- Understand the current tech and data job market: what roles are in demand and what employers are really looking for
- Learn how to stand out with no industry experience – from crafting a compelling CV to building a strong LinkedIn profile
- Step-by-step guide on what to expect in the interview process and how to prepare for common questions and assessments
- Practical tips on gaining experience through internships, projects, online courses, and networking
- Insights into career pathways in data and tech: where you can start and how to grow from there
Speaker: Chathu Jayawardena - Senior Account Manager/Peoplebank
Chathu came to Australia as an International Student and graduated from ECU with a BSc in Communications and IT. She understands the challenges of job hunting in a new country with no industry experience.
Although she didn’t start her career in a traditional IT role, she found her place working closely with the tech industry. Today, she works as a Senior Account Manager at Peoplebank, one of Australia’s leading IT recruitment companies, where she specialises in recruiting for the WA Local, State and Federal Government Agencies and is passionate about helping others break into the industry.
If you ask her what her biggest achievement is, she’ll say:
“It has to be contributing to the positive changes we’re seeing in the tech industry today. I’ve had the privilege of helping increase diversity by creating more opportunities for graduates, entry-level candidates, women, new migrants and neurodivergent individuals and that’s been incredibly rewarding”.
Panellists:
I grew up in South Africa before immigrating to Perth, Australia 8 years ago with my family consisting of my wife and 2 crazy and energetic boys. I also have a twin brother (unfortunately for him – were not identical) who is also based in Perth.
Some would say that I have somewhat of an eclectic collection of interests. The family and I love exploring new places and, like many other Australians, we’ve taken to seeing as much of WA as we can while camping – we are now considering ourselves no longer novices, but intermediate campers. I also am seriously into food (cooking and eating) and have been playing the guitar since the age of 15 - I’m somewhat addicted! My guitar collection currently stands at 7 guitars and I’m always on the hunt for more (the cause of many a domestic argument).
Truthfully… growing up, I wanted to be a Rockstar living the good life just like in the Dire Straits song “Money for nothing”. Sadly, that didn’t work out (although I still jam with mates every now and then) so I had to move on to my second passion – IT. I've been involved in working in Technology since I started work some 25 years ago and growing up in South Africa, have done a fair bit of work in and around the Mining industry. I joined Microsoft 4 years ago after a 10 year tenure in IT Consulting at Avanade & Accenture – the longest I have ever worked at a company. I originally joined Avanade in South Africa and then relocated to Australia in 2017 and was very privileged to have had many interesting roles and work for large global clients on big hairy and scary projects. I love what I do at Microsoft, where I work with some of the smartest minds to help our Mining, Manufacturing and Industrial customers realise value.
- Vanessa Ma - Cloud Solution Architect/Microsoft
Vanessa joined Microsoft as an intern in 2020 while she was completing her studies at the University of Western Australia, and since then she has worked as a Cloud Solution Architect. She is passionate about technology and helping customers adopt Azure, particularly in taking AI from proof of concept to production.
Outside of her professional role, she is a mentor for Girls Programming Network and is a volunteer for Save Nemo, a not-for-profit organisation tackling ocean sustainability.
Host:
- Sergio Zenatti Filho - Senior Cloud Solution Architect/Microsoft
Sergio is a Senior Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft with over 20 years of experience designing and delivering Data and Analytics Solutions. He has worked internationally around Australia, Brazil and New Zealand, including Government, Healthcare, Telecom, Finance Services, Retail, Manufacture, Automotive, Mining, Oil & Gas, Dairy and Facility Management. Sergio is passionate about learning new technology and helping customers to define the best solution for their business. He has extensive experience in the Microsoft Data and Analytics Platform in the cloud and also on-premises.
