Monday Girl: Jeth Gool

Full name: Geraldine Gool
Nickname: Jeth
D.O.B.: 26 January 1974
Current location: Metro Manila, Philippines
Academic background: BS Information & Computer Science, St. Paul College Manila (1994)
Occupation: Senior Analyst/Programmer, IBM Solutions Delivery, Inc. (a subsidiary of IBM Phils, Inc)
Interest/Hobbies: photography, music (violin & piano), reading and writing, travel, cooking, PC gaming, performing arts (film & theatre)

There are problems that get pretty annoying for a senior analyst/programmer like Jeth: program bugs that keep on showing up, technical difficulties or limitations, stubborn customers, end-users who are resistant to change, etc. "Systems development is very iterative until you get things right... it's not your regular nine-to-five job. When schedules get critical, we work at an average of 10 hours a day and a lot of activities in my personal life can get set aside so easily."

But despite the hassles, Jeth claims she loves her job. "I love what I do and the challenges it presents. I get to meet different people, learn different business processes, and occasionally I also get to travel to other countries. I love that it allows me to be creative."

Speaking of being creative, this art buff is very much into photography and, if given the chance, would like to shoot for travel, photo,and fashion magazines. "And if I [won't] be doing [those], I'd like to be a restaurateur, or a screen writer, or perhaps a stage actress!" she reveals with a laugh.

Her love for the arts may just snatch her away from the IT world and pursue other goals, but Jeth concludes, "I am still a techie by heart." She says she plans to improve her skills on web development which involves HTML, Java and J2EE; and perhaps other IBM web resources such as WebSphere.

"Eventually I want to manage people and teams. I also intend to finish an MBA programme. If resources permit, I'd like to pursue it in France."

Personal goals? "I hope I can still manage to become a wife and mom. I believe that is still one of the greatest privileges a woman can ever be."