What do you get up to in your day-to-day role?
I am in the IT department and my areas of responsibility are the support and maintenance of applications across the business. My day-to-day tasks normally start with opening the dashboard and reviewing any new user access requests raised by our fieldworkers or task schedulers. Like most of us in Melbourne I always save some time for a coffee, before coming back to log into SAP and extract any data to prepare an error report for the team. I normally like to catch up with colleagues over lunch; I especially like exploring all the good lunch spots the city has to offer. In the afternoon, I will complete the error reporting requirements and submit it to the business side of the company, then solve any incoming incident tickets raised. I like to think of incident tickets as customer service, where I am there to help members of our business solve any tricky problems they may face related to software usage.
What's your background?
I was born and raised in China, but I moved to Melbourne to complete my Bachelor of Commerce and Masters of IT degrees at the University of Melbourne. I was fortunate to have work experience in both China and Australia, working in the IT and finance industries. Most helpful to my career was my time with Enactus, a student-focused group that works on innovative ideas through entrepreneurship to solve the world’s biggest issues and make positive social and environmental impacts. I wanted to apply my knowledge and kick-start my career in a graduate program, and CitiPower and Powercor were the perfect fit. I have now been in the position for 6 months. My hobbies include finding the best restaurants around Melbourne and regional Victoria, playing tennis, and taking road trips with my friends.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes! The key points of this role are problem-solving, taking the initiative, being calm under pressure, and providing clear communication, both written and verbal. You may not know much about the energy sector, (I have certainly learnt a lot myself!) but don’t be afraid to ask questions as there is always someone around to help.
What do you love most about your job?
The most rewarding aspect of this job is clicking the ‘incident solved’ button! I get great satisfaction from being able to help my colleagues at the company solve their issues, which often stops them from doing their own jobs.
So far, what has been the highlight of the graduate program? Was your graduate role as you expected it to be? Did anything take you by surprise?
So far, the highlight has been the extensive training the company has been able to provide. In particular, the road trip we took to the Loy Yang Power station really opened my eyes to the work we do as a company within the energy industry. It is nice to know how my work with the IT graduate program fits into the wider company. This sense of inclusion has also been a great surprise. Graduates are immediately included in the wider IT department, being invited to quarterly Townhall meetings.
Everyone is keen on maintaining work/life balance, with that in mind what is the longest day you have put in and have you worked weekends at all?
The IT graduate program has so far been very flexible with my current work/life balance, I haven’t been chained to my desk so far! At first, I attended the office every day to absorb as much information as possible. As I have become more familiar with the role, I work some days from home, especially on days when I have other commitments. It is fantastic that the program allows for this flexibility to suit your lifestyle.
Do you have any advice for potential graduates applying?
I have three pieces of advice for potential graduates applying;