I’ve always admired organisations who demonstrate their vested interest in enabling women to grow in industries that aren’t traditionally female dominated. So, when I saw Suncorp had an intern program specifically for women in Information Technology, I was immediately attracted to the opportunity. It was clear to me that there was a lot of support and recognition for girls in the tech world at Suncorp.
My initial nervousness about the program quickly dissipated when I saw how welcoming my new team was. The managers at Suncorp are really supportive and approachable. So, when the internship ended in 2019 and they asked me to come back to the team after graduation, it was easy to say yes.
I’ve been encouraged to pursue what I truly like here, and I’m not afraid to make mistakes so I learn more for the future.
During the internship I worked closely with my managers to develop a project resource forecasting dashboard, which was really interesting and quite relevant to my university studies at the time. Since then, I’ve paired with more senior members of my team to shadow, learn from and explore the skills I need to succeed in data engineering.
As a female in the data engineering space, I thought I would have to really push myself to stand out from the pack. But I’ve learned in my time at Suncorp that you don’t have to have all the knowledge of your domain before you start; it’s an organisation that values taking the time to teach and offer resources to its graduates so they can learn and evolve as professionals in their chosen field.
I’ve been encouraged to pursue what I truly like here, and I’m not afraid to make mistakes so I learn more for the future. I think what’s been most valuable to me is true acceptance of who I am. Diversity and inclusion are not just words at Suncorp – but in everyone’s actions.
Where are they now?
Lulu is now working as a Data Engineer with Data & Enterprise Technology (T&O) within Suncorp Group.
