A fascination with computers prompted Southern Cross University (SCU) Bachelor of Information Technology alumnus Jake Jensen to swap his jet-setting pro-athlete lifestyle for an IT desk job – and he says he’s loving it.
He believes the ability to embrace change is an essential personality trait for anyone considering a career in technology.
“I spent seven months of the year, for six years, touring the United States, the Middle East and Europe, then back to Hawaii,” says Jensen, who was regarded as one of the world’s top stand-up paddleboarders at the height of his sporting career.
When he wasn’t competing, the Palm Beach-Currumbin local was kept busy saving lives as a Gold Coast City Council Lifeguard for 10 years, while also launching a business importing and exporting SUP equipment.
That’s when he discovered coding.
“I taught myself the code to build the business website,” he says.
When he realised he wanted to further his knowledge, Jensen says “I jumped right in, and took on the Bachelor of Information Technology to see where it could take me”.
New opportunities with existing employer
Jensen says he immediately found the degree relevant to his lifeguarding work, with the ingenuity of his capstone project enabling his employer to see his skills in a new light.
“Council has around 40 lifeguard towers, 200 boards, thousands of signs, cars and so much equipment, but, at the time, the management, maintenance and fault recording process was not automated,” says Jensen.
“So, I took the opportunity to approach the Health and Regulatory Services department and developed asset management software for them.”
The flexibility of an online degree meant his full-time work on the beach could continue.
“With lecture recordings, I could come home from work, listen to lectures then watch them back later to refresh my knowledge,” he says.
Agile study options nurture an evolving career
He says the six-week term model at SCU set him up well for the IT workforce.
“The degree forces you to grasp things quickly, and with the speed at which technology changes, that’s definitely a skill you need in your job.”
“To succeed in IT, you need to be self-motivated to engage with the latest updates. You have to want to learn and experience new things.”
He landed his first IT developer position, with energy infrastructure business, APA, while still studying.
“With the move towards more renewable energies, it’s an exciting place to be with so much change coming, and the development of new technologies and processes,” Jensen says.
“What I like most about software development and coding is that you are involved in a project, from start to finish. Unlike an industry, such as construction, where you have architects, engineers, builders and interior designers, within IT you design, develop and build a solution and work through that whole pipeline.”
Since being bitten by the IT bug, Jensen is exploring further tertiary studies and says he is now keen to delve deeper into the world of artificial intelligence (AI), and software development associated with pioneering private space exploration projects.
“We’re not able to fully harness the potential of AI just yet, but it will play a massive role in every area of life. It will be interesting to see the progress in 10, even five, years.”
