DXC is the leading end-to-end IT services company, and I’m lucky to be part of the Digital Transformation team.
I currently work on Augmented Reality offerings and solutions for organisations to help “augment” their workers, speed up decision making, and increase safety. This includes a mix of Game Design development and business consulting, where we create AR applications to meet a specific need of the client.
We use the Unity game engine to develop these applications on hardware like the Microsoft HoloLens, and the DAQRI smart helmet. I never could have imagined being exposed to such cool and expensive technology!
I grew up in and around Colac, about 2 hours’ south-west of Melbourne. I lived on a farm for most of my school years where I drove cattle, rode horses and played music. I was also selected to join the State Showjumping Development Squad, which was an exciting time for me back in 2009.
I finished school in 2011 and went straight into work as a Computer salesperson/technician (I’m an avid gamer). I switched jobs to ALDI stores, which helped me through university at Deakin University.
I also had the opportunity to go to Indonesia in November 2015 for a Game-Design short course.
During Uni, I did a 4-week internship with DXC (CSC back then) in Nov/Dec 2014, and I was offered a position in May 2015. Having the job before I finished did put the pressure on, but I completed my Game Design degree, moved to Melbourne and started with DXC as an Associate Business Consultant.
Someone with a different background could do my role if they had the development skills, and the willingness to learn a lot, and learn quickly. As a developer, knowledge around object-oriented languages is key. Knowledge or experience in agile methodologies will clearly set you apart as an attractive developer. As a business consultant, strong soft skills like communication between colleagues or presenting to a client is invaluable. Most technical degrees don’t teach business knowledge/writing, and vice versa. You need to understand your weaknesses before you can improve.
I get to work with cool hardware and use my game design experience. Coming into a consulting role, I never thought I would have the opportunity to use my game design skills, let alone for a business purpose.
I think a defining moment for me at DXC was when I rapid prototyped a demo on the HoloLens for a major airline. Rapid prototyping is my favourite task, as the (nice) pressure drives me to be a better developer, and a better consultant.
The job can be intense, especially when deadlines come around quickly. Long spans of work, i.e. 12 hour days, are sometimes needed to get the job done.
If you don’t see the “why” behind what you are doing, you can get discouraged easily. You need to understand the reasons behind your work to be an effective professional at DXC.