Colombian Sandra Palacio had only been in Australia for a few years when she was part of a team in charge of getting a workshop program for 100 volunteer managers ready for delivery across Queensland...

This challenge proved to be a useful stepping stone, because the CQUniversity Brisbane Masters of Information Technology graduate has secured work as a consultant with Dialog Information Technology (www.dialog.com.au ).

Sandra Palacio is congratulated by Craig Macdonnell from Brisbane Campus

Sandra said she and her husband decided to come to Australia about four years ago, looking for a better future.

"My husband moved six months before me because I was doing the business experience semester of my Bachelor in Systems Engineering at the University of Medellin in Colombia," she said.

"Once I finished I came to Australia with a student visa for nine months. During this period I was improving my English skills and at the same time I was finishing my last semester of my bachelor virtually."

Sandra said the couple fell in love with Australia's culture, lifestyle, landscapes and fauna, so her next step was to seek permanent residency.

"Because I did not have enough work experience and my husband's experience was not relevant at that time, I decided to study a Masters degree which was recognized for the Australian Computer Society and which was compatible with my career, systems engineering.

"When I started the Masters, my husband was able to start working full time and he found a job in his field, electrical engineering.

"During my degree studies, I improved my analytical and programming skills. I was involved in different projects using technologies such as C++, SQL, ASP.NET, HTML, CSS, Microsoft Visual Wed Developer and Microsoft Project Planning.

Graduate Sandra Palacio found work experience with Volunteering Queensland a useful stepping stone

"Since English was not my first language and because I wanted to get involved in a real work environment to get some work experience, I decided to undertake a course called the community and corporate engagement program, where I improved my communication skills and my ability to work in a team.

"I made new friends and I learnt about myself (my strengths, my weaknesses and my personal goals). As result of this program, I was motivated and I had the opportunity to work with Volunteering Queensland as an innovative forums Researcher and Education Program Developer.

"Basically, I developed a set of workshops for volunteer managers to facilitate an understanding of Web 2.0 and its technologies.

"I found it hard to believe. I left university and found myself developing a program for over 100 volunteer managers which is now being delivered across Queensland."

Sandra said she found the experience with Volunteering Queensland to be rewarding and it made her more confident.

"Now I love working at Dialog, where I've been since May this year. I am so happy to be part of one of the most recognized IT companies in Australia," she said.

"The company values match my own. In the first two weeks at Dialog I was given extensive training and coaching in consulting skills. I found this very useful when I went to my first client project.

"The people are so friendly. We are like a family working on the same goal. I have learnt many technologies such as C#, SQL Server, LINQ, XML, JavaScript, WCF and TFS. Every day comes with something new to learn. I have all the support that I need, not only from the company but from my colleagues as well. It is a really cooperative environment."