Vietnam | Tien Long Lam

Meet Tien

Coming from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Tien was drawn to studying in Sydney for its many opportunities in the tech sector. He was intrigued by UTS for its central location and proximity to global tech firms including Canva, Salesforce, and more. Tien decided that UTS would be the best place for him to pursue his goal of building a strong resume through his undergraduate studies so he would be well prepared to enter the workforce.

I picked UTS because of how the course requires a work experience component to complete. I wanted to start working on real-world projects as soon as possible because I knew that university was only going to teach so much even through team projects.

Tien enrolled in UTS to pursue a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Software Engineering which includes  twelve weeks of industry work experience.  He completed his internship at Navisens, a tech startup specialising in location tracking.

“I learnt how to work well in a team, the importance of delivering a solid product compared to just continuously coding. The experience also improved my communication skills as I learnt domain-specific knowledge on the job and saw how the product I was helping to develop was providing real value.”

One of the highlights of Tien’s time at UTS were studio subjects including Software Development Studio. Studio subjects are a unique teaching and learning environment at UTS, built to emulate a real software development practice, where student teams work on industry-initiated projects and industry leaders are volunteer mentors. 

“I built a large part of my programming skills during these project-driven subjects. I got to learn Java, Python, JavaScript and TypeScript. Beyond this, events such as UTS Game Jam also got me improve my C# skills. I'm using all of these languages at work one way or another, either writing them myself or reading other people's code.”

In addition to his coursework, Tien joined the Engineering Society (EngSoc) and Tech Society (TechSoc) to build his professional network and attend industry events. Tien took on leadership roles in EngSoc and as a Faculty of Engineering and IT (FEIT) International Student Ambassador to support fellow international students at UTS. 

“Through these roles, I developed leadership skills, project management abilities, and improved my public speaking and presentation skills. I gained experience in marketing strategy and event organization. These skills are all valuable in my career as a software engineer, especially when it comes to teamwork, communication, and project planning.”

With the soft skills, internship experience, and technical experience Tien gained from his coursework and leadership roles, he achieved his goal of building a strong resume and work experience before graduation. Today, he is a Software Engineer in Sydney at WiseTech Global, a company specialising in software for global logistics.

In offering advice to other international students, Tien says: 

“Be willing to network with people and join a society. While UTS helps you build your knowledge and domain-specific skills, a valuable thing you can do is to make new connections and enjoy new experiences, inside or outside UTS. Building a strong network is crucial because it opens up opportunities that may not be accessible through traditional job application processes. Networking can lead to mentorship opportunities, and improved knowledge about industry trends and job openings. It also helps in developing soft skills like communication and relationship-building, which are essential in any career.”