Yunn Chua
Going outside your comfort zone
Yunn Chua (MEng Chemical Engineering 2013) learnt how to work through complex problems quickly during her studies at Imperial.
However, she also emphasises the importance of her experiences out of the classroom in preparing her for her career since leaving the College.
"I really went out of my comfort zone at Imperial – I joined both the debating society and the belly dancing society!
"As English isn’t my first language I thought debating would be good; we’d debate political and economic issues, and I now have no problems presenting to very senior people at work while belly dancing was actually relaxing."
My Imperial experience
I did a Master's in Chemical Engineering and if I’m honest it was a struggle at first!
In my studies up until that point I was basically taught to memorise things, but at Imperial I learnt to really interrogate the problem.
I really went out of my comfort zone – I joined both the debating society and the belly dancing society!
As English isn’t my first language I thought debating would be good; we’d debate political and economic issues, and I now have no problems presenting to very senior people at work while belly dancing was actually relaxing.
My years there were a bit of a dreamland really.
I learnt that if you work hard, then anything is possible and that it’s ok to fail as long as you pick yourself up again.
My career so far
I was a recipient of a Maxis scholarship, which is the biggest telecommunications company in Malaysia, so I returned to Malaysia and began working as a management associate.
I rotated through different departments, starting in data analytics, learning all about data architecture.
I then gained further experience working with big data in my role as Digital Marketing and Ad Tech Manager at another of Asia's largest telco & ICT companies.
My message to future students is be aware of what else is happening. Think global. Studying is important, but it’s not everything – at Imperial you can meet people from all around the world!"
I think one of the things I learnt at Imperial was how to pick up complex things quickly, and that's been really helpful in my career so far.
I now work as an Account Manager for Google, supporting brands and agencies in South East Asia (SEA) to run search campaigns more effectively on Search Ads 360 – part of the Google marketing platform.
Message to future Imperial students
My message to future students is be aware of what else is happening.
Think global. Studying is important, but it’s not everything – at Imperial you can meet people from all around the world!