Noha Gamal Youssef – from student to sought-after developer

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Posted by the Editorial Team

Final year STEM-D student, Noha Gamal Youssef, dreamed of working at Microsoft one day when she completed her MIS qualification. So when the 21-year-old from Bahrain heard about the Microsoft Imagine Cup competition – a global student technology competition – it was no surprise that she decided to take part.

While she didn’t make it through to the final rounds of the competition, Noha’s journey didn’t end there – she was offered an internship at Microsoft through the Microsoft YouthSpark programme, which creates opportunities for and empowers millions of youth to improve their lives. Her passion for technology and good vision for its role in business was put to good use as a Windows 8 app developer and designer.

It wasn’t long before Noha joined the team working on the first LOB App for Viva – one of the largest telecommunications companies in Bahrain. The project’s mission was to improve customer experience in Viva’s flagship stores, by displaying the company’s latest offers, packages and information in an innovative and user friendly way. “We at Microsoft and with Viva put in a lot of effort to make the app look really good and simple to use and really useful for the customers,” explains Noha.

The app was a huge success, recognised by the executive team at Viva – making Noha’s experience a truly valuable one. “My first customer being Viva is a very big thing. I learned a lot and have dealt with different teams; I was able to see things from different ways and different aspects… I consider this project as one of the most important steps in my life,” she says.

Noha’s great work on the project was recognised by Viva, several Microsoft managed partners and a few governmental bodies in Bahrain. “It helped me to get many job offers and it introduced me to the employers here in a very good way,” she adds.

Today Noha is an active member of the Bahraini workforce, thanks to the right opportunity at the right time with the right support. “I would recommend it to anyone, to any student or any fresh graduate to try take such an opportunity at Microsoft. [This] internship has changed and is still changing my life,” she concludes.

[View:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3Gxcb5HdUA:0:0]