What's your job about?
"Every day, everywhere, we use our technology and expertise to make payments safe, simple, and smart”. As a software engineer at Mastercard, my responsibilities focus on building, testing, and monitoring quality software that makes these three S’s happen.
When I first started, I worked in Team Pikachu, the performance engineering team. During my time there, I worked on problems such as understanding how performant our software is, how much better it needs to be, and how much better it can be. And now, as a member of the fraud and risk squad, I work on any products related to risk. We make sure that payments with Mastercard are safer and smarter without overcomplicating or delaying the transaction process.
What's your background?
I was born in a small city in China, and I was lucky enough to start coding with Pascal when I was still in primary school. I have always loved Maths, and I quickly became passionate about programming as well. When I was still trying to understand recursion and backtracking, I was offered a scholarship in Singapore and I then started my overseas study journey.
After five years in Singapore, I decided to go to the University of Sydney to peruse my passion in science and engineering. In my third year, I applied for the internship with Mastercard, and I was offered the opportunity. It was a life-changing experience for me, as I learned not only more about coding but myself as well. I was never clearer about what I need to do to get to where I want to be.
At the end of the internship, I was offered the graduate position. And now, I am a software engineer at Mastercard. I love the job, the office, and the people around me! I still face many challenges every day, and I still have a long way to go. As a software engineer, you’ll never stop learning. And I am enjoying my learning here at Mastercard.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
YES! But…
You need to at least be someone who:
And if you have decided to become a coder and you wish to start your career as a software engineer, you will need to at least:
What's the coolest thing about your job?
Imagine your code being used by billions of people out in the world. The impact one can potentially make here at Mastercard is huge! Also, being a graduate software engineer, I can still have one-on-ones with directors and vice presidents and ask for their feedback and advice.
What are the limitations of your job?
While doing your own coding projects, you are the CEO, CFO and CTO. However, working in a team environment means that this is not a superhero movie where one person can save the world. You will learn to depend on others and learn from others. Soon you will realise that one plus one can be way more than two!
Also, you will soon find that your coding skill is only one of the many things you need for this job. Often more than half the time we are not writing code. We need to understand the products, read other engineers’ code, and read/write many, many documentations.
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...