An open mind is the best thing to bring to Tech Bootcamp

Anna Lykke was coming to the end of her physics degree and looking for information on graduate roles when she heard about Accenture Tech Bootcamp. Find out how this chance discovery has given her valuable practical skills and led to a graduate role at Accenture.

I had just about finished my physics degree and was looking for graduate roles when I came across some information on Accenture Tech Bootcamp – a four-day coding bootcamp. As I had done some coding in my physics degree, I thought ‘Why not give it a go?’ I could see this would be a great chance to get more coding skills and chance to put what I learnt into practice with a real-world project. 

The other participants came from a mixture of backgrounds. Some, like me, had a science background, with one of the other women having a chemistry degree. Others had experience in the IT industry, and some didn’t come from STEM fields at all. It was also a nice gender balance, with a good mix of males and females. 

We were quickly put into small groups of four or five students and each group was given a different problem. For my team, our project was designing a COVID vaccine app that could help people to see locations of where vaccinations were being done and track the wait times. 

Over the course of the next four days, we brainstormed what we specifically wanted the app to do, worked out how to track data and update that information, how we wanted the website and app to look, worked out the navigation and addressed user friendliness.  

We had to very quickly learn how to work together as a group of strangers and get comfortable working in that team environment, finding everyone’s skills. Some of the team had great coding skills and were working on the back end of the app, and I took on a business analyst role putting together the story of how the app would be used. At the end of the four days, we had an almost fully functioning app working, and I’m thrilled to say that our team was awarded second place. 

From Bootcamp to Adelaide team member 
Bootcamp gave me a great understanding of what working at Accenture would be like and exposure to the sort of projects I could potentially be working on. After doing bootcamp in May 2021, I researched about the Accenture graduate program, and went through the application process. In September 2021, I became an analyst in the Accenture Adelaide office. 

Working at Accenture in Adelaide is fantastic. It’s a small office by Accenture standards, and everyone’s very approachable and friendly. For example, we have this new thing where every second Monday morning is pancake day. It’s a fun community feel. 

As most of our work is team-based, sometimes you’ll be put onto a project with people you don’t know. You need to learn to communicate effectively with others and manage the different strengths and abilities. 

Since doing bootcamp, I’ve stayed in touch with other people and have run into other bootcamp participants. One has just started at Accenture and another person I met is starting soon. It’s been great to retain those friendships and I think the networking opportunities of bootcamp are not to be underestimated. 

Now that I’m working at Accenture, I try to maintain that same open mind that I came into bootcamp with. I also make an effort to network, especially in the office, as that’s proving to be a great way to get to find out about opportunities and projects throughout the organisation. The more people you interact with, the more you can find out about things going on and have the chance to get involved.

Sydney Tech Bootcamp is coming up! Applications are open from 22 Nov to 8 Jan, 2023. Apply here.