What’s your job about?
I work for Stantec Australia in their Perth office as a Graduate Civil Engineer for the buildings team. Stantec employs more than 25,000 people worldwide. We are a global delivery firm of designers, engineers, scientists, and project managers working across the energy and resources, buildings, transportation, water, and community development sectors.
I am currently in my second year of Stantec’s graduate programme and I’m really enjoying the opportunities it brings. It’s challenging my thinking of civil engineering as a discipline and giving me the essential experience I need to develop my skills.
In the buildings team, I work directly in urban and land development where my role consists of two aspects – design and superintendence. I work directly with our clients, developers, and contractors. A client might approach us with a development opportunity for a piece of land in the Pilbara, inner western suburbs of Perth or down in the South-West and it’s our job to research existing ground conditions, surrounding services, match a preliminary concept design and look at costings to understand if it’s a viable opportunity.
Once development takes off, a design is secured and the project is tendered with a winning contractor. It’s our job to supervise and ensure the project stays on track. This is where it gets exciting! We get to see a project develop from a simple concept to detailed design drawings on AutoCAD and then finally we see the drawings come to life.
What’s your background?
I grew up on a very small island called Bermuda. My dad is a civil engineer and as a result, I grew up with hard hats, high-vis, and heavy machinery. However, Bermuda lacks physical space and Australia is in the abundance of it. Since I moved here in 2015 for university, I have seen iconic WA infrastructure come to life in only a matter of years and now it's hard to think of Perth without Elizabeth Quay, or Optus Stadium. The land and urban development opportunities here are endless and now I get to put my mark on them.
Moving halfway across the world for university in 2015, and then again in 2019 for a 3-month work placement in London, I have learnt to be adaptable and welcome new experiences. When you first start as a graduate you realise there is something to learn from everyone, but it's all about asking the questions and, most importantly, being ready to listen to the answer.
Once I had finished university my original plan was to return to London and work. Unfortunately, with the world still in a state with the pandemic, I had to make the decision to stay in Perth. This was made quite late in the game when many of the graduate programs were closed for applications. But I did my research and found Stantec – a company that was responsible for creating the iconic infrastructure I loved. I applied and interviewed when I was still in my final semester of my masters and completing my thesis. It was a stressful time, but I was offered one day a week whilst finishing off my studies and I accepted. A couple of months later I completed my degree and started the graduate programme at Stantec full-time. It’s been just over a year since my first day and I love it!
Could someone with a different background do your job?
No, not my exact job, but there are other avenues you can pursue if you’d like to be a part of the civil land development team. You need to have a degree in engineering and pass the competencies outlined by Engineer’s Australia to work as a practising engineer. From there, you join a graduate program that allows you to expand on these competencies and potentially reach the next level of qualification – a chartered engineer. By completing an engineering degree, you are showcasing the way you approach scenarios and critically solve technical problems. However, if you have a passion for design and technical drawing one could become part of the land development team as a designer, supporting the civil engineers with drafting the intricate AutoCAD drawings, you don’t necessarily need a degree to do this just a passion for computer-aided design.
What’s the coolest thing about your job?
I enjoy the collaborative nature of land development. I meet with clients, landscape architects, environmentalists, town planners, contractors, asset inspectors and everyone in between. The best part is we end up building a community together and that can be very satisfying. I also love the mix of spending time in the office designing, the hands-on aspect of going out to the site, running meetings and inspections and knowing all the ins and outs of the construction phases.
Outside of regular work we have so many interesting networking and career development opportunities with Stantec’s Developing Professionals Group and community outreach programs. Last year, I ran the blood drive for the Stantec in the Community week and had 35 employees from our office donating. It’s always fulfilling when you can combine work and volunteering opportunities to further make a positive impact on your surroundings.
What are the limitations of your job?
At times, working on a project can be unpredictable. There can be time delays, material and labour shortages, or design flaws that only get picked up when we are on-site. You need to think quick and portray your decision with confidence. It can take a lot to get your head around all the aspects that go into running a project, knowing what to prioritise and what to put on the back burner is very important.
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