What's your job about?
My name is Anya, and I am a second-year Digital Graduate at Woodside Energy. At the beginning of the year, I rotated to the Power Platform team, and I love working there. To make you understand what my team is doing I need to first explain what Power Platform is. In a nutshell, Power Platform is a suite of tools provided by Microsoft that allows everyone to build their own digital solution to improve their day-to-day productivity through automation. The tools are considered “low code”, meaning you don’t need programming experience, just business logic. Some of these tools you might know, such as Power Apps or Power BI.
Our team Governs, Delivers Projects/Products and Supports Power Platform tools. That means that we not only build solutions for the business, but also support the environment enabling solutions built by others. Our services are diverse and see value in trainings and coaching to empower everyone to start using Power Platform. We are a young team and therefore, there are lots of opportunities that you can engage.
What's your background?
I was born in Moscow, Russia. In 2018 I moved to Melbourne to start my master’s degree in Information Systems at the University of Melbourne. During my study I always tried to participate in various extra curriculum activities: I volunteered in several university clubs, was selected to be an IT and Engineering Student Ambassador and a member of the Melbourne Information System Graduate Association (MISGA) committee. The best experience of my study was participating in an exchange program and doing a course at Harvard University in Boston.
I have learnt about Woodside Energy when Digital representatives contacted MISGA to promote the Summer Vacation program among IT students. Being a committee member of the association, I took part in organising and facilitating the Woodside Energy presentation at the University of Melbourne. Since then, I realised that this is the company I want to work for, and I applied for SVP as soon as the application period started.
After that I haven’t heard back for several weeks so I went on with my life, booked a trip to Japan and was preparing for my vacation. Right before the trip, I received an invitation for an interview that was booked for the time of my staying in Tokyo. Since I was a student, I was planning to stay in a hostel which couldn’t provide a stable internet connection nor quite place. So in between of the sightseeing, I went to an Internet Café and using Google translate booked a quiet room for the interview. It was a tiny room and I had to sit on the floor in the best Japanese traditions. This was the most unusual interview experience that I had but it worked out.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
To become a software engineer at Woodside Energy, you need a Computer Science degree, but no experience is required to apply for a Summer Vacation or Graduate role, as Woodside Energy provides all the training you need to build your skills. Specifically for the Power Platform tool, since it is considered “low code”, you do not have to be a software engineer to be able to use them. They are very intuitive and anyone regardless of educational/work background can quickly learn how to use them. The skills that would be helpful include: understanding of business processes, user experience, consulting and problem-solving.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
What I love the most about the Power Platform work I am currently doing is that I have learned to build technical solutions quickly and easily.
Apart from the technical work, I am also working on developing the Power Platform Community at Woodside Energy by organising and promoting training for anyone interested in improving their productivity. I create the training plan and coordinate presenters and participants to make sure that everything runs smoothly. I find this kind of work the most challenging the most rewarding, especially when you see that people start creating value with the tools you provide.
What are the limitations of your job?
Since the team is very young and there are still many areas in which we are working in the trial mode. We try different approaches and together decide what works best for the team.
On one hand, it gives you an opportunity to test your ideas and take ownership of what you are doing. On the other hand, it might be challenging for someone who needs structure/guidance and clearly defined work.
3 pieces of advice for your university-self?