What is your job about?
As a Software Developer in Macquarie’s Trade Service department, which part of their corporate division, I work in a team that is tasked with maintaining, customising and supporting a 3rd party platform called Calypso, which serves Front Office, Middle Office and Back Office Functions.
My role is a blend of software development and operations, which is commonly referred to in the industry as DevOps. It bridges the gap between development and operations and exposes me to a variety of different techniques, technologies and experiences from development to deployment and everything in between, in the typical life cycle of a modern software application.
With my background in software engineering and development, I’ve always had a keen interest in technology and in particular, software development.
What is your background?
I was born in a diplomatic family and because of that, I moved quite frequently all my life. I grew up in Morocco, which is where I finished all my primary and secondary education. Then I moved to Malaysia and started a Bachelor’s degree program in Software Engineering. Shortly after graduation, I moved to Canada to further my studies and pursue a Master’s degree in Software Engineering. Finally, I moved to Australia to launch my career and establish myself as Software Developer.
My interest in computers and technology started when I was eight years old and my father bought me my first computer. Shortly after that, when I was 12, he introduced me to programming. I fell in love with it very quickly and I had no doubt in my mind that I will be pursuing a degree and a career in this field.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Technical skills without a doubt are crucial. But most importantly for someone who is coming from a different background, they need to be fast learners because there is definitely so much to learn regardless of your background.
Communication skills are also quite important. A great deal of my role involves communicating with my teammates as well as other internal clients. You need to communicate effectively whether you are discussing a bug that needs to be fixed, planning an upcoming release or talking to a client about a certain feature.
What was the training like?
The training at FDM was quite intense and exposed us to a lot of technical skills that are crucial in the current industry. It also helped us improve our interpersonal skills and taught us how to work effectively in a team.
What is the coolest thing about your job?
Being genuinely passionate about technology, the coolest thing about my job is the potential to learn new technologies and be exposed to a variety of different technical skills that are highly valuable in the industry.
What are the limitations of your job?
Since this job relies on the use of third-party technologies, languages and applications I can sometimes face limitations that are outside of my control.
What are 3 pieces of advice you would give yourself when you were a student?