Ten engineering graduates are helping to shape the future of the water industry in South East Queensland by putting their recently acquired engineering degrees to good use through Seqwater’s Graduate Development Program.
Throughout the program, graduates will have the chance to put theory into practice in a variety of roles across the business.
The three-year program provides graduates with challenging work that develops skills, knowledge and experience in the water industry, along with technical training and development opportunities.
Seqwater is one of Australia’s largest water businesses with the most geographically spread and diverse asset base of any capital city water authority. Graduates will be based at a number or sites across South East Queensland.
For Stephan Trauden, who will work with the SCADA system at North Pine Dam, the graduate program is the first step in what he hopes will be a long-term career with Seqwater.
“I’m hoping that one day my job will let me make a real difference for the community,” Stephan said.
The appeal for Ramy Loveridge, who will be based at the Capalaba Water Treatment Plant, it is the opportunity to work with water treatment systems and to learn about water supply management.
“In the future, I’d like to use the skills and experience I gain to assist communities in other parts of the world, such as South East Asia, to help them build water supply systems so they have access to clean water.”
Stephanie Pruss applied for the graduate program because of her interest in the water industry and previous work experience with Seqwater.
“During my degree, I did work experience in Seqwater’s Flood Operations Centre and really enjoyed it. When I saw the graduate program, I applied and now I’m learning to be a flood officer.
Annalie Roux, Manager Policy, Strategy, Research and Innovation, is a supervisor for the graduate program.
“I volunteered to be a supervisor because I think it’s really important help the graduates build their skills and experience, which in turn benefits the water industry,” Ms Roux said.
“As well as technical skills and experience, I want to pass on knowledge about how organisations work. That’s something you can’t learn at university and it can be daunting when you first start out, especially in large organisation.
“Working with graduates can also help you relearn some aspects of your own job because you have to view and explain things differently and to look at what you do with fresh eyes.
“Early in my career I found a great mentor who taught me skills I still use to this day and hopefully I will be able to do the same for the graduates.”