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Jenine Beekhuyzen

Jenine Beekhuyzen portrait

Name:
Jenine Beekhuyzen
Age:
30's
Location:
Brisbane
Current job title:
PhD (research) student, software trainer, web developer, jewellery designer, small business owner, book editor/author

Qualifications

Past experience

I have worked in every industry from washing cars to checkouts in a supermarket. I decided I needed a reason to get up each day; I didn’t want to dislike work for the rest of my life. So I got educated, I am the first in my family to finish uni. Education is the key to opportunity. Take every opportunity.

How did you get started?

I decided I didn’t want to be ordinary. I wanted to do something useful and be something I could be proud of. My work allows me to solve problems and search for answers, while giving me the luxury of travel and the ability to imagine into the future. I have to make big decisions, but they are my decisions.

Greatest professional achievement

Releasing my book ‘Tech girls are chic, not just geek’ (www.techgirlsarechic.org). It is a not-for-profit book free for Australian schoolgirls, to encourage them into an IT career. It is based on seven years of research that I have been a part of, and addresses the two major problems facing gender equality in the IT industry – lack of role models, and lack of understanding of the diversity of IT careers.

Challenges the job presents

I am definitely not a 9-5 girl. I hate commuting. I can’t do it and be happy. So I have created a career that allows me the flexibility to work from home a majority of the time, but also gives me the freedom to pursue my volunteer projects which sometimes happen on a work day. I can arrange my days and nights to suit me in my working schedule. If I have great ideas at night, I work all night and sleep all day. Sometimes I am in my pj’s, other times getting on a plane. It all evens itself out.

What you like most about your job

Every day is different. There is no routine.

Typical day at work

Start work at 7am in my pyjamas to work at home for the day, check emails, work out my plan for the day, have breakfast, work through till lunch and then an hour break for lunch on the back deck of my house (sometimes daytime tv), then work (I mean read and write mostly) till about 4pm then I am done for the day. If I have a day where I am out all day, then I will work slightly longer on other days if needed. Now this is a good day, if my brain doesn’t work, I may finish earlier. I like to relax by cooking an interesting dinner and doing some beaded jewellery making.

Advice for other women

Find out what you love doing and what you are good at. Then find a job that suits your skills. There will be one in IT. Are you creative? Are you a problem solver? Do you like technical work? Do you like design? Ask as many questions of other people as possible. Ask anyone who works in IT; ask educators all about courses and qualifications, basically anything and everything. Be proactive!

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Last updated: 1 August 2008