Plucking up the courage to ask for work experience during a summer school tour launched Software Tester & Developer Marika Colby’s Maptek career.
A former student member of the RockStars Earth Science Summer School group which visited the Maptek Research & Development facility in Adelaide, South Australia as part of its curriculum, Marika returned as a volunteer helper for the program in late 2017.
‘I'd been taking a strong interest in programming, software development, and geological/mining processes at this point, and I figured "Hey, why don't I ask if Maptek's looking for someone to do data-entry or software testing?”’ Marika says.
‘The technology I'd seen Maptek producing was fascinating to me, and I thought it would be absolutely incredible if I could have the chance to work on it too.’
She spoke with one of the tour guides about her interest in work experience, and he put her name forward to Maptek management.
After sharing information about her software projects led to a successful interview, Marika started in March.
‘I didn't have any work experience, so I was incredibly nervous throughout the whole experience.
‘Thankfully, everyone was - and still is - very kind and patient, and helped me to settle in.
‘I remember my first day I spent about six hours reading through documentation and experimenting with PointStudio 8 - being so excited about figuring out how to import a scan, select some points, and colour them blue.’
Marika says she has grown and learnt a lot since her first day as she has branched out from use-case testing for PointStudio and its derivatives, Sentry and PerfectDig, into development work in February 2019.
‘What I love most about my job is how versatile and varied my work is, and how I can see my work contributing to a final product I feel proud to have helped create.’
She looks forward to learning more about software development processes and techniques and becoming more adept in the fields of programming, development and testing.