Careers with STEM: Technology 2021

CAREERS withSTEM

TERM 4, 2021

™

technology Career crush on 5 awesome Google gigs p18

security engineer

LE B U DOISSUE R P FO

FLI YBERITY C UR SEC

Low-down on the biggest tech trends of 2021

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Got a big idea?

Discover how to become a tech entrepreneur

CAREERS with STEM.COM IT + EMERGING TECH + SOCIAL GOOD + LAW + RETAIL + CYBER SECURITY

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Think IT. Think QUT. Tammy Bryant loves working as a Chaos Engineer at Gremlin in San Francisco. Her job involves rigorously testing major IT systems to ensure critical data stays safe. It’s a big responsibility, but she thrives on the many challenges that surface each day.

As a QUT graduate, Tammy hit the ground running with skills, confidence, and global connections to launch her career. To discover more of Tammy’s story and learn about opportunities to study IT at QUT, search Ready STEM Go! ep3.

QUT IT

CAREERSwithSTEM.com CRICOS No: 00213J

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FOREWORD

Get more STEM careers info on .com CareerswithSTEM

Grace Chung Engineering site lead

Creative, impactful careers

site lead, Grace Chung g rin ee gin en le og Go ys sa e, ators of the futur Technology creators are the cre

T

What can YOU do in comp

every part of society: echnology has a role in nes, addressing creating COVID-19 vacci ng and responding climate change, preventi an bushfires of 2020, to events like the Australi ecies and much more. tracking endangered sp n work in have also The kinds of roles you ca ways you can make evolved. There are many through a tech career, a difference to the world ming the way we work, whether that’s by transfor help the disadvantaged. or creating new tools to

Why computer science? recognition, and ch My background is in spee

l istics and computationa I was interested in lingu se cau be ce uter scien linguistics. I entered comp m-solving and ble pro I loved mathematics, gram when I was running creating. I learned to pro ate program at the experiments in my gradu of Technology in the US Massachusetts Institute uld become a software but I never thought I wo n Google. engineer until I got to joi l in building conversationa In the end, I specialised ustry research in the US agents and worked in ind stralia. before coming back to Au Bachelor of Engineering / Science, UNSW

uter

science?

Working in technology, you could be a software developer, visual designe r or a product manager; you could come up with interesting new product ideas and work with engin eers to create those products; you could be a user interface designer and create something be autiful.

There’s also a wealth of new emerging careers to explore in artificial intell igence (A I) and quantum computing, as well as rol es in technology and a myriad of other fields su ch as social good, finance, environmental sciences , biology and medicine.

Those who love maths an d sciences usually thrive in tech but tech ca reers also extend beyond the ‘computer hacking’ typ e – there’s also room for those who like to be creati ve and expressive.

Grace Chung Engineering site lead, Go ogle

i never thought i would become a software engineer until i got to join google”

PhD, Electrical Engineering / Computer Science, MIT (US) Senior Research Fellow, NSW

Senior Research ScienTIST, Corporation for National Research Initiatives (US)

Software engineering manager and engineering site lead, Google

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TECHNOLOGY

CONTENTS

What’s inside?

FLIP THE MAGAZINE OVER FOR CAREERS WITH CYBER SECURITY! P32

P6 Top tech trends of 2021 ways: P8 Real-life tech pathET From internships to V qualifications P12 How to turn your big idea into a startup ur P42 Next steps on yo ch pathway to a career in te

STEM +chXno= logy (STEM)

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P10

Combine te to with your passion (+ X) reer. discover your dream ca Tech + …

P16 IT

P36

This one is for the technology purists who live and breathe all things IT

ch P24 Emerging-fotecu ssed career,

P21

Dream of a future yet? that might not even exist Flip to this section

P30 Social good s to make Use your tech skill the world a better place

P36 Law

cutting-edge Legal eagles are applying on tech skills technology and relying – find out how

Why TECHNOLOGY?

*2021 Digital Pulse Report, ACS

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echnology is the key to a fairer, healthier, brighter future – and are more sought after tech skills than ever. According to the Australian Comp Society*, Australia is uter facing an Information Technolog y (IT) skills with 60,000 tech wo shortage, rkers needed over the next five years, but jus students graduating t 7000 with IT degrees in 20 19. One place we can short fall is by improvin make up that g diversity in tech, es pecially gender divers Flip these pages to ge ity. t inspired about divers e pathways into Austr tech workforce and rea alia's d about real-life mento rs and role models.

CAREERSwithSTEM.com

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P40 Retail

opping? Add Love tech and online sh your cart, stat these career options to P40

I AM READY TO SUPPORT TO MOTIVATE TO FIND MY CAREER Leaving school and thinking about next steps?

The Your Career website has everything you need to support your next steps in training, education and employment.

The tools on Your Career offer personalised information and advice by matching your skills, interests and goals to careers that may suit you.

You can explore over 1200 occupations listed from A-to-Z, see how much you might earn, learn what a real day on the jobs looks like, understand what kind of job prospects exist in a particular field - and what skills you need to get you there.

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Find up to date, accurate careers information and advice about where the opportunities are now and where they’ll be in the future at yourcareer.gov.au.

You can also access the School Leavers Information Service:

• calling 1800 CAREER (1800 227 337), or

• texting ‘SLIS2021’ to 0429 009 435

TECHNOLOGY

UPFRONT

T R O P E R H C E T plained The biggest trends of 2021 ex

5G Say hello to the next gen of global wireless tech! 5G is the fifth generational mobile network, designed to connect pretty much everyt hing together – people, machines and, of course, dev ices. It’s faster than 4G, streaming is seamless and rea l-time gaming is possible.

Internet of Things (IoT)

ing to the billions of about the IoT, they’re referr If you hear someone talking s are equipped with to the internet. These device devices that are connected a with other devices. tech so they can exchange dat sensors, sof tware and other p and can connect the IoT if it has a computer chi Any thing can become par t of hen appliances. industrial tools and even kitc to a wireless network – cars,

Edge computing

source, rather storage closer to a device’s Edge computing brings data replace cloud a faraway location. It won’t than relying on the cloud in ! Proximity you to ing re like the cloud com computing though – it’s mo pful in areas hel er time), and this will be sup improves latency (response processing. a dat ), machine learning and IoT like artificial intelligence (AI

SHUTTERSTOCK

Virtual reality (VR)

Think of blockchain as a sha red digital ledger that helps record transactions and track assets. Most famous for transferring crypto currency like Bitcoin, blockchain is also used in eve rything from government to transportation. It’s popula r because it can deliver information fast, transparently and securely.

Did you know?

Blockchain was the nu mber one sk ill on Lin kedIn’s list of the to 10 sk ills most likely get you hired in 2020.

VR is all about using comput er tech to create a simulated environment tha t can be explored – and it’s not just for gaming!

VR is used in healthcare, retail, tourism, arc hitecture, education and the automotive industry.

– Louise Meers

CAREERSwithSTEM.com

Blockchain

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TECHNOLOGY

TECH PATHWAYS+ATLASSIAN

Unleash l a i t n e t o p r u o y

rtunit lassian internship is your oppo At An i? un at ll sti e u’r yo ile wh Want to kickstart your career

y

R

ur final year at uni can eal-world experience in yo t subjects. It could even help you smash those las position at one of the lead to a full-time graduate panies in the world. fastest-growing tech com u can spend 12 weeks As an Atlassian intern, yo or tech company part-time, working for the Australian are tw sof in ng – specialisi during your summer break and analytics, and more. ta da ty, development, securi ough t for community work thr You can also take time ou rs tee One team of volun the Atlassian Foundation. for Black Duck Foods’ tailored the Trello platform !

Indigenous grain network , there’s something sts ere int ur yo “Whatever Melbourne-based associate for you at Atlassian,” says iti Venkatesh. Aditi product manager intern Ad rt-time while finishing is working as an intern pa and Computer Science at a Bachelor of Commerce Monash University. e technical and Product managers combin alyse customers’ needs, non-technical skills to an ies and collaborate with identify market opportunit is fits perfectly with other teams on projects. Th . “I’ve done quite a few Aditi’s skills and interests I’ve been looking for that technical internships, but she says. one cross-functional role,”

Aditi Venkatesh Product Manager Intern linkedin.com/in/aditivenkatesh1/ Bachelor of Commerce and Computer Science, Monash University Data Scientist, WhyHive

New Zealand-based Ashle y Harris started his associ ate product manager internsh ip with Atlassian while studying a Bachelor of Sc ience (Computer Science and Statistics) at The Universi ty of Auckland.

“It’s a unique opportunity to launch your career. You’r e given a huge amount of res ponsibility,” Ashley says.

Ashley worked on the pro ject management tools Trello, Confluence and Jira during his internship, and now works part-time as an associate product manager .

“I get to work with differen t types of people in different teams, doing a va riety of cool stuff,” he say s.

Empowering journey

WORDS BY NADINE CRANENBURGH

Product Manager Intern (Ecosystem Platform), Atlassian

Leadership in action

It makes you feel like your work matters and the results are important” Sarah Tan

Sydney-based software developer intern Sarah Tan, a Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) University of New South Wales grad, has enjoyed the opportunity to find projects she’s interested in and feel like she’s making a real impact.

“It's empowering. It makes you feel like your work matters and the results are important,” Sarah says.

As well as honing her coding skills, Sarah has also had the chance to dabble in software engineering – by learning about the architecture of software solutions.

CAREERSwithSTEM.com

Summer Trainee Engineering Program Intern (Next Billion Users), Google

it's a unique opportunity to launch your career” Ashley Harris

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Associate Product Manager, Atlassian

Find your groove, or keep exploring!

Aditi, Sarah and Oli all had their internships extended after the 12-week program and will transition into full-time roles in Atlassian’s graduate program in the coming months.

“It’s definitely confirmed product management is what I want to do,” says Aditi. Oli says he is keen to explore a range of skills at Atlassian. “Keep an open mind on where you want to end up. Have some fun and try different things if you're unsure.”

Software Developer Intern, Atlassian

Teaching Assistant, The University of Auckland

Analytics Advisory Intern, EY

Software Developer Intern, IBM

Bachelor of Science (Computer Science and Statistics), The University of Auckland

/in /ash leyhar

risnz/

Surprising skills Coding and tech skills are important, but Atlassian interns learn so much more. Here are some you might not have expected: • Problem-solving. “Great ideas solve clearly defined problems,” says Ashley.

Sarah Tan Software Developer Intern

• Documentation. “In the real world, explaining your code really matters,” says Sarah.

• Teamwork. “We work with legal, privacy and security teams to make sure our releases are safe,” says Aditi.

linkedin.com /in/sarah--tan/

• Learning from feedback. “I presented my design to the team, got feedback and made some adjustments,” says Oli.

Bachelor of Science (Computer Science), UNSW

lin kedin.com

Co-Founder, Exolution (Student-led Startup)

Ashley Harris Associate Product Manager

Remote, but connected er intern Oliver (Oli) Pope lop Perth-based software deve

D-19 as an intern during COVI says working from home by but he felt supported the had its challenges initially, experienced colleagues wider team. As many of his decided to start work earlier were based in Sydney, he with the team. The bonus to have a larger crossover ce, he had afternoons off! was, with the time differen ships with Atlassian, one Oli completed two intern of his Bachelor of Science in the final summer break ty, eering), at Curtin Universi (Computer Software Engin final year. and the second during his ‘readme’ files and then “I started with changes to plex tickets and running worked my way up to com my own project,” he says. goals for your internship.

Oli’s top tip is to set career team leader and they can “Talk to your manager or s. help you get there,” he say Bachelor of Science (Computer Software Engineering), Curtin University

Oliver Pope Software Developer Intern

lin kedin.com /in/ oliver-pope/

Summer Internship, Atlassian

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Associate Software Engineer, VGW (Online Gaming)

Software Developer Intern, Atlassian

TECHNOLOGY

TECH PATHWAYS+NATIONAL CAREERS INSTITUTE

s n o i t c e n n o c r e Care

K

ised as anyone that irsty Penney is as surpr maths, data and her days are filled with years ago I would’ve engineering. “Five or six to teach maths,” she told you there’s no reason pretty important.” laughs. “Now, I realise it’s phic design at TA FE Kirsty began studying gra of her diploma, she SA, but at the completion ’t for her. “Studying realised that design wasn me,” she says. my hobby had killed it for ly nothing” about the Despite knowing “absolute ustry, Kirsty decided to telecommunications ind go after being inspired by take a leap and give it a ng in the industry. a friend who was worki

kirsty penney NETW

Trainee Radio Designer, Programmed

ORK DESIGN OPERATIVE

Network Design Operative, Telstra

For Kirsty Penney, a telecommunications traineeship opened the door to a rewarding career connecting Australians with high-speed mobile coverage

Connecting remote Australi

a

CAREERSwithSTEM.com

TOM ROSCHI

Diploma of Graphic Design, TAFE SA

Certificate III and IV in Telecommunications Engineering Technology, Comtech

Over the next two years , she gained not only he r Certificate III and IV in Telecommunications Engineering Technolog y, but also on-the-job training installing radio equipment, learning about new and emerging technologies, and working with tools she’d never heard of before.

At the end of her traineesh ip, she started as a Network Design Opera tive with Telstra. “If you’ve heard the term ‘bl ack spot’ before, my job is to fix those,” she ex plains.

Last year, Kirsty spent eig ht weeks in the Northern Territory, sleep ing in a swag, flying drones and climbing rad io towers. Her aim was to design a network that would bring high-speed mobile cove rage to two remote Indigenous communitie s. “It’s a full day’s drive to get groceries, an d their children are taught at home, so they need the internet; they need data,” says Ki rsty.

Needless to say, she finds her career immensely rewarding. An d she credits her traineeship for making it possible. “I didn’t have the specialist maths and I couldn’t afford to take four years off to do a de gree,” she says.

“With the traineeship, I worked during the day and went home. While my friends at university were doing essays, I had none of that. And I was getting paid for the luxur y of it.” – Amelia Caddy

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TECHNOLOGY

UPFRONT

B h c n u a l o t How a tech startup

hard-working ehind every big idea is a them? The person team. And right behind e the kind of who started it all! If you’r wn business do le ibb student who’d rather scr n you might the work, ideas than do your home as show – the be suited to running the own company. founder and CEO of your ly thing you’ll need But hard work isn’t the on from scratch. STEM to launch your own idea rticularly at the start skills are a huge plus – pa of the grunt work when you’ll be doing a lot out what it takes to yourself. Here, we hash me – and what succeed in the startup ga ndy. – Cassie Steel subjects could come in ha

you’ve got an awesome idea, Fancy being your own boss? If sk and create your own tech biz you could totally do an Elon Mu

2 1

What else is going on in the market? Who are your competitors? What could you be doing better?

What does your audience want?

Dedicate some time to market research before getting started.

Light-bulb moment!

Not all brilliant ideas start this way. If you’re stumped, try thinking about the problems you face day to day. What would you pay money to solve?

Start there and brainstorm!

*STATISTICA / SHUTTERSTOCK

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Keep calm and carry on about it

355,742 The nu mber of startups registered in Au stralia from 2014–2019*

No office?

No worries!

Find a base

Make a business plan & get skilled

To make a business plan you’ll need to skill up in sales, marketing, budgeting, branding, building a website – and more.

At school this means taking subjects like business studies, computer studies and maths.

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Secure funding

Er, who’s gonna pay to launch your biz?

If it’s you – you’ll need to save up (and may need to keep another job until it takes off).

And if it’s an investor?

Nailing step 3 is key.

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As your business expands you might want to look into a small-scale office – even just for meetings.

Got employees/clients living all over the country? Zoom, Hangouts, Teams and Slack will be your new BFFs.

HUGE businesses have started in places like...

CAREERSwithSTEM.com

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STEPS TO STARTING A BIZ

Once you’re ready to roll you’ll have to start executing a marketing and PR plan to get your name out there! The cheapest way to do this?

On socials!

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Suss out the market

Do the paperwork

Register your biz. In Oz: via the Australian Government Business and Company Registration Service.

In NZ: The New Zealand Companies Office. And sign off on any agreements with partners.

: At one of the Canva: The founder’s living room Snapchat s places dad’ ders foun Facebook: A college dorm

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Atlassian: A teeny apar tment Uber: In a cab

TECH+CBA

t Head star y things

TO GET THERE: x15ven

Jaime Di Laudo works as a product designer at x15.

She first became interested in tech after an internship at CBA on the back of studying media at

uni. “x15 is an exciting place to be because everything is up for grabs – everyone has a role to play,” she says. “It’s easy to only think of the classic STEM careers, such as being an eng ineer or a scientist, and decide ‘that’s not for me ’, but there’s so much variety, and a lot of transfera ble skills.”

“A big par t of my role as a pro duct designer is conducting customer resear ch interviews to ensure we're solving the righ t problems. Having strong communications skills from my studies has really helped with that,” she says.

Stay open to opport unity “Ev

en if you’re not currently stu dying a STEM subject, a career in tech is alw ays an option,” says Jaime. She also emphasises that you don’t need to have all the answers, or a ma p for your career.

“In high school I didn’t know product design and UX (user experience) even exi sted!” she says. “It’s hard to know what’s out there, so I’d encourage people to focus on taking the first step, soakin g up the experience and bei ng open to the guidance and opp ortunities that will naturally emerge.” – Heather Catchpole

Gr aduate progr am, CBA Account manager, Uber Eats

Working at x15

Summer intern, CBA

tures.com.au

tartups are business ventures that start small and can have a big impact. Think SpaceX, Canva or The Iconic.

They started out with a smart idea and transformed the way that we travel to space, create designs and do our shopping. x15ventures is a startup accelerator powered by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). It builds, acquires and invests in early-stage startups that have the potential to transform the way the bank serves its 15 million customers.

One example is helping people navigate buying a home with Home-in, a digital conveyancing service (conveyancing is the legal work involved in preparing sale documents). Home-in is now part of the CommBank app for home buyers.

Bachelor of Media and Communications , University of Sydne y

S

Product designer, x15ventures

wa Want to improve the st-paced fa e work? Discover th x15ventures world of startups at

It’s easy to only think of the really classic STEM careers, such as being an engineer or a scientist, and decide ‘that’s not for me’” 13

TECHNOLOGY

UPFRONT

Tech support

“One of the key things about being an entrepreneur is being 100% bought into the idea that you have. You have to be so excited abou t the thing that you’re doing. And you have to be so resi lient about the fact that you’re willing to take it from start to\ finish, no matter what it takes.”

LIAM RIDGEWAY Co-founder and director of NGNY, Indigitek & IndigiGig Liam Ridgeway is a startup pro – he’s the co-founder of Ngakkan Nyaagu (NGNY), an Aboriginal-owned digital agency; Indigitek, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tech community; and IndigiGig, a startup that links Indigenous talent in the gig-economy.

Wise words from STEM grads who’ve started from the bottom... and now they’re here!

“The journey of a tech founder is a constant and difficult one, but it’s also infinitely rewarding as both a learning experience and a lifestyle. It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut of doing things the way you’ve always done them, but it’s crucial in business to keep innovating, finding new and better ways to do things.”

MIRIANA LOWRIE 1Centre founder NZ-based tech founder Mirian a Lowrie started 1Centre to help bus inesses transform their trade credit processes from costly and slow to quick and efficient.

She’s also super-passionate about helpin g more Māori women get their start in the tech industry!

“Surround yourself with people who share the same values an d whose ski lls you respect and need to ach ieve your ow n dreams in business.

It can be a lonely journey so bring the right people along for the ride and you wil l be in a much better position.”

KIERAN SHIREY Managing director and alia co-founder of LOGiT Austr LOGiT Australia is an Indigenous business developing commercial software ‘firsts’ in-house, with a focus on the asset management (infrastructure) and engineering industries. – Cassie Steel

Join 1 MILLION STUDENTS each year growing their future with STEM!

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ch more than a magazine!

Careers with STEM is so mu

ure with our FREE Job Kits • Explore the jobs of the fut ality with online quizzes • Discover your STEM person ars l for career videos and webin • Subscribe to our yt channe out on Insta or TikTok! • Connect, share and reach

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Like Careers with STEM? Join us, connect with other STEM-minded peeps and widen your network before you’ve even graduated!

BE CONFIDENT. BE CAPABLE.

BE JOB-READY. Study IT at Monash – rated five stars for graduate full-time employment* *The Good Universities Guide, 2021-2022

MonashInfoTech MonashInfotech Monash Information Technology Monash Information Technology

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CRICOS provider: Monash University 00008C. 18P-0592.

TECHNOLOGY

TECH+IT

+ EMERGING TECH + SOCIAL GOOD + LAW + RETAIL

E K A S S ’ H C E T R TECH FO If you live and breathe technology, then a career in straight-up IT might be for you – and demand for talent is high

W

X’ here at Careers e talk a lot about ‘STEM + mula for with STEM – that’s our for gy, engineering olo combining science, techn fin (+X) to d your career or maths with your passion t what if your passion niche… aka dream job. Bu d simple? is the T in STEM, pure an e the go-to tech guru u’r yo This might be you if ip circle, fixing and in your family or friendsh one with their IT issues building and helping every , um, be studying or (when you should probably e you’ve been coding for doing homework). Or mayb n walking and talking? about as long as you’ve bee app or three or designed Or you’ve already built an aight-up career in your own game. Then a str are engineering could be computer science or softw for there’s plenty of demand on the cards, and luckily d passion. people with your skills an

ong levina wgin eer

software en

ER HERE E R A C R OU START Y

study tech+nIcte (Computer Science),

d of Scie Bachelor niversity of Aucklan ng), U Engineeri re a w ft o (S g n ri e e Australia of Engin Bachelor iversity of Western University Un gy, Monash lo o n h c Te n atio of Inform Bachelor

jobs r: tech+opIt nginee erations e

ent 26K Developm 38K / NZ$60K–$1 02K 1 $51K–$1 Z A$65K–$ N –$116K / K 6 5 * $ K A 8 r: 1 enginee $46K–$1 Software 114K / NZ $ – K 1 5 $ er: A ording UX design laries acc *Source: sa cale.com to pays

Check out our FREE Software Engineering Job Kit at bit.ly/IT-jobkit

CAREERSwithSTEM.com

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High school electives checklist ✔ Mathematics ✔ Engineering Studies gy ✔ Design and Technolo ✔ Computing Studies

VET courses

ional There are loads of VET (Vocat ications Education and Training) qualif es and in tech – diplomas, cer tificat and FE TA at advanced diplomas – sof tware m polytech. Courses range fro ing to development and programm urity, web general IT support, cyber sec dia development, interactive me and games, and more.

What’s the diff? Compu versus software engter science ineering Strugglin

g to choose between compute r science and software engin – or even understand the dif eering ference? We don’t blame you : there’s a lot of overlap, but also som e key differences.

COMPUTER SCIENCE Study computers and comput er systems, and the interaction between sof tware and hardware systems.

Focus on theories and study areas like artificial intelligence (AI ), databases and programming languages .

May study principles of sof twa

re engineering.

SOFTWARE ENGINEER ING Design, build and test sof twa re products using engineering principles .

May also be called a programm er or developer. Test and per form quality assurance checks.

May have an understanding of computer science theories.

A search on job site SEEK shows literally thousands of positions for developers and programmers to apply for, with 2020 job data pro jecting job growth of 30% over the next five years for the field, with an average salary of $110,000 per year.

Score!

Still not convinced? Mayb e you just haven’t tried your hand at coding yet?

If you think it sounds pre tty cool – then don’t dismiss this career path (did we mention the high demand and six-figure salary?).

You might be like Levina Wong, a software engineer at the Commonwe alth Bank of Australia, who knew she loved proble m-solving but didn’t discover coding until after high school. Then, during an internship as part of he r engineering degree, she got to try it and was hook ed. Levina overcame her impostor syndrome and no w she loves testing and building tech at the bank . “How exciting is it that so many people will actually physically see and use what I’ve worked on?” she says. – Gemma Chilton

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SHUTTERSTOCK

Study path guide

TECHNOLOGY

TECH+GOOGLE

GOOGLE GIGS

r goals in an Meet 5 IT gurus smashing caree Google exciting range of tech roles at

1 Harrison Mbugi Security Engineer

Threat detector Improving Google’s security and threat detection is all in a day’s work for Harrison Mbugi n technolog y (IT) – and arrison’s interest in informatio him to studying how the internet works – led e, enc then later a Masters in a Bachelor of Computer Sci y classes for his Masters, his IT. After taking some securit y was sparked. fascination for cyber securit Google that he realised It wasn’t until Harrison joined t STEM gig for him. “I had to cyber security was the per fec hways, consult my mentors learn more about different pat ich pathway to take based at Google and then decide wh st,” he explains. on what interested me the mo g goals as a security And now? Harrison is kickin , identifies and implements engineer, where he maintains order to safeguard Google’s ways to improve security in . His big picture goal is to information systems assets ection. One of his favourite continue to improve threat det ection on the cloud. projects has been building det

H

Working in STEM

workplace, Harrison believes When it comes to the STEM eriences and ideas that can diversity introduces new exp e shown that diverse inspire creativity. “Studies hav and outper form non-diverse teams are more productive ity in the STEM workforce teams,” he says. “More divers better solutions to the means more innovation and .” problems faced by humankind etimes used to wonder if som Harrison admits that he he knows that STEM is for STEM was for him, but now about different fields and everyone. His advice? “Read ich one interests you the careers in STEM. Find out wh de you. And most most. Look for mentors to gui – Louise Meers importantly, don’t give up.”

Founder, Youth for Africa

Bachelor of Science / Computer Science, St. Xavier’s College (India)

CAREERSwithSTEM.com

Masters in Information Technology, Loyola University Chicago (USA)

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Information Technology Resident, Google

Security Engineer, Google

Internships an mputer design Gardner demystify co

2 ted the long time ago, humans naviga rs. sta the and Sun world using the and ses pas com to Gradually, we shifted on rely us of st mo paper maps, and today but y, wa g lon our phones. We’ve come a the time. navigation is still changing all igner for As a user experience (UX) des icipate those Google, it’s Sophie’s job to ant Maps stays changes and ensure Google ahead of the cur ve. the per fect For Sophie, UX design offers technology. and gy blend of creativity, sociolo since ers put “I’ve been interested in com es to com it I was young, especially when the ise tom finding creative ways to cus devices,” she my of our avi beh or appearance studied says. But it was only after she

A

Bachelor of Design Computing (Honours), University of Sydney

UX Design Intern, Google

UX Engineer & Product Design intern, Quora

UX Designer, Google

ay Mappindgmenttorhs ehelpw ed Sophie

To read about more inspiring career role models at Google, visit Careerswith STEM.com/ googlers

3 oskin CourfttwnaereyenHgineer So

ardner r Sophie Gnc e Designe

User Experie

computer design at the Unive rsity of Sydney that she realised UX design exi sted.

Sophie credits internships as opening her eyes to the possibilities of her field. She completed five during – and after – her studies, including two in UX design at Google. “The industry definit ely felt vast and confusing when I was at school, but once I got my first internship [at Google] things became clearer,” Sop hie says.

Mentors have also helped gui de her.

“Every one of the most valuab le things that I’ve learnt has come fro m mentors, and they can be anyone: tea chers, other design students, managers or intern mentors,” she says. – Amelia Caddy

Tech support

ds , Courtney Hoskin spen de co in nt ue fl ad gr ’s lives As a tech ps that change people 9-to-5 developing ap e – but tech wasn't a sof tware engineer at Googl our tney has the dream gig as d always rated University of Canterbur y gra the ool sch At . aim the ays alw ng STEM could er thought about how studyi nev but ts, jec sub e enc sci maths and ree not even ded into an engineering deg hea she t fac In . job r eve for er Science’ land her a domly took ‘Intro to Comput ran “I in. up end ’d she d fiel knowing which re!” she says. sof tware engineering from the in my first year and got into y and landing istchurch-based tech compan After interning at a small Chr Courtney gained the the same uni she studied at, a par t-time gig as a tutor at t companies. at one of the world’s bigges ly app to ded nee nce fide con [operating system] Photos, where I’m on the iOS e ogl Go in ring sha on rk wo “I receive photos.” l is to help people share and goa r “Ou ey. rtn Cou s say team,” – Courtney loves k – “my dad always used it!” bac y wa m fro app the of As a fan ir memories. lls to help others curate the how she’s using her tech ski el y is a good thing!” – Cassie Ste “I love seeing how technolog

C

Bachelor of Software Engineering (Honours) , The University of Canterbury, NZ

Tutor, The University of Canterbury, NZ

19

Software Engineering Intern, Treshna Enterprises

Software Engineer, Google

TECHNOLOGY

TECH+GOOGLE

4

Behind the lens

As a site reliability engineer, it’s Jennifer Cheng’s job to make sure Google Photos runs smoothly

ree in ennifer started out with a deg University of electrical engineering at the s more NSW before deciding she wa oy designing enj “I . interested in computers y with, like pla can I and creating something r. nife a game or a robot,” says Jen engineering She completed two sof tware graduate gig internships before landing a t role is a site at Google, where her curren E). reliability engineer (SR tos, improving Jennifer works on Google Pho e, she explains. vic ser the “debuggability” of the

J

eng JenniferityCh Engineer

Site Reliabil

Bachelor of Computer Engineering (Honours), UNSW

Backend Engineer Intern, Canva

Research Assistant, UNSW

Being an SRE is all about pro blem-solving, says Jennifer. For example, during some big annual festivals people are more like ly to take lots of photos, so SREs like Jennife r are responsible for predicting usage, ensuring the ser vice remains stable, and are also on-call for any urgent issues.

“My favourite thing about my job as an SRE at Google is the opportunity to work on and maintain a product on such a large sca le, not only focusing on building features, but als o improving the product,” she says. – Gemma Chilton Software Engineer Intern, Google

Software Engineer and Site Reliability Engineer, Google

Recipe for career success

Engineer

Baking a future

at Google as a customer Marina is currently working a, AI and machine learning. engineer, specialising in dat create technical solutions She helps Google’s customers g se solutions include creatin for their business goals. The an if ts tes t an experiment tha POCs (proof of concepts) – rld. wo idea can work in the real comes in? Combining AI and Wondering where the baking ipes. The Girls Day Out in tasty treats to create new rec machine learning used by STEM Bake Off highlights the alie Piucco – so far producing Marina and her co-worker Nat % cake) and a breakie (50% a cakie (50% cookie and 50 kia Horgan-Catchpole bread and 50% cookie). – Sas

CAREERSwithSTEM.com

studying STEM teaches you how to think in a way that is transferable to different disciplines” 20

Summer Intern, Google

Marina Deletic Customer

Customer Insight Analyst, Forever New

5 Co-founder of non-profit, EdHour

M

Bachelor of Chemical Engineering (Honours) / Bachelor of Commerce, Monash University

at Google – and lover arina is a customer engineer ial intelligence (AI). of dancing, baking and artific career for her mother, father Engineering was the chosen e with that DNA it’s no surpris and three grandparents, so at wh s hap Per . ering at uni she studied chemical engine also trained as a pro ballet rina Ma t is unexpected, is tha dancer until that point. h, Marina switched to Drawn to the fast pace of tec engineering. She graduated studying data and sof tware lbourne with a dual degree from Monash University in Me ineering (Honours) and – Bachelor of Chemical Eng biggest hurdle in her a Bachelor of Commerce. The go next. journey? Deciding where to so many opportunities for you es giv “Studying STEM u can end up doing so many the future,” Marina says. “Yo ng STEM teaches you how to different things because studyi ble to different disciplines.” think in a way that is transfera

Customer Engineer, Google

Marina Deletic’s journey into STEM includes Artificial Intelligence (AI), baking and a whole lot of engineering

TECH+IT

Top of the ) n i a h c ( k c o l b

y, CEO and co-founder gh na Do na tri Ka r, eu en pr tre From sociologist to en has had a varied career er, dg Le ic Civ y an mp co ain of Australian blockch

W

trina in late hen blockchain found Ka of her life. rse cou 2015, it changed the powerful ry ve “I realised that it was a fou ve a pro nd technology that would ha rticipate in society impact on the way we pa tions would and how economic institu . change,” she explains ed Civic A year later, she co-found platforms rn Ledger, which builds mode ckchain and marketplaces with blo of the planet’s technology to solve some CEO, most serious challenges. As ector, dir ny pa com co-founder and from ng thi ery she’s involved in ev and ce an fin to culture and strategy business development. is looking at Right now, the company gy can improve how blockchain technolo s to ensure current market mechanism water, particularly the sustainable sharing of in agriculture.

+ co-founder

Trust in tech

Humans still to be in control asneed technology advances ”

Katrina sees blockchain as an enabler to help society on an infinite numb er of levels. “Humans still need to be in control as technology advances, and not the other way rou nd... So, as the digital era of the fourth industria l revolution scales, there is so much focus on trust,” she says.

This means exciting career opportunities in philosophy, ethics, psy chology, informatics, product development, cu stomer experience, data and system interope rability, shifting from human reading of law to machine reading of law (“rules as code”), digital ass ets, decentralised finance and automation, according to Katrina.

She believes that storytell ing and creatives are very valuable in this space too.

Anything’s possible

Graduate Certificate in Entrepreneurial and Venture Development, Griffith University

Program Mentor, Blockchain RMIT online

21

CEO and Co-Founder, Civic Ledger

SHUTTERSTOCK

Her advice for those who want to get into tech?

Don’t limit yourself. “Whether you want to work under the hood in a development role or hold technology accountable through ethics and governance, have ambitions to build your own technology company, or create beautiful applications that empower people – there are no limits to where your place will be. The only limits are when you say to yourself that you have no place.” – Louise Meers

Bachelor of Arts (Humanities), Cultural Politics and Political Theory, Griffith University Co-Founder, openCoLab

katrina donaghy ceo

TECHNOLOGY

Niamh Fitzgerald’s job as a game developer combines her love of art and technology

A

d says her t school, Niamh Fitzgeral al split” between interests were an “unusu and while she art, maths and science, r games (her all-time enjoyed playing compute I) the idea of making fave is Final Fantasy VI idn’t cross my mind ”. them herself one day “d chelor of Science Niamh signed up for a Ba University of Otago (Computer Science) at the k of their graphics because she liked the loo graphics programming department, and thought combine her interests. might be a good way to tapped into the “I found I enjoyed how it brain,” she says. my problem-solving part of h spent a few years After graduating, Niam realised she wanted working in tech but then ustry. to explore the games ind

niamh fitzgerald ga

Junior Game Developer Intern, NHNZ

me developer

Game plan

Bachelor of Science (Computer Science), University of Otago

Bachelor of Creative Technologies (Game Art & Design), Media Design School

i to do a Bachelor’s Niamh went back to un nologies at Media degree in Creative Tech ussed on game Design School, which foc rd to the art and design. Fast for wa w working as present and Niamh is no hief Operating Development Director/C Zealand Officer (COO) at a New saur Polo no Di d lle games studio ca signer Club. She was the lead de called me ga t on their most recen gy ate Mini Motor ways – a str ning sig simulation game about de the d the roads of cities aroun grow. s ion lat pu po world while aspiring Niamh’s advice to other now. game developers? Start you ing pp sto “There’s nothing er right lop ve de from being a game ity is ers div now!” she says. And says. e sh crucial in the industry, ve ha “It’s really important to riety of va a th wi le op diverse pe because experiences in the room r games!” that’s how we make bette – Gemma Chilton

It’s really important to have diverse people with a variety of experiences” CAREERSwithSTEM.com

Producer / co-founder, Little Lost Fox

GAME ON

Development Director / COO, Dinosaur Polo Club

TECH+IT

22

TECH+CBA

The right path

Meet two Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) grads who’ve been eyeing up tech careers since high school – and now they’ve landed dream jobs

It’s never too late to learn a new skill”

Ruhi Pelia Enterprise Services Graduate A lifelong passion for tech landed Ruhi Pelia a grad gig at CBA rested in tech, uhi Pelia has always been inte to build on her es ctiv so taking high school ele wle kno dge was a information technolog y (IT) dy a Bachelor of no-brainer. She went on to stu e in IT at the University Business/Bachelor of Scienc fur ther fuelled her of Technolog y Sydney, which interest in technolog y. ser vices at the CBA, Ruhi now works in enterprise tech for the bank – from which runs and suppor ts the ial tools for employees. customer products to essent rked on so far? Creating a The coolest project she’s wo incoming work volume. forecast tool that predicts the technical skill – scripting.

This involved learning a new t, she could see the Ruhi says through the projec team and CBA’s impact she had made for her ed that it’s never too customers. “I was also remind says. – Louise Meers late to learn a new skill,” she

R

ss / Bachelor Bachelor of Busine iversity of Un ), (IT ce ien Sc of Technology Sydney

Enterprise Services Gr aduate, CBA

IT Technician, JTC Technology

Jackson Zhenger Associate Engine

tech skills Jackson Zheng uses hisovation and to provide support, inn ts to ground-breaking insighnk Australia’s biggest ba

engineering go way back. ackson Zheng and sof tware g around with advanced The CBA grad started playin of high school, which made tech concepts toward the end easy. “I was really interested picking pathways in Year 12 the hardest bit was passing in sof tware engineering, but he says. my university maths subjects!” e and try out his IT skills gam g erin Keen to up his engine lied for a graduate gig at in the real world, Jackson app st par t? “Solving problems in CBA – and got it! The trickie n know if a solution exists!” situations where we don’t eve CBA team permanently as This year Jackson joined the n tackling a complex automatio an associate engineer and is m. tea his suppor t to project, while providing tech ated pipeline that carries om aut an “I’m constructing ltiple sources,” he explains. and transforms data from mu network and asset “Ultimately I’m visualising the sie Steel structure of the bank!” – Cas

J

Ultimately I’m visualising the network and asset structure of the bank”

Graduate, CBA

Bachelor of IT (Honours) / Science (Mathematics), University of Sydney

23

Associate Engineer, CBA

TECHNOLOGY

TECH+EMERGING TECH

+ SOCIAL GOOD + LAW + RETAIL + IT

h c e t e r u t u f e t Crea

to quantum computing, get on ati tom au d an I) (A e nc ige From Artificial Intell t are transforming society tha gy olo hn tec of lds fie ing set for the emerg

W hat skills do you need to wor k in emerging technolo gy?

T

in AI – machine he technologies included d natural language learning, automation an eady a big part processing (NLP) – are alr oss every thing from of the working world, acr career options? retail to medicine. As for ecialist was #1 Artificial Intelligence Sp ing Jobs Report in LinkedIn’s 2020 Emerg a’s top five emerging Australia, while Australi or AI skills. jobs feature automation sed on the Quantum technology, ba microscopic levels, properties of materials at h field with huge is another emerging tec superfast computing, opportunities. Promising a revolution in sensing unhackable comms and tech offers exciting and imaging, quantum

Interested in working in emer ging technologies? Her your high schoole’s electives list: • Physics • Chem ist ry • Digital tech nolog ies • Desig n & tech • STEM

SHUTTERSTOCK

career opportunities in de fence, mining, health, science research labs, sp ace tech and more.

Big companies like IBM and Microsoft are looking to hire expe rts with the What do people physics and engineering working in quantum knowhow to get superfast quantum technology do? computing to a scale where it can sta • Research fundamental physics rt delivering to the consum • Set up and automate er.

A May 2020 report, Grow quantum systems ing Au stralia’s Quantum Techno • Develop ways to move from log y Industry, predicts the sec classical computing and tor will grow into a $4 billion ind other technologies to ustry by 2040, creating some 16, quantum 000 jobs.

– Heather Catchpole technologies

CAREERSwithSTEM.com

✔ Collaboration ✔ Commun ication ✔ Being a thorough and analy tical th inker ✔ Able to learn on the job

24

What is machine learning?

Machine learning is the process where applications use data to learn. Things like: predicting stock market changes, personalising shopping experiences, analysing social trends like cyberbullying or instances of disease outbreaks, and recognising and identifying images, including facial recognition.

Natural language processing (NLP) uses machine learning to analyse, generate and even create text.

NLP is also used to recognise and translate languages, and is used in services such as Google translate.

What is automation?

Automation means making repetitive processes automatic and minimising human input into tasks – in anywhere from the manufacturing line to data entry or even housework.

START YOUR CAREER HER E

tech+emer ging tech s tudy Bachelor of Sc ience (Phy

sics), QUT Bachelor of En gineering (Hon (Quantum En ours) gineering), Un iversity of NSW Bachelor of So ft ware Engine er Media Design ing in Ar tificial Intelligenc e, School, Auckla nd

tech+emerg ing tech Jo bs Machine learni A$59K–$132 ng engineer: K / NZ$46K–$ 62K Data scientis t: A$62K–$130 K / NZ$52K–$ 109K Mechanical en gineer: A$55K–$110 K / NZ$58K–$ 115K* *Source: salar ies according to payscale.com

Where are AI and quan t u m technologies used?

Social media–AI

QUT’s Richi Nayak and her colleagues analysed one million tweets and developed an algorithm (a set of rules in computing) to detect tweets that are abusive hi: towards women. Follow Ric @nayakrichi

W hat do people working in A I do ?

Health–AI

AI is used extensively for health. Coviu is an Australian telehealth platform that uses machine learning to e visually recognise and analys ts. ien pat in joint movement And chatbots help patients navigate medical bookings and information.

Health–quantum tech

Quantum sensing is already delivering dazzling apps in healthcare and medicine – such as enabling early disease det ection and the imaging of human bio log y with exquisite precision, and helpin g scientists get faster at discov ering new drugs to treat disease.

Defence–quantum techno log y It's

not just computers and com ms that could benefit from quantum, according to researchers at University of Adelaide. They reckon sensors based on qua ntum tech could be used to track subma rines or detect metal objects throug h solid walls.

• Manage data and find ways to automate proces ses • Keep an eye on th e ethics of AI and privacy of data • Use data and mac hine learn ing to pred ict outcomes

Prepare for jobs of the future Study UWA’s Advanced Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours) and major in AI, Computing and Data Science or International Cybersecurity.

Through real-world industry experiences, we’ll help you kickstart your career in these rapidly growing fields.

APPLY NOW: uwa.edu.au/study/advanced-computer-science

25 CRICOS Provider Code: 00126G

DCS 748632508

TECHNOLOGY

TECH+EMERGING TECH

Ones to watch h Five booming fields for the tec

#1

careers of tomorrow*

Artificial intelligence (AI)

s puter systems that use big set AI refers to developing com it’s tasks. AI is in demand, and of data to per form intelligent e conser vation to medical used in everything from wildlif g, hin AI include machine learnin diagnosis. Popular areas wit . nce erie and user exp natural language processing

#2 Biotechnology Biotechnology uses cellula r and biomolecular processes to develop tech that improv es lives and sustainability – think vaccines, bioplastics and bionic organs. There are so many ways to combine you r passion with this field.

You could work in law, busine ss or even food tech.

#3 Blockchain ger – that’s A blockchain is a digital led a stored on dat a record of transactions or same time. It millions of computers at the rency (shout can store any thing from cur ords. Tech out to Bitcoin!) to medical rec n right now giants investing in blockchai e, but other ogl Go and include Microsoft urance, are ins and industries, like retail it. of also seeing the benefits

Quantum 5 # computing

SHUTTERSTOCK | WORDS BY LOUISE MEERS

#4 Robotics+drones

Wanna develop tech based on the principles of quantum theory (which exp lains the behaviour of energy and material on atomic and subatomic levels)?

Get into quantum computing . Quantum computers have the potential to solve pro blems way faster than regular computers, and they’re used in cyber security, energy, finance and logistics.

Robotics deals with designing, constructing and using machines to perform tasks usually done by humans. Robots can sort rice and train doctors, and they’re also revolutionising healthcare, mining, manufacturing and agriculture. Oh, and their more mobile friends – drones – are helping out, too!

CAREERSwithSTEM.com

*According to the The Dawn of the Deep Tech Ecosystem report by Hello Tomorrow

26

TECH+SYDNEY QUANTUM ACADEMY

Welcome to the future of everything Wa

nt to work with er technology? From ch a-defining, emerging quantum technologie emistry to communications, s are set to change the world

C

the world of quantum our physics is changingha t's understanding of w possible”

omputers that solve cer tain problems 150 million times faster than current tec hnolog y are just a hint of what quantum technolog ies are working towards.

And the potential is huge for future job creation too.

Quantum technologies are any tech that harnesses the principles of quantum phy sics. So when you think quantum jobs you probably think of physicists – but Peter Turner, CEO of Sydney Quantum Academy (a physicist himself), says the peter turner term ‘quantum engineer’ is gaining traction ceo, sydney and popularity.

Potential quantum application quantum academy s include improving health outcomes with new tre atments, building sensors tha t track changes in the marine environ ment, and supersensitive ima ging systems.

“The world of quantum physic s is changing our understan ding of what’s possible and could fundament ally improve all technolog y, from sensing, through communications, to computing,” says Peter. – Gem ma Chilton

The Sydney Quantum Academy is a NSW Government-backed partnership between Macquarie University, UNSW Sydney, the University of Sydney and UTS, tasked with supercharging the quantum technology sector. Check out sydneyquantum.org

QUANTUM

BE PART OF THE NEXT REVOLUTION IN TECHNOLOGY

Whether your passion is in the natural sciences, mathematics, computer science, or engineering, studying quantum opens a world of possibilities.

Did you know that Sydney is home to one of the largest concentrations of quantum experts globally? Here you can learn from some of the best in the field.

Choose from a variety of quantum specialised units and courses at Sydney Quantum Academy’s partner universities (UNSW Sydney, Macquarie University, the University of Sydney and UTS). They provide access to world-class facilities and expertise through their strong ties with industry leaders and national research centres.

Our programs and scholarships provide workshops, seminars, industry experience and networking opportunities to ensure you’re well-equipped for an exciting career.

Find out more: sydneyquantum.org

27

TECHNOLOGY

Major in tomorrow Forget worrying about robots stealing your job – build a career in artificial intelligence (AI) and you’ll be in high demand at the cutting edge of tech

W

ll set you up ant to gain skills that wi a 2020 for the future of work? In ing jobs in LinkedIn report on emerg e of the top five Australia, every single on tomation or AI. jobs featured skills in au studying a To build a career in AI, (CS) general computer science e degree is an obvious choic an o als – but there is increasing number of d dedicated AI degrees an u yo majors that will see ills graduate with targeted sk For in this hot field of tech. example, the Bachelor of ience Advanced Computer Sc of ty rsi ive Un (BACS) at The has an ) WA (U a Western Australi jor in AI. ma to s ad option for undergr

TO GET THERE: bit.ly/UWA-AI

TECH+UNI OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

fundamental CS (think databases, programming and netw orks), but also cool AI-specific topics such as philosophy and ethics, machine learning and natural language processing.

“BACS AI graduates will be prepared to go into startups and cu tting-edge AI companies or continu e building their expertise through research at UWA,” says Rachel, wh o is a UWA alumnus herself.

Hashim, who is currentl y enrolled in the BACS co urse, says he chose UWA because it is one of Australia’s only leading universities offering an AI major wi th an Honours degree in Computer Scien ce.

“I really like the units ab out philosophy head of computer and ethics and the use of AI and modern science and software techn ologies. Students should Tech + philosophy learn about engineering, UWA Professor the dangers of technolo According to Associate gy if no t used of ad ethically,” he says.

Rachel Cardell-Oliver, He are ftw Rachel says AI has the po Computer Science and So wer to achieve choose o wh nts de stu A, UW ne at w insights and change the Engineering way we work, ly study and that there is a surge the AI major will not on of interest in AI in a huge range of fields, inc luding astronomy, medicine, business and the environment. graduates have the “Graduates of BACS AI have the op portunity to make a rea opportunity to make a real l difference in the world, and to do so at difference in the world and at an early stage in their career,” she says. – Gemma Chilton an early stage in their career”

Rachel Cardell-Oliver

CAREERSwithSTEM.com

28

TECH+CSIRO

Reinventing science w it h tech Jon Whittle, director of CSIRO’s Data61, sa ys technology is chan how we do traditional ging science, and digital sk ills will be crucial RO’s on Whittle is the director of CSI expert in Data61, and a world-renowned an-computer software engineering and hum has seen interaction. In his lifetime, Jon nge – from cha us rmo technology undergo eno games eo vid ing his early interest in design The ay. tod as a teenager in the 1980s to eck akn bre a evolution of tech continues at ence. sci do y we pace, and it’s changing the wa loo ence will k “We know the way we do sci e. Technologies very different in 20 years’ tim (AI) are creating such as artificial intelligence g us to speed up new possibilities and allowin ery,” says Jon. cov the process of scientific dis ore be ref Being fluent in tech will the future. the important for the scientists of dig by ital skills, “All of this will be underpinned how to properly so data science and knowing hnologies such and ethically incorporate tec ogies will be as AI into scientific methodol s. say he ,” increasingly important

J

jon whittle COMPUTER SCIENTIST

We know the way we do science will look very different in 20 years’ time”

But Jon stresses that the fundamentals of science – and being a scientist – will stay the same. “While these technologies will create new opportunities, the most important aspect will always be the deep scientific knowledge and judgement of the human scientist at the centre.” – Gemma Chilton

Data61 is the data an digital arm of austrad national science agenlia's facilitating collabor cy, between researchers,ation industry and students . “at csiro, We have mo re than a thousand researchers working on a range of projec like locating diseasets, causing genes and protecting our environments,” says Jon.

Do you want to build robots for a living?

What do artificial intelligence and robotics have in common? They are the future.

And, have you ever thought about how AI can help with the problems we don’t know how to solve?

If yes, then you’ll need computational thinking skills.

We can help you Enhance your computational thinking skills by signing up for the 2022 Bebras challenge.

digitalcareers.csiro.au/Bebras

29

CSIRO Australia’s National Science Agency

TECHNOLOGY B&M | 21-00318

TECH+SOCIAL GOOD

+ LAW + RETAIL + IT + EMERGING TECH

People power

Want to make a difference? better world Use your tech skills to build a

I

tech+social good Jo bs Software developer: A$5 1K–$101K

/ NZ$50K–$92K Project manager, IT: A$65K– $162K / NZ$58K–$118K Web app developer: A$52K– $112K / NZ$49K–$87K* *Source: salaries according to payscale.com

Random Hacks of Kindness

SHUTTERSTOCK

tech+social good St udy Bachelor of Information Tec hnolog y, Mon

ash University Bachelor of Science (Comp uter Science), University of Canterbury Bachelor of Engineering (Co mputer and Software Sys tems), QUT

t social justice, you f you’re passionate abou reer in social work, might be considering a ca or aid organisation or working for a charity about combining your – but have you thought technology skills for wanna-help attitude with real difference? a career that can make a helping to fuel “Technology and data are ment for social an unprecedented move rld,” says Tal justice all around the wo CEO of Cloud For Frankfurt, founder and l tech company), Good (a transformationa e last year. quoted in a Forbes articl power of tech to That article looked at the ial movements, aid social protests and soc But tech for social like Black Lives Matter. harnessing the good is about more than hashtag activism. or power of social media, onment? You Passionate about the envir eener, which could build an app like Gr opping more rewards consumers for sh ivity and disability sustainably. Or is inclus ? You could be advocacy more your jam building the StorySign involved in a project like mpany Huawei in app, launched by tech co for hearing-impaired 2019 to enrich story time ts. children and their paren dless, if you've got The opportunities are en ence. “Ultimately, the drive to make a differ od nor bad on its own. technology is neither go rs is how we use it,” It’s a tool, and what matte ropist Melinda Gates. says famous tech philanth

Ready to use tech for good starting, like, yesterday?

You don’t need to be working for a big tech company or start your own business. Hackathons are a great way to practice using tech for good.

Check out Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK), which runs twice yearly hackathons in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. They work with charities, entrepreneurs and non-profits to help solve challenges over a 48-hour hackathon involving volunteer hackers, technologists, designers and creative thinkers. To date they’ve tackled a diverse range of social problems, from bushfire response to inspiring more girls to get into tech, and from mental health to the environment.

Visit rhokaustralia.org to sign up or find out more.

CAREERSwithSTEM.com

START YOUR CAREER HERE

30

3

apps making a difference in different ways Whether it’s fighting poverty, helping the environment or supporting mental health, there are loads of different ways to make a difference with tech. Here are 3 awesome apps to get you inspired

1

Supporting young Indigenous people

nal wellbeing iBobbly is a social and emotio nal and Torres rigi Abo app designed by and for supports app Strait Islander peoples. The ries, sto on mental wellbeing by drawing nal rigi artists images and videos from Abo ys to manage and performers, showing wa ls and focus on thoughts and feelings, set goa what’s important.

Empowering refugees 2 wi th tech skills EMPACT is a program develo ped through the United Nations World Food Programm e Innovation Accelerator. Partnering with major tech firms, it empowers refugees by equipp ing them with the digital skills needed for a brig hter future.

And whether you want to launch a tech startup (check out page 12 for tip s and inspo) or you dream of landing a gig wi th a tech giant, your tech future will have op portunities to do good.

For example, Google has the Google.org Fellowship, a pro bono pro gram that matches its employees with non-p rofits and other civic entities for up to six months on full-time projects. Atlassian, whose Aussie founders are famously civic-mind ed, has the Atlassian Foundation and its emplo yees receive up to five days of volunteering lea ve every year.

You could also start to str etch your tech + social good muscles befor e you even leave high school. Hackathons like Random Hacks of Kindness (see box) rec ruit volunteers to help use tech to solve some of society’s most pressing challenges. – Gemma Ch ilton

31

3

Fighting Food waste

Developed in Denmark and used across Europe, the Too Good To Go app connects customers to businesses with excess food to prevent waste – 88.4 million meals have been saved since the app was launched in 2016! Users get meals at a great price, businesses reach new customers and reduce waste, and less food goes into landfill.

TECHNOLOGY

Meet two students combining their love of technology with their passion for making the world a better place

App Developer/ computer science undergrad

Looking for a un with a conscienc i e?

Monash Un ivers ity’s Facu lty of IT is leadi ng more than 200 projects under its ‘IT for Socia l Good’ m ission – from lif esav in g ar tificial intelligence to in clusive tech for people with visio n impa irments.

Fi nd out more at bit.ly/ MonashSocia lG oo d

te Tech to p’tleva already en graduated but he’s

Joseph Sinclair hasn app that’s improving access developed a popular the pandemic the number of people needing to fresh food during to do their grocer Joseph was in New Zealand he inspo for Sprout came while homegrown produce. While using honesty boxes to share , er Science at Monash University studying a Bachelor of Comput re sha to platform to allow people Joseph developed the digital they want to sell, buy or swap. their excess produce, whether d people to share their fresh foo “I just wanted it to be a way for he says. and help local communities,” demic, the start of the COVID-19 pan at app the Having launched uce ed benefits. “Sprout helped red Joseph didn’t predict the add

T

y shopping in public places. Lockdown also created an increase in new hom e gardeners,” he says. Sprout has been downloaded more than 3000 times, and Joseph was a Tech Visionary Award Finalis t for the 2021 7News Young Achieve r Award. That's growing good.

Intern, PwC

Joseph Sinclair

Developed Sprout iOS App

Doing good better

Bachelor of Computer Science, Monash University

TECH+MONASH FACULTY OF IT

I just wanted it to be a way for people to share their fresh food”

Lalitha Polamraju IT/Arts

Driving diversIT

undergrad

IT and Arts undergraduate Lalitha Polamraju is passionate about increasing diversity in technology and STEM ge and is alitha Polamraju loves langua a career in of ct spe excited about the pro a degree in for up ed cyber security, so she sign . sity IT and Arts at Monash Univer ing part in cool When she’s not studying or tak she s, ’s also the events like security hackathon h diversIT team, student co-lead on the Monas t underan initiative that aims to suppor munity. com IT the in ts represented studen we increase “This year, we asked, ‘How do ?’” she says. sity ver uni diversity in IT beyond the

L

Bachelor of IT and Arts, Monash University

Their answer? Talking to high school students. “I’m working with our entire committee to curate and present workshops at high sch ools,” Lalitha says.

“I think this project is taking us one step closer to our mission to insp ire under-represented students to pursue IT, and by extension, STEM.” “The inherent beauty of variety is not considered enough,” she says.

Programming Bootcamp Facilitator, Monash University Faculty of IT

Co-Lead, DiversIT, Monash University

CAREERSwithSTEM.com

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The inherent beauty of variety isgh” not considered enou

TECH+QUT

Change champion Kimberly Valenny is empowering the next gen of women in tech to chase goals and smash stereotypes

K

33

Faculty Student Am and Sessional Acadbassador emic, QUT

Tutor, Girls Progr amming Network

Undergr aduate Intern Deloitte Digital ,

President, Women in Technology at QUT

when you surround yourself with people who will support you... you gain a feeling of confidence”

Area Coordinator an d Head Teacher, Code Camp

It was a full-circle expe rience for her too. Two years prior, at the same event, Kimberly connec ted with Deloitte representat ives and scored herself an internship in their dig ital team. She’ll also be returning there in 2022 as a graduate.

And when she’s not at un i? Kimberly works at Code Camp, teaching pri mary school students how to create their own games using drag-and-d rop coding. “If students can understand the programming logic and design considerations behind technology while in primary school, then the future is in gre at hands,” she says.

When it comes to tackli ng hurdles for women in tech, Kimberly believes it’s important to find yo ur STEM tribe. “When you surround yourself with people who will support you and have been in yo ur shoes before, you gain a feeling of confidence yo u wouldn’t have found anyw here else.” – Louise Meers

Kimberly Vale

president of women innny tech

Bachelor of Informa tio Technology / Creative Industrines, QUT

SHUTTERSTOCK

study Information imberly’s motivation to m looking around her Technolog y (IT) came fro 16 students, I was the high school IT class. “Of . “That made me even only female,” she explains it done and do it right!” more determined to get and final year at QUT in Now she’s in her fourth uble degree in IT and Brisbane, studying a do majors in Computer Creative Industries, with Design.

Science and Interaction uality in tech, Kimberly Still passionate about eq ) men in Technolog y (W IT is the president of the Wo mes anyone with a student club, which welco n pire and empower wome common aim to unite, ins . lds fie sorts of tech studying and pursuing all Women in STEM a This year, W IT hosted provided students with t Industry Night. The even nce of gender diversity in insights into the importa y nificant roles women pla STEM as well as the sig ourite part was seeing all in the industry. “My fav tween students and the connections made be ustry,” Kimberly says. companies from the ind

TECHNOLOGY

TECH+SOCIAL GOOD

talk the talk

Tech entrepreneur Matt Leete combined engineering and design to create a tool for gamers living with impaired speech

edit the sound of their vo ice if required, then trigg er the voice clips with the click of a button.

“It supports gamers with impaired speech in fast-paced competitive ga ming, or in complex online socialisation,” Ma tt says.

G

s he always loved rowing up, Matt Leete say g and wanted to be an creative problem-solvin been deeply curious inventor. He has “always A winning formula about technology”. pace ros Ae in Ma e tt’s Spix App idea was on gre de a in Matt enrolled e of three winners of land, but ns ee Qu of ty the rsi Remarkable Design-atho ive Un Engineering at the n, and it is now being tested and prepared for ferred to a Bachelor of ns tra he ars ye o tw er ma aft rket as part of the n at the University Remarkable accelerator Integrated Product Desig program.

TS). Matt Matt says his study and of Technolog y Sydney (U career path th a Masters meant he was well equip followed his degree up wi pe d to launch the University the Spix App. “I'm comf of Interaction Design at ort able with s art ic electron technology, and could wr of Sydney, focussing on ite enough . eraction code to develop the early and human–computer int pro totypes a of Spix App,” he says.

It was while working on markable Making the tech world mo hackathon called the Re re n’, organised tho n-a inc sig De lusive for people with a by led ab ‘En ran ge of liance in abilities is a big focus rig by the Cerebral Palsy Al ht no w, says t Matt came Matt. “It is an incredibly partnership with UTS, tha int ere sting p.

Ap area to work in and I wo up with the idea for Spix uld 100 % ke ma to s wa “Our problem statement + founder recommend it to people looking for the ad le t uc od pr re rts mo opportunity to have a rea online gaming and e-spo l impact on y,” ilit ab dis a th wi le pe op ople’s lives.” – Gemma Ch inclusive for pe ilton week explains Matt. “I spent the . ies ilit ab dis th a range of speaking with gamers wi erged, especially relating em Some common themes Our problem statement ls.” isting communication too to the challenges with ex

SHUTTERSTOCK

matt leete

was to make online gaming and e-sports more inclusive for people with a disability”

Path to success

p – a desktop app that Matt’s solution? Spix Ap common gaming phrases, allows users to prerecord Bachelor of Integrated Product Design, UTS

CAREERSwithSTEM.com

Master of Interaction Design and Electronic Arts, University of Sydney

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Product Lead & Founder, Spix App

TECH+UNI OF CANTERBURY

y t i n u m m o c d n a Code, clubs

Jennifer Halvorsen’s software skills are helping businesses improve health and environment programs

J

jennifer halvorsen

software engineer

Don’t be afraid to fail”

coding. In her third year, Jen nifer had a full-year team project where she worked clo sely with her peers to design, develop and test an organ donation system.

“I made some great friends out of it!” she says.

The social side of studying als o formed from clubs.

“I was involved with both WiT Soc (Women in Tech Society) and CompSoc (Comp uter Science Society). Both clubs are a great way to meet and socialise with others.”

A mix of casual get-together s, industry events and tutorial sessions created a saf e space to connect.

“Getting involved with the wid er community through clubs is a great way to make friends and have suppor t while studying,” she says.

a strong start

From the wide variety of cou rses, Jennifer enjoyed computer graphics most. “W hen pieces of code were in the wrong place you would end up just sitting there laughing at it because the models loo ked so ridiculous,” she says.

Par t of the degree at UC inc ludes an internship. Jennife r did hers at Seequent, develo ping new features for 3D modelling sof tware. “Internin g at Seequent definitely helped me in starting a career after my studies – it gave me real-life experience with com mon development processes that I continue to use in my current career, and helped me gain confidence that I was goo d at problem-solving.”

Her advice? “Don’t be afraid to fail.”

“In my early years I was often afraid of failing and it held me back,” she says. Now Jen nifer looks at failing as one of the best ways to learn. – Sar ah Kellett

35

Software Engineering Intern, Seequent

ng em The degree at UC has a stro re is much more than just twa sof how which showcases

Bachelor of Engineering with Honours (Software Engineering), University of Canterbury

ising Software and social phasis on project work,

Junior Developer, Mango Limited

ed playing computer ennifer Halvorsen always lov engineering was never games, but technolog y and school. really advertised at her high gaming,” Jennifer says.

“I originally wanted to get into ers learning more about comput “That sparked an interest in From there it was a toss-up and other areas of sof tware. g.” ence or software engineerin between picking computer sci ree deg a up k too r Jennife Sof tware engineering won, and ). She now works as a (UC y bur ter at the University of Can ited, a company that helps junior developer at Mango Lim improve their quality, health businesses around the world l management programs. and safety, and environmenta

TECHNOLOGY

TECH+LAW

+ RETAIL + IT + EMERGING TECH + SOCIAL GOOD

The law of averages

START YOUR CAREER HERE

tech+law study

L

ve a ucille Hughes doesn’t ha – in fact e gre computer science de gy olo hn she jokes that for a tec cky lawyer she can find it tri h tec n ow r sorting out he sn’t sometimes – but that ha st ali stopped the speci technology lawyer and iniversity house counsel at the Un TS) of Technology Sydney (U . from being ace at her job e wanted sh ew kn s ay Lucille alw until to go to uni, but it wasn’t think to d rte sta Year 9 that she ver, Lucille we Ho . about studying law h lawyer technology lawyer says, the concept of a tec y it does now, didn’t really exist the wa so it wasn’t an option. erseas and Lucille Fast forward to a move ov in-house for local accepted a role working n was “immediately throw government, where she s. on IT contracts,” she say into the deep end working a, all that unexpected On her return to Australi s plus her dual qualification legal experience in IT – le cil Lu d lpe d the UK – he to practice law in NSW an , at a big law firm, and ing nk score sweet roles in ba at UTS. now, her current position

Technology has really disrupted the legal sector”

The rise of digi-law

Tech law has become a ke y practice area for legal firms, Lucille says. “Tech nology has really disrup ted the legal sector. It has ch anged the type of work lawyers do and the way lawyers deliver services to their clients.”

“The technology tools an d platforms available to lawyers now mean that legal services can be deliv ered from anywhere to anyw here in real time,” she say s.

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CAREERSwithSTEM.com

tech+law jobs

Legal compliance manager: A$73K–$150K / NZ$61K–$147K Systems analyst: A$56K–$108K / NZ$50K–$97K Corporate lawyer: A$58K–$149K / NZ$46K– $177K* *Source: salaries according to payscale.com

lucille hughes

Bachelor of Arts / Bachelor of Laws, University of Sydney

Solicitor, South West Sydney Legal Centre

Senior Lawyer / Technology Media Telecommunications and Projects, Gilbert + Tobin

Specialist technology lawyer, UTS

legal drama Suits, but you can in e rol ng rri sta a t ge t no y You ma law. Not familiar? Read on h tec in r ree ca e om es aw an have

Bachelor of Mathematical and Computer Sciences / Bachelor of Laws, University of Adelaide Bachelor of Science in Information Technology / Bachelor of Laws, University of Technology Sydney Graduate Certificate of New Technologies Law, Australian National University

36

Legal aid

For example, Melbourne company SettlePro is working on a prototype of online calculators, du e for release next year, tha t will help family lawyers fast-track property settle ments. And Sydney-based Smarter Drafter has 96 dif ferent automated legal documents for firms and clients to choose from to help businesses with their leg al needs in a post-COVI D19 world. These tech-focussed platforms are changing the way lawyers get the job done.

There’s also the Australi an Legal Technology Association, offering a com munity vibe for sharing info and collaboration for organisations in the legal space to help fund, understand and us e tech, both here and on a global scale.

“APIs (application progra mming interfaces) have be en major game changers for organisations,” Lucille say s.

Automating legal procee dings also means courts can make rulings more eff iciently. The Federal Cour t of Australia states that eL odgements make the cour t more accessible to every day peeps. For example, it estimates the need for ph ysical hearings in the 20 19 Victorian Bushfire Roya l Commission were reduc ed by 25% thanks to the docs being accessed via an electron ic platform.

Discovery (It’s a law term... look it up!)

Here’s where to tap into the Tech + Law space...

Social law

Tick these toks for fun legal insights wi th a side of lip-syncing: @legaltechbro @verylawyer problems

The College of Law Run by pros from all over the world, The College of Law offers a Legalpreneurs Lab, collab and research opportunities, and expert guidance. bit.ly/COLaw

LawTech Hub

Who’s hiring?

rtups, banks, insurance Big Data companies, sta h public sector all rely on tec groups, telecoms and the g din an rst de o need a good un law, says Lucille. They als d an y in areas such as polic of their legal obligations rk to be done there, too. regulation, so there’s wo n’t set out to be a tech Even though Lucille did for it! The skills are lawyer, her advice is, “go e you get to work with som transferable globally and d ste ere int d be curious an amazing people. Always ner.” – Pippa Duffy cor in what lies around the

37

The Lander & Rogers LawTech Hub offers up programs to help develop the big ideas.

Their “Indigenous Startups” focuses on supporting Indigenous communities and businesses. bit.ly/LawTechHub

Checkbox Certification Work in the real world with real clients to test your knowhow on projects and up your no-code skills at the same time. bit.ly/CBoxCert

TECHNOLOGY

TECH+LAW

s e x o b t h g i r e h t g Checkin Despite having a law degree, Evan Wong isn’t a lawyer.

He’s a self-confessed techprenuer

SHUTTERSTOCK

W

about things like wills, nts non-disclosure agreeme … nts or ser vice agreeme every thing is built without coding.”

Lawyers have a limited y amount of time, and the ed ne u yo if can be exxy . to engage one, says Evan s Checkbox mean to organisations don’t have their think about training up ms like law yers in coding progra Instead, they Py thon and JavaScript. ir work and roll can automate a lot of the in a more effective out their solicitor skills CO-FOUNDer + CEO way, on a larger scale – keeping clients happy perience all round. and providing a better ex

hen Evan Wong graduated from the University of NSW with a combined degree in commerce and law, he was never destined for duking it out in a courtroom. Instead, he honed his love for passing on knowledge to found Hero Education, a tutoring and support service for high school kids.

Almost 11 years later, Evan – along with James Han and Paul Wenck – has co-founded another company, this time applying tech in the legal world.

Checkbox, a no-code automated software platform, kicked off in 2016. The company’s aim? To provide a tech edge for legal teams – allowing them to build their own programs, develop workflow and generate documents – with zero coding required.

“After facing the challenge firsthand, I wanted to make legal and compliance content more dynamic and streamlined – that’s how Checkbox started,” Evan says. “The idea to launch Checkbox was to solve a problem.

A lot of the problems today are solved through technology. At Checkbox we empower lawyers and legal teams to build their own software,” he explains. “They use drag and drop techniques to build tools that help them automate manual work. So, when you think

evan wong

Bachelor of Commerce / Bachelor of Law, UNSW

CAREERSwithSTEM.com

ms today a lot of the probleno ch logy” are solved through te Checkbox also works wi th companies like Coca-Cola and PWC to enable them to build systems to streamline wo rk for their internal legal teams: as well as no n-for-profits, where pro bono law yers are ab le to provide their ser vices to more people on a larger scale.

As for jobs... legal techn ologists, legal engineers and legal opera tions managers are on the rise. “There are so ma ny different career pathways,” Evan says, so it’s an exciting time to be involved in the law . “It’s also an exciting time to be in tech. There ’s such a powerful marriage between the tw o.” – Pippa Duffy Founder, Hero Education

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Co-founder + ceo, Checkbox

TECH+MACQUARIE UNI

Legal hacking b to It’s Sophie Kaelin’s jo b apps and we o int ethically hack lnerabilities devices to uncover vu ned up for ut of high school, Sophie sig hnolog y (IT) at a Bachelor of Information Tec ney because she was Macquarie University in Syd log y and – although she always interested in techno at the time – she was had zero experience in coding fascinated to learn more. with a Bachelor of Law, Sophie initially coupled this much more time on her IT but found herself spending gle IT degree. “There subjects, so switched to a sin ting subjects, I didn’t were so many fun and interes says. want to miss out on any,” she

O

d out Battling imposters inside an Sophie chose

sophie kael

ts – Speaking of interesting subjec her IT degree. to major in cyber security for n victims of social “Knowing people who have bee ut other cyber engineering and hearing abo t,” she says. attacks furthered my interes meant Sophie nce erie Having no coding exp her time at but , me felt some imposter syndro ch is “Te . this uni soon helped overcome re is so the e a difficult field to be in becaus w gro s ack much to learn and cyber att says. “You and change every day,” she epting have to be comfor table in acc l wil er nev that you don’t and know everything.” rned After graduating, Sophie inte ch ear at Google, worked as a res at assistant and sessional tutor ded her Macquarie Uni, and then lan urity current gig – as a cyber sec nal sio fes pro bal consultant at glo EY. y, ser vices compan

in cyber security consul tant

Making – and breaking – te ch

Working as a penetration tes ter or ‘pen tester’ in EY’s Red Team, it’s Sophie’s job to ‘hack’ web or mobile apps and devices to uncove r vulnerabilities. “That information then gets passed on to the application’s developers so they can fix any vulnerabilities that make them susceptible to a real-life scenario,” she explains. “Because I’m still learning, my average day involves per forming research on popular attacks to discover new ways of exploit ing applications.”

Sophie says her uni studies come in handy every day in her job. “A lot of my deg ree involved building applications and sof tware. All that learning has helped me in my current role .”

And even though Sophie nev er finished the law degree, the law is still relevan t in her work in cyber security. “I have to consider a lot of compliance legislation,” she explains. “It’ s also helpful to think about the legal ramifications of cyber attacks for context when testing.” – Gem ma Chilton

You have to be comfortable in accepting that you don’t, and never will, know everything”

Bachelor of IT (Cyber Security), Macquarie University

Intern, Google

39

research assistant, Macquarie University

Cyber Security Consultant, EY

TECHNOLOGY

TECH+RETAIL

+ IT + EMERGING TECH + SOCIAL GOOD + LAW

0 .

2 l i a t e R n i s Job

It’s not all customer service and slick merchandising. To secure a next-gen role in retail, you’ll need tech skills – and lots of them ologies career? With new techn ed us oc h-f tec , ure sec a hopping for now one of the make purchases, retail is shaking up the way we wing, what tech. Here’s where it’s gro fastest growing areas in counts aside, , and why. Sweet staff dis for t ou g kin loo are rs ye emplo to get into. it’s such a cool industry

S

nds reduce relevant, but as major bra ll sti are es rol ail ret al demand for Sure, tradition integration, there’s mega l ita dig in est inv d an store numbers doing a job search, make teams. Next time you’re tech talent to lead their es. – Cassie Steel lowing next-gen retail rol fol the e lud inc u yo re su

User Experience (UX) Designers rs rely on customer-facing While future-focused retaile designers are busy applications and websites, UX e platforms are user behind the scenes making sur ng. Popular shoppable friendly, intuitive and engagi , ASOS and eBay – apps today – think The Iconic h a UX Designer (aka act as mini digital stores, wit uring they’re seamless. next-gen floor manager) ens ng, wire-framing and Skills/experience: Prototypi an eye for what looks good.

#1

#4

#3

Data Analysts

velopers ckchain Blockchain De pto d cry jobs in Google, Blo SHUTTERSTOCK

Software develo per: A$51K–$101K / NZ$50K–$92K UX designer: A$ 52K–$108K / NZ $47K–$101K Digital strategis t: A$50K–$147 K/ NZ$50K–$160K *Source: salaries according to pa yscale.com

#2

Software Developers

Retailers have always been awesome at capturing data, but now they’re putting tech teams with analytics skills to use.

According to predictions by International Data Corporation, this year more than 900,000 jobs will require data management and interpretation skills – many in customer analytics – directing shopping data to identify paths to purchase.

Skills/experience: Super-strong maths, analytics and data-mining skills. A love of shopping wouldn’t hurt either!

As one of the most-searche ckchain managing bitcoin. In fact blo gigs aren’t just reserved for creating systems for recording developers are responsible for those data transactions, including all types of secure digital and . mmerce stores made via digital wallets in eco dge h large code bases and knowle wit g Skills/experience: Workin a structures. of common algorithms and dat

CAREERSwithSTEM.com

tech+retail Study

Graduate Certi ficate in UX Torrens Universi and Web Design, ty Australia Bachelor of Info rmation Techno logy, The University of Newcastle Bachelor of Crea tive Technologie s, Auckland Unive rsity of Technolog y

tech+retail Jobs

Careers for sale

Software developers are up there with one of the fastest growing jobs in retail – demand is up by 9% from last year. Frontline responsibilities include creating ecommerce sites and developing digital warehouse control systems.

Skills/experience: Fluency in programming languages like Java, ReactJS and Oracle Retail. Computer science degree or diploma is a plus.

START YOUR CAREER HERE

40

Buy one get one free

ST EM sk ills are tra nsferable – wh ich means you ca n apply them to loads of differen t industries and jobs – and that includes gigs in eTail! Getti ng clu ed up in ecommerce cou ld all ow you to dabble in cyber sec urity and cry ptocu rrency rol es eventua lly, too.

In stock

So, what cool tech e next-gen retailers ar pl with instore? We’re geaying eking out over the following...

From the mall to a firewall

We use our phones for everything, so why not pay for stuff with them too? New mobile tech allows shoppers to enter their credit card dee ts into an app and turn their pho nes into virtual debit cards.

AfterPay

Buy now and pay later! The concept of Afterpay is simple – but the tech is complex.

Afterpay uses its own data to approve customers on a sale-b y-sale basis to decide whether or not to approve instalment payment terms for them.

i didn't find my love of tech until the second semester of first year”

Service Desk Analyst, AdvanceRetail Bachelor of Commerc e, Majoring in Informa Systems and Managem tion ent, University of We llington

Mobile payments

Store Manager, bunnings

Wanna be able to make multiple purchases without having to recite your accoun t deets again and again? Digital wallets are software-based sys tems that store a customer’s payme nt credentials and passwords. In Australia the gro wth for retailers is huge. According to the Commo nwealth Bank of Australia, the number of month ly digital wallet transactions increased by 90% in the last year alone.

41

A

t high school Leah Grant-Moore always favoured science and maths, but didn’t look into the ’T’ in STEM until she was at uni. She enrolled in a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Wellington, fell in love with computer science and decided to major in information and systems management.

“I didn’t find my love for tech until my second semester of first year,” Leah stresses. “It was honestly the best change I made!”

A part-time gig in retail equipped her with a great understanding of both the shop floor and the technology needed to keep it running. And now? She’s a service desk analyst working for an awesome NZ-based, next-gen retail company.

Click and career

SHUTTERSTOCK

Ex-store manager Leah Grant-Moore is kicking goals in retail 2.0

Digital wallets

Leah Grant-Moore

service desk analyst Leah’s employer is AdvanceR etail – a cutting-edge sof tware bus iness that meets the techno log y needs of big-deal online sto res! The ex-retail manager spe nds 9 to 5 looking after clients in the Asia–Pacific region, sol vin g their problems and assisting with large-scale rollouts.

“I’ve always worked ver y clo sely with customers in my previous in-person retail job s, so it’s good to still be able to do that and build relationships with our customers,” she say s.

With a focus in areas like app development, inventory management, customer ser vice and supply-chain proces ses, there are definitely challenges when the customers aren’t face to face. “With tech retail you don’t always have an ans wer for a customer straightaway!

There’s a lot of troubleshoot ing and behind-the-scenes work,” says Leah. – Cassie Steel

TECHNOLOGY

NEXT STEPS

? h c e t n i k r o Wanna w Start here!

Resources for wherever you are on your tech journey

At school

h what you A future tech career starts wit attention in learn at school, so pay extra can choose maths and science. When you k about the electives in Year 11 and 12, thin r dream job: ones that will help you land you log y • Applied information techno • Computer science • Design and technolog y ies • Digital solutions / technolog • Engineering studies technolog y • Information and processes pment • Sof tware design and develo after-school Also see if your school has an eclubau.org coding club. Have a look at cod re deets. and codecamp.com.au for mo

On the weekend

Tech experts always stay on top of the latest developments in their industry. Get into this mindset even before you have the gig with some at-home learnin g.

Wanna be a game developer ?

Keep your eye out for comps like the Australian Video Game Challen ge: stemgames.org.au Keen on computer science?

Learn it in 1000 YouTube vid eos thanks to the clever peeps at Laconic Machine learning: bit.ly/learn-CS-Yo uTube

SHUTTERSTOCK

How about cyber security?

The Australian Computing Aca demy has a bunch of free challenges over at aca.edu.au/resources

CAREERSwithSTEM.com

42

Get your code on

Level up your coding skills! There are so many brilliant resources out there to help you out. We’ve made a big list of them on the Careers with STEM website: bit.ly/ cws-coding-resources And here are three fun ones to get you started:

1 2 3

T ry scratch.mit.edu for a simple, free block coding program

Online events

se upcoming Mark your calendars for the events in tech: M 2021 ‘On • Now until December 31: STE .au Demand’: stem2021.com Code (during • December 6–12: Hour of Week): Computer Science Education csedweek.org

Access hours of coding activities at code.org/learn

Learn how to develop in Swift (Apple’s programming language) with Swift Playgrounds: apple.co/3gsjtHV

Careers with STEM: Technology+Cyber Security 2021 is a publication and trademark of Refraction Media.

Copyright © 2021 Refraction Media, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner or form without written permission. If you would like to reproduce anything from this magazine, email: info@refractionmedia.com.au.

Grab a uni degree

Speak to your uni of choice to make sure you’re choosing the right tec h course for you – the content of a comput er science degree will be slightly differe nt to information technolog y (IT), and not the same as sof tware engineerin g. And the tech education landscape is always changing – for example, sev eral universities are now offering degrees in artificial intelligence and cyb er security.

You may also want to combin e your tech degree with another passion – think a double degree in computer science and media arts if you want to be an animation specialist, or combin e IT and design if you want to create wearable technologies.

Or get into VET

h There are loads of non-uni tec s, ate qualifications – cer tific diplomas and advanced diplomas from TAFE and a job with polytech – that can land you e an alternative industry-ready skills or provid e degree. pathway into an undergraduat Courses range from sof tware ing to general development and programm and games, IT suppor t, interactive media re. mo web development and t You could even get your firs sh high school, qualification before you fini Training with Vocational Education and r 11 and (VET) courses available as Yea 12 electives.

Fill your feeds with tech

Instagram Follow @codergirl_ (aka software engineer Lauren Medalia) – she shares resources for fellow coders, including everything from job hunting to JavaScript.

TikTok @misodope is a fullstack engineer who’s into “code, careers and cringe”. He posts hilarious videos about life as a programmer and behind the scenes of fixing bugs!

YouTube Careers with STEM – yep, it’s us! Our STEM videos include interviews with tech experts sharing their pathway advice, coding tips and tricks, and future jobs to get excited about.

Want more?

Visit CareerswithSTEM.co m to get all the inspo from our STEM career profiles, and take our tech quizzes: bit.ly/ cws-techquizzes

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.

This issue went to press on 29 September 2021.

Printed in Australia by IVE.

Cover image: Katrina Hu (Technology), Andy Go (Cyber Security) Produced and published by: Refraction Media Co-founder, CEO & Publisher: Karen Taylor-Brown Co-founder, CEO & Head of Content: Heather Catchpole Managing Editor: Gemma Chilton Digital Editor: Cassie Steel Production Editor: Louise Meers Deputy Editor: Pippa Duffy Art Director: Katherine Power Writers: Amelia Caddy, Ben Skuse, Cassie Steel, Chloe Walker, Gemma Chilton, Hannah Diviney, Heather Catchpole, Jonathan Nalder, Louise Meers, Nadine Cranenburgh, Pippa Duffy, Sarah Kellett, Saskia Horgan-Catchpole

SUBSCRIBE AND ORDER COPIES: CareerswithSTEM.com/subscribe EDITORIAL & ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES: Email: info@refractionmedia.com.au or +612 9188 5459 POSTAL ADDRESS: PO Box 38, Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 Sydney, Australia CareerswithSTEM.com ISSN 2209-1076

To find courses and compar e unis in Australia, check out gooduniversitiesguide.co m.au In NZ? Find tech degrees at universitiesnz.ac.nz

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Flip over for cyber security TECHNOLOGY