How long have you been employed at Robert Bird Group?

I started as an Undergraduate in February 2023 and was offered a permanent position to continue on as a Graduate Structural Engineer.

What do you enjoy most about being at Robert Bird Group?

I have enjoyed working on the design of a wide range of different projects, including but not limited to roof drainage, marine structures, hospitals, temporary structures, existing structures and construction engineering. I also get to work with a lot of different people in the office to help facilitate with a variety of projects where I work closely with a new lead engineer. I particularly enjoy the opportunities when visiting a variety of sites and drafting inspections reports. This gives me the opportunity to grow and learn on a daily basis.

How many people are in the office in Adelaide?

There are approximately 20 people in the Adelaide office.

Why did you choose Robert Bird Group?

I chose Robert Bird Group because of the types of projects we work on, there is always something interesting and challenging. It’s not just high-rise buildings and bridges, but a range of bigger and smaller jobs. Robert Bird Group have a lot of resources being a Global company with many offices around Australia and beyond which provides opportunities to work collaboratively with other RBG offices on shared projects and also provides the potential to travel. We’re a growing company so there are many exciting opportunities coming in.

How have you found your transition from full time education to professional engineering?

It was definitely a big change going from studying to working full time. It’s very different and a lot more structured. University is more theory based whereas work can be more practical, putting the theory into practice. You also have to communicate with a lot of different professional’s/companies such as Architects, Clients, your peers and a variety of different stakeholders.

In terms of the transition, was there anything you had to do to enable that? And was there anything that Robert Bird Group did to support that?

It was a matter of adapting quickly and getting familiar with what is required to successfully achieve a professional work/life balance. RBG helped make this transition as seamless as possible.

What projects have you most enjoyed working on?

My favourite project to date was the Yorke Peninsula Jetty Inspection Assessment and Reports where I got to go on some road trips along the SA coast and have look at these Jetties up close from a little boat. Based on the inspections, I wrote up Condition Assessment Reports and Design Reports for each of the Jetties.

And have you been working with seniors in that space, or have you felt like you’ve had a little bit more responsibility or accountability?

Since this was one of my first projects, I worked with the seniors but this project involved most of our office staff, so it was essentially a collaborative effort from the entire office. Based on the success of this project we have won more Jetty inspections in the Eyre Peninsula where I will most likely have a more senior role which I am very excited about.

What advice would you offer to graduates when applying for the Graduate Development Program at Robert Bird Group?

Be open minded to new opportunities and say yes to opportunities that may present itself. Do not believe that as a Graduate that you cannot contribute in a significant way because you will bring your own individual strengths which can provide great benefits. Initially your role might be to assist the seniors and with a variety of different projects to allow them more time to concentrate on different areas of the business.

How have you found your experience overall?

I have really enjoyed my current experience and my manager has me thinking and taking the first steps towards future Chartership.

Is there something as an organisation we can do to help increase the number of women in the world of engineering?

I believe we need to start at the younger School year levels to promote the profession, engineering and the possibilities in this career pathway. As someone who went to an all-girls school, there weren’t many options to choose engineering, with the main emphasis and promotion on Health Science – I was one of only 2 girls from around 100 in year 12 to choose this pathway. So we need to raise more awareness and promote the potential benefits to encourage more women into the profession.

What do you enjoy most about being on the Graduate Development Program?

One of the things I enjoy the most is the variety of work that I get to contribute to on real life projects. I’ve worked on heaps of projects both in New Zealand and overseas, small scale and large scale, a variety of materials, and a variety of different stages. It’s really interesting being exposed to all of those different things really early on.

It’s great learning experience and another thing I enjoy is being given design packages which I get full responsibility for. So, I actually get to have an influence and an impact on the projects as opposed to some, you know, boring backroom admin tasks that don’t have much impact!

I’m also really enjoying the support from the managers and the other staff.  As always, everyone here is really helpful and wants to go out of their way to make sure you learn and understand and also grow your skill set.

What makes it fun coming to Robert Bird Group?

Oh, it’s definitely the variety and the challenge and actually getting to see that the work I do is meaningful as well.  And there’s problem solving. And there’s teamwork and collaboration. It’s just all of those things put together make it quite a satisfying and enjoyable career.

Why did you choose Robert Bird Group?

At the moment I’m in the Auckland team which is still quite small. I really wanted a company that had a smaller office, so I felt more like an individual, but still had a global presence and large-scale projects. I wanted to grow with the team and join a smaller office. And Robert Bird Group fit that perfectly.

We’ve got really big high-profile projects both here and overseas, but it’s still not an enormous company that you just get lost in the masses.  And I also really like the type of work that we do. It’s a lot of variety, but it’s also very interesting.

There are lots of technically challenging projects with different aspects of virtual design and construction, the digital engineering aspects and also construction engineering which I find really interesting.

It’s quite cool to be involved in a company which just has that breadth of project work as opposed to just one little area of the market.  And with this sort of thing day in, day out, you’re actually getting great variety.

How did you find the transition from full time education to professional engineering?

It wasn’t too bad, actually. Honors year at university was actually a lot more work than first year as a grad, in terms of workload it was a bit more relaxing! It was nice to actually have some free time to myself and all of that.

And on the flip side, the work I was doing had more meaning and more purpose.  So overall it was really good.

And was there anything at Robert Bird Group that we did to enable that?

I think the team’s quite good at encouraging good work life balance.

And I mean, I spent 60 or 70 hours a week at Uni, so coming back down to 40 hours a week was definitely quite nice!

What projects have you most enjoyed working on?

I’ve been fortunate enough to be exposed to quite a lot of interesting projects both here and overseas.

I could go on all day about them, but my favorite is the one I’ve been working on at the moment which is called Wakefield St Hotel and it’s in Auckland. And what’s special about it is, it’s a high-rise modular building.  It’s about 16 floors and about 12 of those floors are modular.

So, for the last eight months or so, I’ve been heavily involved in this project doing the design of the modules themselves, and the steelwork transfer structure underneath the modules.

And that’s been very challenging, but at the same time very interesting.

And have you learnt new skills and new capabilities with this project?

Oh, for sure!

It’s been really good for both steel design and also multi-storey building design, and earthquake engineering as well.

So those three things and this project have helped my skill sets develop a lot and really quickly as well.  And we’ve started fabrication on some of the prototypes for the module too.

It’s really cool being able to see those projects get built and also getting exposed to programs like ETABS and other design software as well.

I think this is gonna be one of the biggest, or if not the biggest, tallest for sure modular project in New Zealand and that’s quite a unique development because we’re a country that has earthquakes, which poses challenges to modular constructions.  This project is really pushing the boundary of what has been done, and potentially what could be done.

So, if it goes well, which so far it is looking like it will, it could set a new benchmark for this new type of construction in the country – especially for all that seismic stuff, which is amazing.

What advice would you offer newer graduates when applying for the Graduate Development Program at Robert Bird Group?

As it is a two-way thing, you’ve got to find the company that suits you as much as the company thinks that you suit them.  So do some research on what Robert Bird Group and other companies have to offer and think about what you want to get out of your graduate experience in your career. That will kind of help you decide which companies are best fit for you when you’re applying for all of the jobs.

And I would say be yourself and have a good attitude. And yeah, you’re not expected to know everything coming out of university, but what’s important is a good attitude and that you’re willing to learn. Those sorts of things are most important.

What do you enjoy most about being part of the Graduate Development Program at Robert Bird Group?

I’d say I love the office environment. Everyone in my team has become friends as opposed to just colleagues, which makes work life a lot more enjoyable. Office initiatives like the Lunchtime Exercise Club, coffee roulette, and Friday afternoon beers while playing ping pong made it a lot easier to meet people outside of my team.

Why did you choose to join Robert Bird Group?

While I was in university, I attended a joint UQ and QUT Civil Engineering Society networking event. Robert Bird was one of the companies present and I met my current manager, who gave me his business card and now here I am!

How did you find the transition from full time education to professional engineering?

I had a very easy transition. I was lucky enough to have been working two days a week an undergrad before I moved to a full-time role once I graduated. This meant I already knew the team, what work I would be doing, and some experience on how to do it! I much prefer work to university as you get to specialise in something (as opposed to the large breadth of subjects in uni), with a much greater focus on reading construction drawings, modeling structures, and marking up drawings.

Which projects have you most enjoyed working on?

I would say I’ve enjoyed all my projects because at this stage of my career is pretty new to me, so I’m always learning new skills and creating my personalised design tools.

What advice would you offer to graduates when applying for the Graduate Development Program?

If I had to pick one, it would probably be a tower crane installation at Atlassian Central because it was the first crane I did as a grad. Not only was it the first crane drawing with my name on it, but it’s also due to climb over 180 meters up in the Sydney skyline, so it’s also the tallest crane I’ve done to date.

I would say not to get too hung up on having technical expertise. When I first applied, I was worried because I didn’t have any engineering experience and didn’t know how to use the multiple engineering software packages available. Luckily, Robert Bird teaches you everything you need to know on the job, so I’d say your personality, social skills, and teamwork is a lot more important.

What do you enjoy most about being part of our graduate team at Robert Bird Group?

So far, I guess the most enjoyable part has been meeting the other graduates and also hearing their stories and learning from their experiences as well. That’s been an enjoyable part about being in the grad team.

Why did you choose to join Robert Bird Group?

I heard Robert Bird Group had a great working environment, and also a great culture.  So now having come aboard just being able to meet everyone, everyone’s super friendly, everyone is always willing to help me out by answering my questions or just helping me learn in general.

They’ve been able to create an overall great learning environment for me to grow as an engineer, and also Robert Bird Group works on a lot of exciting projects.

At the moment I’m part of the crane team as well, so I get to work on a lot of crane projects, designing a lot of crane bases, going out to do the site inspections.  I guess the biggest reason for joining Robert Bird Group was working environment as well as the culture – the people I work with are what makes the work I do fun and enjoyable.

How did you find the transition from full time education to professional engineering?

A bit challenging, applying theory to real world problems was challenging at first. But, over time I was able to overcome these challenges with the help of senior engineers and they were able to really help me understand the concepts, as well as show me how to apply them to real world problems.

Which projects have you most enjoyed working on?

Being a part of the crane team within the Construction Engineering Division, every project so far has been really enjoyable. Tower crane design had never crossed my mind when I chose to pursue a career in structural engineering, but the work we do is interesting, challenging and fun at the same time.  It’s being able to go on site and inspect the designs and seeing that come to life.  I think that’s been really good.

If I really had to pick one project, then I would have to say Melbourne Quarter R2. I took part in the design of a tower crane in this project and had the opportunity to climb 30m up to the top to do a post crane erection inspection with a senior engineer. Standing at the top of a freestanding tower crane and being able to see all the elements up close has really been a highlight so far.

What advice do you offer to graduates when applying for the Graduate Development Program?

Definitely brush up on the technical knowledge, like the things learned during university, because I feel that’s very important.  Write a standout cover letter detailing your achievements, experiences, and add your personality to it, and don’t use AI to write one for you!

And also, when coming in to do your interview just really be yourself because at the end of the day, I think the managers just want to see who you are, the type of person you are.  I think that’s the most important thing.

What do you enjoy most about being part of our graduate team at Robert Bird Group?

What I enjoy the most would probably be the people. I think the projects we get to work on are really great, but I wouldn’t be able to learn as much as I have learned without the support of my team.

Everyone is a good mentor when it comes to working with the other groups as well. I was able to create some really good friendships with a lot of the other graduates. And it’s good to have people who are also going through the same thing as you and we’re all learning completely different yet similar things. So, while I can be good at concrete, someone else can be good at steel, and then we share our notes with each other.

Why did you choose to join Robert Bird Group?

I knew I wanted to work in structures and I wanted to be a structural engineer, and Robert Bird Group have the best projects!  I wanted to join the buildings team as well, because in the buildings team you get to see structures that you design join the Sydney skyline.

Designing and building areas which I’ve also grown up in, in Sydney, is really rewarding. I followed Robert Bird Group on LinkedIn for a long time before I started working for them and I loved the workplace culture they have.  I was also interested in the inspiring women who worked at the company, and working with them, which I’ve now had the opportunity to do.

How did you find the transition from full time education to professional engineering?

It was really scary at first and jarring because when you’re at Uni what you have to design is theoretical, and it’s quite simple. There’s not as much at stake. But working as an engineer you pay more attention to detail and put more care into what you’re doing because you realize, and understand, that your work is actually contributing to a real-world project.

Which projects have you most enjoyed working on?

I’ve enjoyed every project I’ve been on, to be honest. I’ve liked everything, and I really like the team that I’m in as well. I like being in the buildings team because every project is interesting in its own way. I’ve worked on Waterloo over-station-development, which was quite interesting because there is an extra dimension to consider in the design as it’s being built over a station. I was on site full time for three months which was an amazing experience as well.

What advice do you offer to graduates when applying for the Graduate Development Program?

I think it’s really cheesy to say, but it’s be yourself. I think what Robert Bird Group desires most – which I’ve noticed even during the recruitment night they hold – is that no single person gets full marks in every single assessment or exam they do, it’s about who you are as an individual.

If your personality does not embody the culture Robert Bird Group wants to build, then you may not be suitable for the company. For example, what is it about you that sets you apart from everyone else?  Try to show who you are, not just how good your marks are, because we all have good marks for things we are good at.