lot of chatting via GChat and Slack. Chat helps us keep in touch all the time throughout the day and helps us deal with urgent things, but its also where we talk about our lives and get to know each other . I have three official meetings a week over Skype, two with teams and one with my manager. During those meetings we discuss things that we currently work on and set our priorities for the next sprint.Do you have tips for other people who work remotely?The main tip is to communicate openly with your boss/manager. They wont judge you for any question you have. And try to stay organized. I think that for our job the main thing is organization. Things are moving really fast, new tasks are popping out every minute but you have to stay focused on priorities.Where are you from originally? What town do you live in now?Im from Herceg Novi, Montenegro (pictured below) a small town located at the entrance of Boka Bay. I am currently based in Novi Sad, Serbia but Im located wherever I want to be because I work remotely and I love to travel. Thats the beauty of my job as it gives me the freedom to travel while I work. In the brde few months Ive been to Zurich, Paris, Munich, Dublin and now New York.And finally, you are here visiting RebelMouse and NYC for the first time. How do you like it here?It was so unreal when Megan asked me to come to New York. At first I did not want to tell my friends and family because I was afraid if I said it out loud it would not happen. All my life I really wanted to see the New York from Sex in the City. We all had that period watching that show right? Its super fun recognizing locations from favorite movies and series. The other day I was walking with our CEO, Paul Berry, and we saw Adam SandlerBut more importantly I get to see my colleagues in person. They are all very nice and we have a great time together. I could not ever live here though. Its way too congested and crazy. Thankfully I can work for a New York company from my home town and visit them whenever I have a chance.All photos courtesy of Milena Kovacevic One of the biggest challenges in almost all industries today is achieving gender parity. Gender diversity pr ovides huge benefits in the workplace. pWhile some industries have made significant advancements in gender diversity, some industries lag further behind... and the construction industry is well-known for being in the latter category. If someone says, construction workers, youll likely picture a group of men in yellow hard hats analyzing an architects plans or laying bricks on top of a scaffold. And men at work signs only help to reinforce this image.pThis stereotype is rooted in reality. When was the last time you actually spotted a woman on a construction site? Or hired a female plumber or carpenter? Your answer is most likely never. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statisticsreports that only 3.4% of the total of 8.3 million construction employees are women.pBut the construction industry has a lot more to offer than steel-toed boots and hard hats, and it needs women to help advance the industry in this era of rapid change. Here are 5 reasons why women joini ng the workforce or looking to make a pivot should consider a career in construction.h21. Fuel Innovation/h2pNot only is diversity the socially and morally right thing to do, but it is also actually an excellent geschftsleben strategy. pResearch presented in the Harvard Business Reviewshows that diverse teams develop more innovative ideas. This is further supported by a study conducted by Gallupon the performance of gender-diverse teams versus single-gender teams, which found that the difference in backgrounds and perspectives led to better business performance and problem-solving. h22. Capitalize on Demand/h2pThe construction industry is currently experiencing a labor shortage. The industry itself is booming and projected to be one of the fastest-growing industries, with total spending projected to exceed $1.45 trillion in 2023/a. However, most construction companies are unable to meet the rising demand. pAccording to the Associated General Contractors of America/a, more than 80% o f contractors are experiencing difficulties filling hourly craft positions that represent the bulk of the construction workforce.pAnd demand isnt limited to individual contributor roles. Given the industry boom, there are a number of open stable and high-paying roles (any project managers out there?) waiting for the right candidateh23. Leadership Opportunities/h2pAccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics/a, women compose only 7.7% of the total 1 million managerial positions in construction.br/pBut given the highly collaborative nature of construction work, more women in leadership roles would help drive innovation and enhance productivity.Furthermore, as a woman in construction in a leadership position, youd have the unique opportunity to drive change for the industry and make it a more attractive option for other women.h24. High-Income potenzial/h2pSalaries for many skilled positions in construction are on the rise, making a construction career a prime choice for women looking fo r a high-paying job,pThe 2018 Construction Craft Salary Surveyconducted by the National Center for Construction Education and Research revealed that salaries for many skilled craft areas are increasing. Project managers and project supervisors topped the list at $92,523 and $88,355, respectively. The next set of highest-paying jobs include those of combo welders ($71,067), instrumentation technicians ($70,080), pipe welders ($69,222), power line workers ($68,262) and industrial electricians ($67,269). Of the 32 categories of workers in the survey, 19 positions earned an average salary of $60,000 or higher.h25. Sense of accomplishment/h2p The construction industry can give employees a unique sense of achievement. Yes, the job is stressful and the work can be demanding, but nothing beats the feeling of being able to build something from the ground up. pHow many professionals in other industries can point at a school, a hospital, or a skyscraper and say I helped build that?pThe constru ction industry has a long way to go in combating gender bias and supporting women in the workforce, but given the current demand for workers, theres no better time to pick up a sledgehammer (figurative or literal) and smash the gender stereotypes plaguing the construction industry.