Journey into Software Engineering — from a Zoom University grad
Living through a “PENNdemic”
I remember planning spring break with my friends when the news about New York City’s very first COVID case broke. I remember walking out of the auditorium of my final class before spring break, not knowing that it would be the last in-person class I’d ever be in. I remember applying sunblock in Miami when our phones all pinged with an official email from the University of Pennsylvania — campus was officially closing for the remainder of the semester and students were highly encouraged to return home. I remember the hasty packing and teary goodbyes, all while battling a sinking feeling of uncertainty. Within a week, the spring flowers had begun to blossom, but Locust Walk was deserted.
5 months earlier than initially planned, I bid Philadelphia goodbye and boarded my one-way flight back to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Locust Walk — the central artery of the University of Pennsylvania campus, the week after spring break
Last glance at the view from my campus accommodation before leaving
Sometimes it really baffles me that we lived through an era of Dalgona coffees, TikTok dances, and Zoom parties. As a university student, these unprecedented times involved a lot of virtual breakout rooms greeted with uncomfortable silence, technical difficulties within lectures and debugging group projects over shared screens. Coupled with the 18-hour time difference, my sleep schedule was so disrupted that I was basically nocturnal. The days bled into weeks, and the weeks bled into months until the entirety of 2020 just felt like a very long, very repetitive week spent within the same four walls of my home. I felt as if I was on autopilot — I was still going through the motions of completing my studies, but someone had abruptly hit pause on all other aspects of life.
Even when my exchange program at the University of Pennsylvania ended, I could not return to Australia to complete my remaining semesters due to border restrictions. Transitioning back to the University of Sydney proved to be a lot more difficult when I could not meet anyone in-person and I barely recognized the people in my online classes.
It’s crazy to think how I spent less than one and a half years of my degree actually in Australia and it’s a real shame that I lost two years of university life to the pandemic. Regardless, I remain grateful for my health and the presence of my family and friends. With that, in the familiar lighting of my childhood room on a very average day in December 2021, I submitted my final honors thesis with a couple of keyboard strokes — my tertiary education was complete!
“Zoom University” referring to the online school system that started during COVID-19, which mostly took place on the Zoom video conferencing platform (Urban Dictionary).
Relief immediately flooded through me. But just as swiftly, a newfound question crept its way to the surface — well, what the heck happens next?
Stepping into my new era
“Australia re-opens its borders to international students”
The long-awaited headline I’d almost given up on seeing. After being away for two and a half years, I set my sights on returning to Sydney. On the 10th of February, I had my first taste of Australian coffee in almost three years. Nothing beats the OZ way of serving cocoa powder on top of a foamy cappuccino.
The first 6 months back were a whirlwind (the wettest whirlwind I might add, I have never witnessed so much rainfall in Sydney in my life). Moving back, settling in, reestablishing my social circle, graduating, getting the hang of adulting, and of course — kick-starting my career as a software engineer in Propeller.
First class honours, baby!
I was super keen to start working after two years of online classes and I was grateful that Sydney was out of lockdown when I started. As an international student who finished classes offshore, I felt fortunate to have this opportunity in an economy that had yet to properly recover from the wrath of COVID-19.
For a software grad like me, the tech industry not only survived, but thrived in the face of the pandemic. As the world went into lockdown, many businesses were forced to reinvent their processes, adapt and run remotely, causing the demand for online services and subsequently software engineering skills to increase. Tech companies did not require the same level of pivoting as their software products were already established and positioned in the online sphere. Many tech giants even had their best years in performance during the pandemic, due to the increasing demands for their services and the number of users on their platform.
Regardless of the circumstances, all my stars seemed aligned and the timing was impeccable — I am super grateful to be able to score a job in Sydney so soon after completing university offshore, as borders reopened.
Swag from my first day!
Software Engineering — University vs Industry
From these first six months, the biggest difference I’ve found between completing a CS degree and becoming a full-time software engineer was simply the way I coded. I went from writing code for small-scale project assignments that span for a maximum of 12 weeks to writing enterprise-level code that is deployed and used to build platforms used by actual customers.
Much like how you have to apply an academic writing style when writing research papers, I had to ensure my code writing followed a certain level of readability, maintainability and modularity. Code that is deployed and used within a business is read and used by many other developers — I couldn’t rely on the hacky workaround approaches I had taken in university assignments anymore.
Moreover, maintaining and building a business-level software product requires a lot of iterative development that is not captured in university projects. During school, little to no feedback is given on the quality of the code written for assignments and once completed, it’s often forgotten. In the industry, a completed piece of code for a feature requires reviews from other developers, designers, as well as QA engineers. More often than not, feedback is given on the improvements that can be made or edge cases that have been missed. Sometimes your code works as it should, but will require a complete overhaul if your approach does not fit well into the standard conventions of the code base.
Hoping the sunlight by the office kitchen will help me photosynthesize a way to debug my tasks
And we can’t forget the classic — imposter syndrome. In the first couple of months, I find myself sometimes doubting my abilities — unsure if I’m taking too long to figure out a problem, underestimating the development time needed for features, wondering if I’m asking the right people the right questions, or if I’m utilizing the proper tools for agile development. After conversing with friends and colleagues, I concurred this feeling is almost like a rite of passage for any junior developer and that a natural learning curve exists at the start of any job. I’ve since learned to embrace the feeling of not knowing everything immediately and that it is okay. Embrace being familiar with the unfamiliar. Technology is constantly evolving and I doubt that there will be a point in my career where I wouldn’t have to pick up new technical skills. And that’s cool. It dawned on me that one of the most important skills is learning how to learn. The most valuable skill I’ve learned from my time at university isn’t coding, but the ability to pick new skills up independently and efficiently.
I learned how to code through university; I learned how to become a software engineer through my job.
My biggest takeaway is that being a software engineer isn’t just about writing code, it’s about making decisions. Anyone can write code, but being a software engineer encompasses a plethora of other tasks. It’s more than just cold hard technical knowledge. Effective communication, creativity, innovation and a willingness to learn is just as important in becoming a great software engineer.
Propeller-ing into my career
Settling in a new job fresh out of school can be daunting — but my experience at Propeller so far has been very smooth-sailing. I think one of the biggest factors that aided in my onboarding was the culture. Growing up in Asia and hearing corporate stories from friends and family, I had a picture in my head that slogging through the first few years was a mandatory stepping stone to achieve a successful career. Hence, the healthy work-life balance that Propeller offers was a massive standout to me. I was more than pleasantly surprised at the pet-friendly office, the homey Friday lunches, a work-around-the-world perk, hobby clubs that span from wine-tasting to jam nights and a recent favorite: a boba-appreciation Slack channel.
Jam Night — these hands don’t just write code, they play beats too!
Vivid in the Office — a hobby session on projection-mapping
Propeller is also a melting pot of cultures — people coming from a variety of backgrounds, each telling their own story and equipped with unique talents and personalities. Meeting everyone almost reminded me of a workplace-version of my time during my exchange. Speaking of melting pots of culture, food also happens to be an essential element of Propeller’s culture. I was able to bring in my own slice of culture to the Propeller table by sharing some Malaysian dishes during office lunches.
Ravioli making class — best team bonding exercise ever!
Safe to say I can never go back to the frozen pastas from Woolies *sigh*
“We take our work seriously, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously.“
Shoutout to Propeller’s People team, because I think they are doing a marvelous job of hiring people who fit the company culture and embody the aforementioned quote whole-heartedly. Everyone has a level of genuinity, drive and interest to perform their best in each respective role — all while still being able to enjoy themselves. There is a culture of open communication that is light-hearted and encourages transparency. As a new hire, the promoted psychology safety allowed me to feel comfortable asking questions, sharing my opinions, and to not get too caught up when I didn’t manage to get things right on the first try. As a female in tech, having my voice heard also makes me feel included in the conversation.
Final Thoughts
Looking to the future, my current goals involve learning as much as possible from as many people as possible. Stay curious and continue asking heaps of questions! I know I’ve only barely scratched the surface of software engineering and the journey remains a long way ahead. Regardless, I’d like to believe that I’m off to a good start, and I’ll continue working hard to propel myself further into my career!
