Read on as we sat with GDipSA52 Alumna, Katherine Marissa Wong as she lets in on how the Graduate Diploma in Systems Analysis (GDipSA) gave her a strong foundation in programming just like the poise and balance she gets from her favourite hobby, dance.
1. Where did you work at before enrolling in the NUS-ISS GDipSA programme, and what was your role?
Previously, I was a Digital Marketing Executive in e-Commerce for almost 2 years. I was responsible for planning and executing promotional campaigns such as the annual 11.11 and other year-end promotions. On a daily basis, I also executed promotional campaigns for Women’s Fashion category.
2. What triggered the decision to change your career?
In my role in Digital Marketing, I was managing the web and app pages for the Women’s Fashion category. These pages were done in chunks of HTML and CSS codes. From that exposure, I developed an interest and started to find online courses to learn more in my free time. This interest made me realise that I should pursue a career in tech since I found myself willingly putting in extra hours to learn and do pet projects.
3. Why did you choose the NUS-ISS GDipSA programme?
The NUS-ISS GDipSA programme provides a structured curriculum for my learning, and I am also able to meet like-minded individuals. It also provides a proper foundation which I can then build upon as I pursue my interest towards a career in Tech.
4. Describe your NUS-ISS experience. What have you enjoyed most in the course and why?
I enjoyed working with the same group of people throughout the course as it allowed us to form friendships and get comfortable working with each other. I fondly remember staying in NUS Central library from opening time till closing time with my group working on our projects. It was fun working towards a common goal with like-minded people, and it was nice to have approachable classmates who were very willing to help those who are weaker.
5. What do you think distinguishes the GDipSA programme from other similar programmes?
I think the duration of GDipSA programme is just right. It allows us to dip our toes in various programming languages and frameworks and prepares us for the career path we want to take afterwards. GDipSA primes us for the digital economy with poise and balance, just like my passion in ballet imparts.
It is definitely a good introduction and crash course for beginners who are looking to do a career switch into the IT industry.
Katherine (pictured, middle) with her dance team during her school days and a solo shot (pictured, below), showcasing poise and balance.
6. Share more about your internship, an integral part of the GDipSA programme.
I interned at Land Transport Authority (LTA) and was responsible for automating the CI/CD pipeline for the fare calculation application. I started by installing and setting up Jenkins in the development and build servers. After which I configured the automated pipeline using a Jenkins job via a Jenkinsfile. I broke down the project scope into a few phases: Configuring the environment, Installing and setting up Jenkins, Configuring a Jenkins job, Configuring the pipeline.
7. What is the biggest take-away or biggest achievement from your internship experience?
My biggest achievement is knowing that I automated the CI/CD pipeline from scratch for the development of the Fare Calculation Application. Previously, developers had to manually build, test, and deploy their code changes that they make.
This was a time-consuming process which was also prone to human error. The automated pipeline that I built would help the developers save a lot of time and manual work, allow them to focus on producing quality codes, reduce the chances of human error, and in turn accelerate the development process for the Fare Calculation application, which is a high-traffic and performance-intensive application.
8. Describe your current job scope and organisation.
I am currently an Associate, DevOps Engineer at Cynopsis Solutions Pte. Ltd.
9. Share more about your tasks at Cynopsis Solutions
I ensure smooth client on-boarding for in-house e-KYC products via deployment using AWS CloudFormation and Jenkins. Other key projects to highlight include automating database backup and restore for over 550 clients across AWS EC2 and RDS instances, analysing and improving AWS cost management. I also provide technical support for clients’ live instances.
10. Is there any advice you would like to give to potential students looking for a graduate programme?
Make sure you are interested in the subject you intend to study. Jumping into a course just because it is currently popular would be tough on yourself in the long run if you don’t actually have the interest in the subject.
March
11. What are you plans after completing the programme?
I hope to work in DevOps and keep gaining knowledge and experience in this field. I am glad that the course has given me a stepping stone to switch my career coming from a non-tech background, and I am thankful that my internship gave me the relevant exposure as well.
We wish Katherine all the best in her future endeavors!
Find out more about the NUS-ISS Graduate Diploma in Systems Analysis Programme.