My Emerging Tech Career Journey by Apurva Khemani

Highlights

• Read Apurva Khemani’s inspiring emerging tech career journey starting in Ajmer, India to roles with QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Queensland Health and QUT here in Brisbane, Queensland.

I hail from a small town in the northwest part of India called Ajmer. Growing up, my mum was my role model. She worked in a government organization for nearly 25 years, and I was always in awe of her balance between home and work. As a kid, I would watch her get dressed in a cotton saree and block heels. She took her job very seriously and made sure we learned that from her. To date, when I call her in the evening after work, she asks me, “Did you give your best at work today?” Dedication and perseverance for work got sewed in me from a very young age.

I completed a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree in Technology for well-known universities of India and worked as a college faculty and a mathematics tutor for three years. When I got married in Feb 2017, I moved in with my husband to a new city to begin a new life. I tried looking for work in teaching but was not happy with any kind of roles that were coming my way. After six months of searching, my husband and I decided that I should study further, and we started thinking about moving abroad to progress our careers.

My search for pursuing a higher degree ended when I found the perfect course, amalgamating two of my interests, computer science and mathematics at Queensland University of Technology. It was called Master of Information Technology with a major in Data Science. Within a period of six months, I landed in Australia in Feb 2018 with a zeal to learn and big dreams in my heart.

My husband joined me two months later in April, but at that time we were a bit tensed about his career as it was a big sacrifice on his part to leave a well-paid job back in India and accompany me. By God’s grace and our parent’s prayers, he got work within two months and he started working as a Salesforce Analyst in June 2018.

With him being sorted, there was nothing stopping me. Since graduating in December 2019, I have worked at prestigious organisations like QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Queensland Health and now QUT as a Data Scientist. Also, my work has been recognised in a publication for Nature Medicine. All because of my learning at QUT, along with help and guidance provided by ACS.

ACS according to me, has been a building block of my career as a Data Scientist throughout my Professional Year Program. The most important resource is the seminars conducted such as the ICT Leader’s series along with the Branch networking events.

Being an international student, ACS has helped me immensely to understand the Australian business culture and etiquette. The educational curriculum and the learning content takes a holistic approach to make you ready for the Australian market or industry.

I have learnt one thing in this journey, if you have a grateful heart then your dreams do come true!