Working at the University of Melbourne was a solid experience, even if it wasn’t one that pushed me to my technical limits. I learnt about Python web frameworks, navigated industry CMS technologies, and got exposure to how large, real-world systems are actually maintained. While the work itself wasn’t deeply challenging from a software engineering perspective, the experience as a whole ended up being far more valuable than I initially expected.
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**People and Environment** Working at the university was my first formal work experience after having worked at KFC, and it taught me a huge amount about communication, work ethic, and managing the general zeitgeist of different teams. It taught me meaningful things about how to work with people, how to write emails that actually get read, and how to operate in an environment where priorities are constantly shifting.
I was introduced to PhD candidates I respect very much. I was surrounded by people who were easily 10× more intelligent than myself, which was humbling, a massive teaching moment, and honestly pretty sick. I got to talk to heads of entire faculties and people who were pushing the boundaries of technology literally as it was exploding during the AI boom.
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**Technical Exposure** I also got to work with actual researchers on things like preprocessing data, which was genuinely enjoyable. That felt like a proper Python project — messy data, unclear requirements, and the need to think rather than just implement. That part of the job was great.
Even outside of that, the role gave me a realistic look at how production systems are maintained at scale, and what "engineering" looks like inside a massive institution.
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**Pace and Process** At the same time, working there gave me a very clear idea of the workplace I *don’t* want to work at. Which is the pretty slow pace of a university.
Universities have extensive requirements for even simple content changes to a CMS. Changes require approval from the relevant teams, despite individuals agreeing to the change itself. It becomes pretty obvious that as an engineer or intern, you're a cog in a very slow-moving machine.
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**Limits and Takeaways** So when I say I wasn’t technically challenged, I mean that in a *software engineering* sense. The problems weren’t about scale, performance, or complex system design. They were about process, bureaucracy, and coordination.
But in a weird way, that’s where the real lesson was. Being inside such a large, slow system made inefficiencies extremely obvious. There were so many problems in the way systems were designed, owned, and maintained that it constantly gave me ideas — better tools, better flows, and how a startup could solve problems that large institutions simply move too slowly to address.
Overall, the experience clarified a lot for me. I don’t want to be a small piece in a massive machine. I’m far more interested in decision-making, problem-solving, and environments where speed actually matters. Working at the