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Samuel Knight

Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) (Honours) / Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) University of Queensland

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.