Milly Nadkarni

Third-year Bachelor of Information Technology student, Milly Nadkarni, finished her degree at the end of 2005. But like many of her fellow BInfTech classmates, had a job lined up well before the end of the year. Milly was one of the select few to be chosen in the last round of applicants to go and work for Microsoft at their headquarters at Redmond, Washington. She moved to the United States in February 2006.

Milly decided to try out for Microsoft without any big expectations. After a half hour interview on the phone she made it through to the next stage - a five-hour interview in Sydney.

"The place was full of guys in suits - interviewees - and guys in shorts and thongs - the interviewers," she said. "It was actually pretty laid back, but I was one of the youngest being interviewed and I haven't even finished my degree, so I didn't think I had a chance.

"I enjoyed the interview, it was really practical. They weren't trying to do some kind of psychological profile, it was about problem solving - you had to think on your feet and be creative."

Milly has already had the chance to show her creativity, firstly in winning a place in the prestigious industry-sponsored BIT program and then in the work experience during her two 6 month industry placements.

"My first placement was at IBM where I was put onto electronic records retention administration. I found the system was a bit inefficient and asked the boss if I could rewrite it and debug it from the bottom up. It is now being used by IBM people around Australia."

Milly's next placement was with a very different kind of company - a fast-growing software developer in freight forwarding and customs brokerage systems, Eagle Datamation International (edi) in Alexandria.

"At edi I was asked to help managing some change in the company's operations. It was quite a challenge and big responsibility - the kind of experience you won't get in a computer lab.

"That's why it was such a break to get into the BIT. Aside from financial support of a scholarship, I can't imagine trying to get into the workforce without the kind of industry experience I've had." The BIT has a track record of 100 per cent employment for graduates.

At Microsoft Milly will be working as part of the team that looks after the MSN Internet portal.

"I don't have any locked-in plans, I just want to see how it goes. Maybe my working life will be outside Australia, or maybe I'll be back home in a few years."