Tharaka Mendis Wijeyesekera

What is your job title? What does your role involve?

I am currently in my first rotation in the STEM Graduate Program within the Metro Assets Division under the Road Development team.

My role is quite diverse, and my responsibilities will vary depending on the priority tasks for the team at the time. My role involves lots of communicating with different stakeholders, such as local councils and subcontractors.  I’m fortunate enough to be involved in lots of on-site work in my current role. I head out to all areas of Melbourne, inspecting priority areas to assess pavement and drainage issues. I get to engage with local communities and hear directly from them to bring about a solution, and then communicate this back to the team. I help the team analyse and interpret the data we collect through various channels. As a team, we work to put together proposals and plans for future pavement and drainage projects.

What did you study? Tell us a bit about your study, career and how you found your way to your current role.

I studied Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Honours) at Monash University. An area of interest were subjects surrounded to structural and transport engineering. My final year research project looked at Melbourne’s bike-sharing programs and how the programs fared within the international market. Thinking critically about the economic use of resources was something that I found challenging and interesting, and I’m lucky to be using these types of skills in my current role. During my full-time university study, I worked part-time as a swimming coach. Helping people reach their different goals from different backgrounds and cultures helped me develop important skills that I use every day at DoT. I was fortunate enough to take part in the Vacation Program with DoT in my last year of university and enjoyed the experience thoroughly. I was kept on in my vacation student role working in the Burwood office. I was part of the Metro Assets Commercial Team and the Roadside and Environmental Team. The opportunity was then presented to apply for the Dot STEM Graduate Program.

What are your areas of responsibility?  can you describe a typical workday?

I am currently in my first rotation within the STEM Graduate Program, in the Metro Assets Division under the Road Development team. 

Simply put, my areas of responsibility include:

• Liaising with external and internal stakeholders may range from working with councils, sub-contractors, and members of the public.
• Conducting onsite assessments across Metro Melbourne, evaluating the need for pavement resurfacing, rehabilitation and other drainage projects.
• Collecting and interpreting data to put together proposals and estimates for future projects.

A typical workday would involve starting up with a cup of tea and having a look through my emails and calendar for the day.

Fairly often, I will conduct onsite inspections. I’ll take a company car, drive to destinations as far as Warburton, South Bank or along the Mornington Peninsula. Often, I will have a colleague with me who provides guidance and a lot of practical teaching. We typically investigate and assess the drainage problems that are impacting that location. This may include looking at surrounding areas, understanding the local land features, and seeing how the water flows along the road and how it interacts with the road’s infrastructure. Following these investigations on the inspection, we do follow up actions such as emailing contractors to attend sites that require maintenance. We work to develop solutions as to how these problems may be fixed – these may involve short term or long term plans. We consider who else we need to involve and liaise with – such as design teams, or partners to organise surveys or CCTV assessment.

Of course, throughout the day there are a number of phone calls between team members and other stakeholders. Toward the end of the day, I often follow up on pending emails and plan for my day tomorrow.

In general, a typical work week has a mix of working from home, onsite work and going into the office. Hopefully, as the climate evolves – we will be able to spend much more time in the office collaborating face to face as a team.

What do you love about your job? What kind of task do you enjoy the most?

My favourite part of my job is the great people I get to work with every day. Since the start of my vacation program and into my graduate program, I have always felt supported and always know that there’s someone to ask for help no matter the problem. This support has been consistent across the different teams I’ve worked under.

I really enjoy that this job is directly in place to serve the community, through preserving and developing our ever-growing transport infrastructure.  My current role challenges and pushes me to think analytically as I establish myself as a graduate engineer.

My favourite task would be the onsite work. I get to talk directly to community members, get to explore different parts of our wonderful city and get to use a more analytical part of my brain when we workshop solutions for various pavement and drainage problems. I’ve really gained an appreciation for how dynamic this work can be. The first visit to a site when compared to the next, particularly depending on weather conditions, can be drastically different.

What have been some of the best aspects of the Graduate Program at DoT?

One of the best parts of the STEM Graduate Program at DoT is the people and the culture. People are consistently helpful and understanding. The DoT culture is incredibly friendly and welcoming, with everyone from different backgrounds and disciplines. It’s clear that the team looks out for one another and works together as a unit. As a graduate, I felt that my team has really assisted me in my learning and invested their time to help me grow as an engineer.

We have had plenty of group catch-ups and dinners, and throughout the workday, there’s always an opportunity to have a chat. The atmosphere within the office is light-hearted, open and comfortable.

It has been really satisfying and engaging to see how hard-working each team is working – all with different roles, responsibilities and tasks, however, each team is working together toward a common goal. This commonality and community feel are present throughout the office.

What skills have you developed through the Graduate Program?

There are many different skills that I’ve had the opportunity to hone and develop during this program. Some include:

• Communication – this role involves talking to people and working within the team and with different stakeholders every single day.
• Organisation – ensuring long term goals are met whilst keeping up to date with the daily and weekly tasks and demands calls on organisation and time management.
• Analytical thinking – In this job, looking at a problem with an open mind to consider many different solutions and considering factors such as time, cost and feasibility.
• Teamwork – This job requires close collaboration to develop solutions and ensuring that we always keep team members updated with one another’s progress

How has the Graduate Program impacted your career?

DoT and this Graduate Program has provided me with a significant foundation of essential skills which I will call upon in all future roles. This role reminds me why I chose to pursue this career in engineering in the first place and reinforces that my initial goal was to make an impact and do some good within the community.

This graduate program, and its system of offering a variety of diverse rotations, gives us an opportunity to spark new interests and explore different areas within the field. This will allow me to gain an understanding of what I would like to specialise in and work with in the future.

Lastly, I’ve gained an incredible network of support through all the great people I’ve met during my time with DoT.

What advice would you give to a current university student?

• Live a balanced life – university can get stressful and busy. It is easy to sometimes prioritise the endless stream of study over things like exercise, sleep and leisure. What must be understood is that without this balance, the quality of your work will be impacted and of course your physical, mental and emotional health will be affected too. Everything is in moderation. Also – always make time for the things you enjoy like seeing friends, going out and engaging with hobbies like sport or music.
• Get involved – Participate and engage with university life, such as joining clubs. University is a big transition from high school – and having a good group of friends and a support system is important. Considering engineering, in particular, a collaborative approach is required. You need each other to bounce ideas off one another and work together to understand the challenging concepts and content. Not only will you succeed and go further in engineering, but you will also make a friend and gain invaluable skills to use in your future career.
• Look to the future and plan ahead – It’s a good idea to start thinking about your goals and career early, consider where you might want to be in five years. Get involved in your area of interest and build your experience early, through internships, part-time work, volunteering and work experience. There are so many transferrable skills you can pick up from a variety of part-time jobs, no matter what the job is, like conflict resolution, teamwork and problem-solving.
• Stress management – University can be overwhelming, with deadlines, grades and complex content to grasp. While it can seem like it's never-ending, there is always light at the end of the tunnel and as long as you work hard and look after yourself you will always get through it.