What's your job about?
Queensland Government’s Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy (DCHDE) has a wide scope of responsibilities which is reflected in work and structure. I work in the “Digital Economy” side of things and play a role in an internal organisation that assists other departments to make the right investments and decisions regarding ICT. Working in a multi-disciplinary team, I am responsible for maintaining internal data visualisations, working with other groups to support investment and assurance activities, and performing ad-hoc data science services. There is no typical day, but generally I will be working individually to progress some sort of data science or visualisation piece, while also participating in other work that is more strategic in nature. The varied nature of the work is what keeps it interesting, combined with changing priorities as events impacting Queensland occur. Think of COVID-19, about 2 months into my graduate role my team was redeployed to assist in developing business architecture for an analytics platform that was pivotal for the success of border passes. The work I produce in this role plays a part informing strategic decision of leadership, which means I can be directly impacting the way the Queensland Government uses ICT, which in turn can directly impact Queenslanders.
What's your background?
I grew up in Cairns and relocated to Brisbane to attend the University of Queensland. I was that kid that enjoyed school, and always wanted to go to university. Being the first in my family to go to university, I had to learn the ropes of it all – from choosing my majors to enrolling in the subjects needed to get said majors. Even though I got through university as quickly as possible, I changed majors (and even degrees) a few times before landing on the combination I finished with. Throughout university, I held and worked at multiple jobs, sometimes simultaneously, from retail to child-care to teaching dance. Balancing a full-time study load, along with work, life (bills), and hobbies was a struggle and my time-management skills sure got a workout. (I do have to give credit to my partner however, without him I’m not sure I would’ve made it through). This all culminates in my final year, where I am applying for graduate programs left, right and centre. I do what feels like 100 applications, 50 aptitude tests, 25 written assessments, 15 online interviews, 2 in-person interviews to land with 1 job offer. Never give up. Since that, I have been and completed the two-year graduate program, and halfway through my second year I was successfully in filling an EOI for a higher position which I’ve now held for about a year.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
I was the graduate with a weird background, so definitely others could get through it too. Soft skills are so valuable and are becoming more highly regarded by the second. The main skill any graduate (or employee) needs in this world is adaptability. You need to be adaptable, respond well to change and be able to do the work no one else wants to do. Through that, you can prove your value. In saying that, the specific role I now fill does require some sort of a technical background, or at a minimum, the ability to learn the technical skills.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
The coolest thing about my job is when all the pieces click and fall into place, and you’re left with this pretty image that tells a meaningful story. It takes days of work, and I work from end-to-end on such a process – from cleansing raw data, to setting up import processes and customising visuals with code. But the satisfaction you get after fighting with code all day and then it works is hard to beat. From a young age I have always enjoyed puzzles, and this is just like one big puzzle, with unclean data and broken code, waiting to be pieced together to tell a story.
What are the limitations of your job?
One of the limitations of having a role that requires a lot of individual work that not a lot of people around understand is that the expectations of my work can vary. By that, I mean one manager may think that what I’m doing is simple and will request for something to be done in a very short timeframe, whereas the next manager thinks it’s rocket science and will give me months to complete a piece of work. This can impact my motivation, while also affecting the expectations of the end products.
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...
Keep your doors open, and your knowledge wide!
Don’t put yourself in a bucket. The saying “Jack of all trades, master of none” is outdated. Find your niche, and then see what else you can bring to the table.
Find other motivators!
If you’re like me, grades are the final product. What happens when there isn’t a number anymore? Find what else in this world motivates you and use it.
Get good references lined up!
My reference essentially landed me this job. Do not underestimate the power of a good word.