5 Minutes With... Niharika Kargudri, ACS Professional Year Student Member
28th October 2020
Highlights
- This week we interviewed ACS Professional Year Student Member Niharika Kargudri.
- Niharis completed her Masters in Information technology from UTS, winning the Deans List award.
- Currently working as a Software Engineer with Telstra, she has experiencw with programming as well as public cloud on platforms with AWS and Salesforce.
A bit about Niharika
My love for tech began at a young age when I had to do C programming as a part of my curriculum in 8th grade. This sparked my interest and I did all my further education in IT.
I completed my Masters in Information Technology from UTS in Sydney and won the Deans List award for it. My Bachelors was done in IT from Mumbai University and I got Second rank in my batch for that. All throughout my masters, I have worked in IT, sometimes even doing 2 jobs along with my studies in order to make ends meet. I have also completed my ACS Professional Year in IT from Performance education.
I am currently working in Telstra as a Software Engineer and have gained experience with programming languages such as Javascript, Python and Java. I also have extensively worked on the public cloud on platforms like AWS and Salesforce.
In my free time I enjoy gaming and am currently hooked onto Skyrim and eagerly awaiting the release of Horizon Zero Dawn 2. I also love watching anime (My favourite at the moment is Haikyuu).
1. What do you enjoy most about working in the tech industry?
The best thing about working in tech is that things never get boring or slow. It is always fast paced. A working solution is never fully complete. Constant advancements in technology make it possible for it to be forever evolving and improving. This tends to keep things interesting.
2. What is the key piece of advice you would give someone interested in making the move to the ICT Industry
One major way of achieving the goal to move into the ICT industry would be to be to ‘not be afraid to put yourself out there’. Go for hackathons even if you don’t have a team, attend networking events, attend career fairs, participate in university cultural activities, attend toastmasters, reach out to people on LinkedIn, apply for the job you think you are underqualified for, do that unpaid job while you look for a better one…. And so on. The possibilities are endless.
All this will make people recognise you. It will make you memorable. You will make connections which might even end up helping you get your first job or provide you with a great reference.
These also are a massive plus point on the resume. It shows you are a go-getter and someone who is not afraid of working hard to get what they want and it will make you shine.
3. Tech changes fast. How do you keep your skills up-to-date?
My company has tie ups with websites such as Pluralsight and O’Rielly which makes it easy for me to access courses and books which enable me to improve my skills on a regular basis.
I also try to set monthly goals for myself with regards to any skills I wish to learn or improve. I write these goals down in a place where I can frequently see it. This has helped me immensely in ensuring that I have the motivation to achieve these goals and move forward on my journey in self improvement.
Another thing that I find helpful is being active on LinkedIn. Connecting with other professionals in the ICT industry has been amazing and it has also become a place where I find news about up and coming technologies.
I like to go through job boards for companies now and again as I can see the different skills they are looking for and this helps me plan and align the skills I want to improve upon.
4. Who is your tech mentor or a leader that inspires you and why?
The people who mainly inspire me are my colleagues, team members and connections. Being new in the industry, getting the hang of stuff can be a little difficult and somewhat intimidating.
It is interesting to see how people in tech handle day to day challenges of working in the tech space. I like seeing the techniques they use when delivering something and how they ensure it is the best solution they can offer. It is also interesting to see how people handle unprecedented issues or things they cant manage to do. I enjoy seeing how people support each other during hard time and management tactics used in tech.
In conclusion, I feel that almost every day is a form of inspiration for me and is constantly helping me grow thanks to all the amazing people I am connected to and work with.
5. How has ACS membership supported your career journey in tech?
Getting an ACS membership has been a very important aspect of my tech journey in Australia. It gave me access to a wide variety of self-improvement materials and possibilities to attend events and webinars.
One major aspect that ACS provided to me was the opportunity for networking. It made it so easy for me to go from having zero connections to a few good ones in the matter of one single event. I have made it a goal of mine to attend at least one ACS event over every quarter to ensure I meet new people and don’t lose touch with any old faces.
The Professional Environments Online course provided by ACS was also an eye opener for me for multiple things such as laws governing ICT and understanding my skill levels. Further, it was an absolute pleasure interacting with my Tutor Phil who was extremely supportive and provided me with tons of great advice.
One of my long term goals is to possibly someday host an event at the ACS office and I look forward to working towards making that a reality.
"5 Minutes With..." is a series of articles showcasing exceptional ACS Members and their amazing, innovative, and game changing stories. Representing over 48,000 tech professionals across Australia, our Members work across industry, government, research, and education organisations and each edition highlights the role they are playing in making Australia a world leader in technology talent, fostering innovation, and creating new forms of value.