I seriously didn’t think I would be using this title again a little more than a year later.
It’s graduation one day, moving countries the next – all for the purposes of going to University…but not for tertiary study. (Heck no. I think I need a break from 5 years of continuous study.)
Winding back a bit, University of Auckland’s graduation ceremony for us engineers was on Monday, May 9. That capped off a year of taking software-related courses for a Master of Engineering Studies in Software Engineering.
However the question of getting a job always haunts a graduate. I went for Software-related positions because of the sheer number available, though because my bachelor’s degree was in something else (Mechatronics), this makes it quite hard to really truly represent who you are and how well you can do something.
After about a month looking around, one job ad caught my eye: Graduate Web Applications Developer (PDF) at the University of Queensland’s Centre for eLearning Innovations and Partnerships in Science and Engineering. (Because that’s ridiculously long to say, it’s generally referred to as “eLIPSE” for short.)
It is an interesting mix of STEM + web development + educational development. So both my degrees sort of are related, which is not that easy to find. Most of these are also aligned with what I’ve done or had interactions with.
So I applied.
A lesson for me: supply the selection criteria document! It was buried in the description, and the online application process didn’t make it compulsory, so I didn’t realise. Got told the day after by email to provide one! Oops!
First task was a web app mini-assignment. Then an interview via. Skype (I was still in Auckland at the time.) All the while crossing my fingers… for quite some time.
Graduation rolls around. No news yet. Knowing that patience is a virtue doesn’t make it the waiting game any easier, but at least graduation got my mind off things.
A few days later, I get an email notification around midday with the subject: “Re: eLIPSE Graduate Web Applications Developer UQ – Interviews”.
“Looks like it’s time to pack my bags.”