An IT Journey from Iraq to Amazon

Nibras Aljoubori (MSIT '20) reflects on her career trajectory and discusses how Northwestern Engineering's Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT) program prepared her for her current work at Amazon.

Nibras Aljoubori (MSIT '20)Ten years ago, Nibras Aljoubori (MSIT '20) was an information technology (IT) specialist in Iraq. When she moved to the United States, she left the IT space and became a social worker doing case management in an immigration and refugee office. Her work was interesting, but her passion for IT remained. 

"I wanted to better understand IT's impact on business decision-making and see how it provides the scope to analyze data and plan business strategies accordingly," she said. "IT paves the way for business innovation."

In 2018, Aljoubori enrolled in Northwestern Engineering's Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT) part-time program with the goal of finding her way back to an IT job. Not only did she find her way back, but she landed a job as an IT support engineer at Amazon, the company LinkedIn recognized as No. 1 on its list of top companies to work for in 2021. 

At Amazon, Aljoubori is a network engineer who routinely relies on network principles she learned in MSIT. During her time in the program, she acquired newfound knowledge that included big data analysis, risk management, accounting, and agile IT leadership. Her favorite classes were IT Management, Agile IT Leadership, and IT Business Model: Innovation.

"I learned new things that changed my way of thinking about IT and made me see the bigger picture of where IT fits in the business hierarchy," Aljoubori said.

As important as the technical lessons were, it was the lessons in leadership that were perhaps the most powerful to Aljoubori. "MSIT shaped me to be a leader," she said, "not only a technical professional." 

MSIT's part-time students take courses on Saturdays and complete the program in two years. Part-time students attend class alongside full-time students and this combination creates a cohort that is diverse in age, experience, education, and industry. Each student brings a unique perspective to the learning environment, and Aljoubori was no different.

In MSIT, she learned from her classmates, and at Amazon she continues to have that desire to learn from those around her.

"At Amazon, there are always frequent changes and there are also resources that help you handle those challenges," she said. "Whenever possible, I take the opportunity to learn from and adapt to those changes."

That is Aljoubori's wish for future MSIT students — she wants them to take every opportunity presented to them and find a way to use it as a learning mechanism. That's what she does at Amazon, and it's what she did in MSIT.

"MSIT bridges the gap between IT and business management," she said. "It's a huge opportunity for anyone who needs to learn about IT and business."

McCormick News Article