Welcome to the third edition of our blog series ‘Under the Hood’, where we meet the people who make New Zealand’s amazing IT industry tick. For this blog Sif caught up with Debbie Armstrong, one of our contractors who currently works as a Senior Business Analyst at Fletcher Construction.
Read and watch on to find out about Debbie’s experience in IT, the work she does with Fletcher and the incredible opportunities Debbie has had contracting in the IT industry.
About Debbie
After starting out her career in finance, Debbie has been contracting in IT for the past 15 years. Her first formal project in IT was Y2K! From there Debbie took up a range of roles, such as Systems Analyst, Business Solutions Manager and ERP Project Manager, before finding her place as a Business Analyst.
Find out more about Debbie’s background and her role at Fletcher Construction by watching the video below.
20 years in IT, and advice for IT professionals
Debbie’s role at Fletcher’s saw her work in seven Pacific Island nations in two months, showcasing some of the incredible (and perhaps unexpected) opportunities available in the IT world. With her 20 years of experience in a wide variety of roles, Debbie has a wealth of knowledge about working in IT.
Watch the video below to hear Debbie’s advice for IT professionals, her favourite memory from working in the Pacific and what Debbie sees as the biggest change in technology over the past ten years.
The importance of mentorship
Debbie has had an extremely successful career in IT, and she credits the mentorship she received early in her career as a significant factor in that. Debbie has also mentored younger professionals herself, and sees mentorship not only as an integral part of professional development, but also as an important means of giving back and passing on knowledge to the next generation of IT professionals.
To hear about Debbie’s experience of mentorship, how important she thinks mentorship is and for her advice on how to approach a mentor, watch the video below.
Click here to watch our interview with Debbie in full.
Thanks
A massive thanks to Debbie for taking the time to be a part of this series, we are sure that your insights and advice will be valuable to IT professionals of all levels.
Keep an eye out for the next ‘Under the Hood’ blog, and get in touch if you think your current role would make for a great blog.
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