What's your job about?
My job enables me to be part of Australasia’s largest homegrown technology company. Datacom works closely with leading technology partners that span a wide range of applications.
As someone who has always been passionate about technology my job as an Associate Developer at Datacom gives me so much exposure to these technologies as well as tremendous support to learn and grow in an amazing team.
Each day is so different but typically involves:
My role is super exciting because while it typically focuses on software development, I’ve been able to grow in DevOps Engineering, which puts me right in the centre between both Development and Operation aspects of technology projects. This involves me in awesome projects such as government and healthcare.
What's your background?
I grew up on the Central Coast, New South Wales. For a long time, I lived in fairly rough areas considered to be low socioeconomic areas.
The saying goes, “school isn’t for everyone” and for me that was the case. I’d gone as far as Year 10. At the time, it felt more natural to excel in sports than it did in the overall academics of school education.
During that time, I didn’t have the same interests, nor the same outlook on education that I do now. I was a sport enthusiast who played rugby union and won numerous cross-country marathons. I guess that’s where I put my focus because It felt good to be recognised for something that I was good at and enjoyed.
I did have a passion outside of sport — for technology and science. My family and friends will tell you I was there go-to for their tech needs. I’d built computers from eight years old and started programming around 10. I enjoyed doing the odd job for family and friends, feeling the same sense of achievement I got from sports and from being able to help people, problem solving and creating solutions. It formed a purpose I’d later pursue.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Absolutely, in fact I encourage it. Information and technology is so very diverse and traditional approaches to joining the industry have changed so much in the last few years.
As an example, even though I have a passion for tech, I had no qualifications or previous jobs with anything remotely similar to what I do now. Employers in the industry have opened their arms to people just like us. They want to train us to succeed, and all we need is to be optimistic and have an eagerness to learn and grow. There are countless opportunities within the field and with an entire world crying out for tech professionals, you can take your skills anywhere.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
I really enjoy being creative and being innovative. I get to be a part of something bigger than day-to-day tasks by being involved with so many awesome projects. As an example, one of the projects I work on is in the healthcare industry and it literally plays a role in saving people’s lives. Things like this make my job beyond satisfying and rewarding, I love it.
What are the limitations of your job?
My job has a lot of moving pieces and one way to put it is “Never get too comfortable”. You can’t expect to follow a schedule, you need to be quick to adapt to so much change and in some cases work additional hours. There is a lot of responsibility with little consistency in terms of just learning one system or process, because you might go to work the next day and everything has changed or a team member has left but someone has to pick up those responsibilities. Not one person is doing the exact same job as another, each and every individual has unique responsibilities so you can’t always share the workload.
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...