Bachelor of Information Technology Co-operative Scholarship – meet Krystle-Jayne Ng

Krystle-Jayne Ng – A global perspective

“With technology, you can go into any industry you want: media, fashion, e-commerce—anything,” says Krystle-Jayne. “It is the foundation of all these industries.”

The Bachelor of IT (BIT) Co-operative Scholarship graduate is now Business Program Manager at Microsoft. Based in Seattle, she collaborates with global industry customers to use their products efficiently and recently received the Microsoft Gold Club Award for extraordinary performance.

Yet Krystle-Jayne didn’t always imagine working in IT was right for her. “I thought you had to get into deep computer science engineering.” Attending a UTS Information Session during high school inspired her about the career paths available.

I love technology, but wanted to be more on the people side. The session opened doors for me. They emphasised [an IT career] was not just about programming.

The BIT Co-operative Scholarship Program was Krystle’s top choice because of the two six-month industry internships it offered. Her first was at IBM as Project Coordinator, an amazing introduction to the industry.

“I was contracted to an airline company and was able to support and shadow four different project managers all working towards a common goal. That gave me an insight into the role I'm doing now.”

Learnings on technology during her final-year internship at Macquarie Group inform Krystle-Jayne to this day. “The best technology in the world doesn't matter unless you have a good change management adoption plan,” she explains. “If no one knows about it, there's no use for it. The needs of users are important.”

Exchange programs to Paris and San Diego State University for her last semester further broadened Krystle’s experience. “I really appreciate that opportunity from UTS. Different international perspectives [on IT] helped me grow as a professional,” she says.

You don't necessarily have to be a programmer. You can be a relationship manager or go into sales or marketing. It's the new business or commerce degree. Everyone uses technology, so it's very flexible.

A final year high was winning GradConnection’s Most Employable IT Graduate in Australia award. Deeply involved with student representation, Krystle’s many extracurricular roles at university including President of the UTS IT Society and membership on the UTS Academic Board helped with the selection criteria. There was also a series of online questionnaires, tests, interviews and in-person assessments to pass. “UTS prepped me to be able to go through all those rounds successfully.”

Accepting a position at Microsoft Australia led to a distinguished career at their Washington DC office and now the company’s headquarters. Looking back, Krystle-Jayne says the BIT Co-operative Scholarship is a great foundational degree.