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Veolia Australia & New Zealand

3.9
  • 1,000 - 50,000 employees

Keerthana Rajasekaran

I have recently been told that we are unsung superheroes who save lives by preventing diseases - I could not agree more! 

What's your job about?

Veolia NZ’s Thames contract provides operation and maintenance of the water, wastewater and stormwater networks and treatment systems for Thames-Coromandel District Council.  The utilities include 14 water treatment plants, 11 wastewater treatment, numerous pump stations and 3 Waters pipelines around the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula. 

As a Maintenance Coordinator, I assess how we service our assets based on contract requirements and analysis. I work with a range of people including Supervisor, Operators and Asset management engineers to set this up in our asset management system and efficiently carry out the work. Our team investigates any corrective actions and remedial work is proposed to the client. This could result in a project, which would be managed by me with the support of the team. This is just one aspect of my job! 

An operations environment is dynamic, there is always something happening and no two days are the same. One day I could be travelling from Thames to Coromandel then Pauanui to meet with operators. Another day I could be at my desk writing reports, looking at P&ID’s and making proposals. Being in a medium sized team allows me to be involved in many projects including outside of my field, which helps me learn and grow. 

What's your background?

I was born in a small village in India before my parents moved to New Zealand when I was 3 years old. I then grew up in Manurewa going to Manurewa West Primary, Manurewa Intermediate and finally Manurewa High School. As you can tell, we loved it here! 

My father is a handyman and fixes most things himself. As a child, he would usually take me along to help. I enjoyed seeing how things worked; this inspired me to pursue some sort of Engineering as a career. As I enjoyed chemistry, I thought Chemical and Materials Engineering was perfect! That was until my final year at high school. Something changed and I thought, “Maybe I don’t want to be an Engineer” and pursued science at University. Quite quickly I realised I had made a mistake and this was not the path for me.  I made a difficult decision to go back a year and join first year Engineering. I now know that is the best decision I have made. 

I joined Veolia as a graduate in 2020 starting in the Projects team and a month later lockdowns had started. It was an interesting time, but I could see how quickly Veolia had adapted as a business to this new environment. As part of my rotation, I spent some time in the developments team in Papakura. In 2021, I started my last rotation in Thames-Coromandel as a project engineer. I stuck around as Maintenance Coordinator once I finished the graduate program. 

Could someone with a different background do your job?

I am a firm believer in education and learning, so the answer is YES! If you are enthusiastic and willing to learn, anyone can do my job. The level of experience and skill will only change how long it takes to master the job. If you are a critical thinker, like to problem solve and enjoy working with a range of people, you will fit right in regardless of your background. 

What's the coolest thing about your job?

I enjoy working with a great range of passionate people and learning from them. Everyone brings a new perspective to projects and daily life. Seeing this makes me a stronger individual in my career and my personal life. 

What I love most about my job and being a part of Veolia NZ is that I am doing my part for the community. I have recently been told that we are unsung superheroes who save lives by preventing diseases - I could not agree more! 

What are the limitations of your job?

Being in a dynamic operations environment, the work never stops. If it is the weekend, water does not stop running. If someone in your team leaves and the role is not filled, water does not stop running. Working more than the usual 40 hours/week is necessary and sometimes even essential. However, with the support of the team this time is minimised as much as possible.

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

  • If you do not know, ask. It is always okay and even encouraged to put your hand up to say you do not understand something. It is better to say you do not understand than to pretend you do. Growing up, I was always worried about how that would make me look. Now I see everyone asking questions, even people in senior positions, because no one can know everything! 
  • It is okay to make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes; do not bring yourself down for any mistakes you have made. Instead, focus on what you have learnt from them. 
  • If you do not ask, the answer is always no. Pretty plain and simple, always make opportunities happen for yourself by asking.