Daniel Stokes-McKeon

Straight out of university and off to work in Japan. What an opportunity! Daniel Stokes-McKeon recently completed the BSc in Computing Science / BA (International Studies) with Japanese as his language major and has nabbed a newly created graduate position in Macquarie Bank's Tokyo office.

As well as an interest in Japanese, Daniel has always been interested in IT, "ever since my Dad bought home an Apple IIe from a garage sale when I was young." Having taken Japanese from Year 8 right through to Year 12, studying the BSc in Computing Science / BA (International Studies) at UTS enabled Daniel to combine his passion for both technology and Japanese.

The international studies component of his course included a year studying overseas in Japan. UTS pays for students' airfares and tuition fees and students then save up to cover their cost of living expenses while away. In his fourth year of the degree Daniel went to Obirin University in Tokyo and participated in their Reconnaissance Japan (RJ) program. Daniel was awarded a scholarship (AIEJ) from the Japanese government to help with his expenses.

"I was at Obirin for ten months studying Japanese language and culture. It was such a fantastic experience and I would recommend it to anyone who is studying a professional degree at UTS. Studying in Japan enabled me to understand my IT degree from an international perspective. It helped me to recognise the subtle differences in working with people from different backgrounds and cultures, and made me realise that you need to change the way you work to adapt to those differences. In addition, I met so many great people and made so many good friends that I'm still in contact with today."

Once back in Australia Daniel then had his industrial training component of his IT course to complete. Daniel got a job at the ABC working with the Desktop team, who are responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of all client workstations and the design of the ABC's Desktop Operating Environment. Before the end of his twelve month placement, Daniel was offered a permanent position in the Applications Services division. All this before even finishing his course! This division is responsible for second level support of ABC applications, liaising between vendors and key business users, modifying existing systems and designing and implementing new systems in line with business requirements.

In and around all this Daniel also held positions with the Faculty of IT on their Technical Support Desk and worked one summer on the helpdesk for The Smiths Snackfood Company.

"I found that all my work experience helped me to see how the stuff I was taught at uni was actually used in real world situations. Having so much work experience under my belt before even finishing my course gave me such an advantage over other graduates."

University is not just about study and Daniel was also heavily involved in uni life, clubs and societies.

"During my time at university I was on the executive committee of a club for two years and I was also the design editor on the August 2003 edition of the UTS Vertigo student magazine."

Early in 2006 Daniel attended an information session regarding graduate positions at Macquarie Bank. After speaking to the presenter about international work opportunities Daniel found out that Macquarie Bank had recently created a new IT graduate position in their Tokyo office. Perfect! Daniel followed up on this conversation, sent in his resume and was offered an interview the following week. After this interview Daniel had a video conference with the associate Director in Hong Kong, another with the COO in Tokyo, then went through psychometric testing and referee checks before being offered the job.

"I will be working in Macquarie's Information Services Division (ISD). ISD is responsible for 'managing Macquarie's technology infrastructure, supporting, maintaining and enhancing existing business systems and delivering and deploying new systems, technologies and services.' I will be working in the team that supports the Macquarie Securities Asia (MSA) business in Japan." Daniel starts in Tokyo in October, after returning from a round the world holiday. A well deserved break after over five years of study!