What did you study at undergraduate level and when did you graduate? What are you studying now? Are you studying and working at the same time?
I studied Bachelor of Information Technology majoring in Information Systems at QUT. I graduated in 2010. I also did a Master's of Information Technology majoring in Data Science at QUT. I graduated in 2013.
What have been the most important stages of your life?
I was able to work at QUT as a help desk consultant and feel that was the most important part of my journey in Australia. I learnt the OZ way of working; working in a team with different backgrounds enabled me to learn various skills that I still use in my current job. I gained valuable experience whilst studying full time.
How did you get to your current (or most recent) job position and how long have you been working there?
I have been a Consultant ever since I graduated and was accepted in a Graduate Program in a highly reputed IT/Management consulting firm. Since then I have been able to find opportunities to grow my career. I have been working in my current role as a Senior Consultant for 2.5 years.
What made you decide to progress with further study?
I have always been curious about technology and have been a coder since I graduated from high school. The world of Data Analytics, Big Data etc was something I was always interested in. I wanted to challenge myself after understanding how information systems work and get into the new world of Data. Hence I enrolled myself in this course and have not looked back since.
How did you choose your particular further study course (compared to others)? Were you weighing up any alternative degrees or career pathways before choosing this qualification?
I knew about how good QUT was and being Brisbane based, I did not want to look elsewhere. I always wanted to get into Information Management and looked up what QUT could offer me. I was allowed to mix and match a few courses to tailor my qualification in order to be up to date with the current technology and job prospects.
What was the process to get accepted into your course? What were the prerequisites?
For my Bachelor's degree, the prerequisites were that I had sufficient knowledge in Programming principles.
For my Master's degree, the prerequisites were that I had a bachelor's degree in any major in Information Technology.
The process was fairly simple. I was an international student. I applied to QUT by filling out the application paperwork including submitting my ID documentation and QUT responded back to me in less than 5 days with an offer.
What does your study involve? Can you describe a typical day? (if it’s difficult to describe a typical day, tell us about the last thing you worked on?)
I start my typical day with a big cup of coffee. I catch up on emails, plan and schedule my meetings, and execute the rest of the day by fulfilling my course requirements. The course structure was well set out and kept me busy for the entire semester. We were given challenging real-world problems to solve and every day was a different day. We had class lectures, workshops, team exercises to look forward to each week and lots of planning and pre-work went into it.
Will this course be beneficial in your career? Where could you or others in your position go from here? Please explain your answer.
This course has been extremely beneficial to me and my peers. I have been able to put my study into proper use and have built a professional career out of it. I'm able to solve real complex problems for my clients and in terms of going further, the sky is the limit. One could, if executed well, reach the highest position in a firm .
What do you love the most about your course?
Able to solve real problems in the real world.
Team building exercises and workshops to enhance your skills. Current and up-to-date technology for students to test their skills. And most importantly, a well structured course to provide the students with enough time to become experts in the field of technology.
What are the limitations of your course?
Some of the units of the course also catered for distance learning and many students were part of that, which meant you could be paired with a student you might never meet in life, but have to work with them on several assignments.
There were courses that were available only in the mornings or afternoons, because of the limited availability of University lecturers.
Which three pieces of advice would you give to a current undergraduate student? They don’t necessarily have to be related to your studies, or even to one’s professional life.