Maxine Price

Overview of my Graduate Program to Date

I am in the IT graduate program at Citipower/Powercor/United Energy (CP/PAL/UE) which is 3 years long and consists of 6 rotations. Rotations are 6-month periods spent in different CP/PAL/UE teams. I am currently doing a double rotation (2 x 6-month rotations) in the Remote Inspections Operations (RIO) team which is under the broader Digital Innovations team. The RIO team does not fall under IT so for my 3rd and 4th rotations, I experienced CP/PAL/UE from a different perspective. 

The RIO team is newly established and is only made up of my boss and myself. While this has meant the rotation has been a steep learning curve, it has been exciting to establish our team’s place in the organisation.  

I have also enjoyed working on the operations side of projects. Operations involve planning and overseeing the execution of projects and are more hands-on then I have been with projects in the past. My team is currently working on projects that involve the remote inspection of our assets (poles and wires) using drone imagery.

5.30 AM

I get up at 5.30 am on days when I go into the office. I don’t exactly live close to the city (it takes me 1-1.5 hours to get in) and the early start helps me beat the traffic. Plus, the extra time means I’m not rushing around in the morning.

7.30 AM

Not many people are in when I arrive. I have a permanent desk but many of the other teams' hot desks when they are in.

I start my days by writing a to-do list then making use of the quiet period by tackling the most challenging tasks. The morning is also a time to get on top of emails before they start piling up. 

8.30 AM

At 8.30 am, I take a company car to meet my boss on-site (in this case ‘on site’ just refers to a random street in our network). Between 9.00 am to 1.00 pm, we fly drones to capture some test images of assets for an upcoming project. These images will be used in a drone capture guide I will write for the drone pilots. When complete, the guide will dictate the types of images the drone pilots need to capture, including the subject and number of images required per asset. 

Unfortunately, our excursion is cut short when it begins to rain but we capture what we needed. We jump in the car and head back to the office. 

I do not go on-site every day, and I look forward to these trips. Going on-site reminds me of the physical network which is the core of our business. It is easy to forget about when seated behind a computer screen. 

1.00 PM

I usually have lunch with one of my fellow IT graduates if they are available. It is a good way to see how they are going in the program and how they are finding their current rotation (especially if I have not been in that team before). I have found my fellow grads to be invaluable resources and support!

My friend Henry and I are pictured, he started the program a year after me.

2.00 PM

Back at our desks, my boss and I view the images we took on our laptops after extracting them from the drone’s SD cards. I have not worked with drones before this rotation and the quality of images they capture never fails to amaze me. These images will be used as examples in the drone capture guide.

3.00 PM

Meeting time! Today my team is meeting with the Product Development team (Dev team) who also sits under Digital Innovations. This team are currently building a Remote Asset Inspection Application (RAIA) through which remote inspections can be performed. Following drone capture, the drone pilots will send asset images to the RAIA. These images will then be inspected by qualified Asset Inspectors so any defects can be identified, and the appropriate action taken.

Most of these meetings involve checking in with team members so everyone is up to speed with the project’s status. You often have to communicate on behalf of other teams/individuals if topics concerning them come up (e.g. on behalf of the drone service provider we use regarding preferred file format). I always take meeting minutes and at the end, I record any action items and who is responsible. If I am the meeting organiser, I send a copy of the minutes to all present. 

3.30 PM

Finalizing meeting minutes and making sure I am aware of all action items assigned to me. I check my emails one last time. 

4.00 PM

I arrive home at about 5.00 pm and greet my fur babies. I have 4 rescue rabbits - two Flemish giants (siblings Humphrey and Jemima), one cashmere (Snoopy), and a mixed breed (Mimi).

For size comparison, here is me holding Jemima (my biggest) and Snoopy (my smallest). She is more than double his weight!

Rabbits are great pets, but they are messy and need a lot of care and attention. They are also delicate and require exotic vet care and special diets which can be expensive. Usually, I spend most of my evenings playing with and cleaning up after mine.

I also spend some evenings running or at the gym. Exercise is important, especially during periods when I am spending more time at my desk than on-site.

I finish off the day by heading to bed early (or at least trying to)!

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