What's your job about?
Arcadis is a design consultancy for natural and built assets, primarily working in the space of major infrastructure in both the buildings and transport sector. Additionally, many smaller niche areas of the business work on environmental studies and land developments. Arcadis works on a very wide range of projects across multiple industries.
As a Drainage and Flooding Engineer, my daily responsibilities include both design of drainage infrastructure as well as 1-D and 2-D flood modelling studies/impact assessments. Graduates in the Drainage and Flooding team are primarily responsible for the 3-D modelling and design of drainage networks, WSUD (water treatment) and flood storage on major infrastructure projects. Graduates are also exposed to flood modelling to provide advice on impacts and mitigation strategies for major infrastructure projects.
Rain falls everywhere, so there are so many places you can go all over the world, in multiple industries if you understand hydrology and hydraulics!
What's your background?
I grew up in Melbourne, then spent 4 years in Coffs Harbour (NSW) in high school before moving back to Melbourne for VCE/University
Education was an important part of my family upbringing, so this was a big part of my life until I graduated in 2019. Since graduating, I have spent my time kicking off my career and travelling which I’ve found highly motivating and enjoyable.
I’ve recently moved to the Engineer level, after working as an undergraduate for 8 months, and as a graduate for 2 years. Since finishing the graduate program, I have moved to the Urban Development and Regeneration team to expand my skill set. Arcadis’ wide range of opportunities and expertise has really pushed me to become the motivated and ambitious Engineer that I am today.
At the end of my final year project at university, my supervisor asked me to help him work on some design/research projects for small, undeveloped areas of Indonesia. Through this work, I realised just how big of a difference I could make in the water industry, and how precious the resource is. I haven’t looked back since and still see water as one of the most important elements of civil design in both developed and undeveloped countries.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
No – to get the competencies/registrations required to sign off on engineering designs, you need a relevant engineering degree.
Engineers are almost always great at technical problems. If you have the ability/interest to develop your personal skills and emotional intelligence you will be an amazing Engineer in high demand!
What's the coolest thing about your job?
What I enjoy most about Engineering is solving problems with colleagues and friends. It’s very rewarding to learn and solve seemingly overwhelming and difficult problems while learning from each other. Arcadis’ exposure to high profile, large-scale projects gives the opportunity to learn from the best on the city’s most challenging and rewarding projects. When I’ve lost track of time doing what I love, I know I’m in the right place.
What are the limitations of your job?
In the early stages of my graduate program, I had a lot of direct guidance. As I progressed my knowledge base and skillset, the level of responsibility I was given on projects gradually increased. Arcadis really is a people-first culture, which has been backed up by my Manager who supports finishing on time and taking care of yourself first! Working on weekends is very rare and working late is often picked up by colleagues to make sure we aren’t overworking and are maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...