A Thousand Doors and One Right Fit: My Start at Macquarie Cloud Services – Stella Zhang
Coming out of university was a transition like nothing before. Think of it like peering down an endless corridor, thousands and thousands of doors swung wide open with no map in sight. When I first applied for the graduate program at Macquarie Cloud Services, I knew I wanted more than just a step into another dead end – I was looking for an environment where I could grow, and be challenged, surrounded by people who wanted the same.
I remember first walking into Market St, and being hit with that moment of “Wow, this is happening”. From the interview process with Naveen, to meeting the Head of Cloud Services, James, for a one-on-one, each step felt more like a genuine conversation than the typical interview. Each person wanted to know more about me as a person: my hobbies, my mindset and my story as a whole over my achievements as a fresh grad. When Nav rattled off the long list of people that had gone through this very graduate process and were now still working in this company – I was intrigued. Stepping into the culture of HMC led by the enthusiasm embodied by our manager Lisa and technical lead Lee, was the answer to that question.
Joining the HMC team was initially incredibly overwhelming. From the vast data centres in IC2 & IC3, to the rows of screens lined with green and orange – there was something new to learn in every corner. Still, I tried to take it in stride. The first few weeks of onboarding was a blur of sessions with Lisa and Lee – emphasising our culture of urgency as well as the general HMC team comradery, being guided through various technologies, and shadowing my fellow colleagues as they tackled cases with effortless grace and diligence. It was tough, but with every incremental day I found it more and more rewarding to embrace this fast-paced environment. Each satisfying resolution of a ticket, troubleshooting and diagnosing real-world networking and cybersecurity incidents, every thankful customer – every victory within the team felt like one of my own.
Being an engineer in the HMC team is a position of pride. Even though my journey so far has only been a little over the 4 months mark, I’ve engaged with so many different technologies and softwares – all thanks to this opportunity provided. I have expanded my knowledge of Azure, putting theory to use – provisioning Azure VMs as per customer requirements, configuring networking rules on NSGs and querying Sentinel logs to figure out the story of a cybersecurity incident. At this moment, I’m studying for my CCNA – Cisco Certified Network Associate, encouraged to learn and develop core networking skills as part of this program’s pathway. Every day comes with a new challenge, and I’m so grateful to have a team around me that supports and encourages my journey of growth. I’ve just started, but I’m already learning so much – I can’t wait to see what comes next.
