2016 2016: Alumna joins Akamai Technologies

Nikhila Vijaybhaskar, an international student from India who graduated from the Master in Professional Writing (MPW) program in 2015, is a Documentation and Training Specialist at Akamai Technologies. She works with software developers to document their products, and she is responsible for delivering technical training to engineers at Akamai.

“I very much love my job, and I couldn't have asked for anything better, especially as a freshly minted graduate,” Vijaybhaskar said. “I feel happy and proud that my job cannot be slotted into that of a starving writer.” 

Internship offers full-time position

Vijaybhaskar wasn’t always a rising star at Akamai. First, she was their intern. In between her first and second year as a graduate student in the MPW program, Vijaybhaskar interned as a writer at Akamai. She wrote user documentation for engineering products like software and internal manuals.

Not surprisingly, she excelled and received a full-time job offer to return after graduation. Not only did the internship help secure a future job, but it also helped Vijaybhaskar realize the type of writer she was. "It was awesome," Vijaybhaskar said. "I'm a technical writer through and through."

The MPW program provides more than just writing skills

For Vijaybhaskar, joining the MPW program was absolutely the right move. “I received acceptance packages from a couple of other technical/professional writing programs as well, but UMass Dartmouth's offer of a teaching fellow position was one I couldn't turn down,” she said. “As it turns out, teaching for two years has made me into a very different, more confident person.” 

I received acceptance packages from a couple of other professional writing programs as well, but UMass Dartmouth's offer of a teaching fellow position was one I couldn't turn down.