Ambassador Insights

Maddy Stahlhut Civil Engineer (Integrated Transport Planning), GHD

So, you’re not a graduate anymore, what are you?

At the start of 2021, I graduated for a second time. No, I didn’t undertake extra study, I graduated from the graduate program within my organisation. In our industry, it is a right of passage for an engineer to be a graduate. You finish university, you graduate, you’re a graduate engineer. It makes sense – you don’t know everything when you finish an engineering degree and learn an incredible amount of knowledge working with supervising engineers in the first few years of your career.

Many organisations including Councils and TMR, have graduate programs designed to develop new starters both professionally and personally. The program I participated in runs over two years and is highly structured with a clear end goal – to no longer be a graduate. After graduating from this program in early 2021, myself and 40 of my peers were on our own. I do not say this in a negative light – to get to the end of this program means we were successful in achieving our goal.

For me, and I assume many others who have taken a similar path as myself, since high school I have had a clear professional goal – finish high school, get into my Uni course, finish my Uni course, get a graduate position. Then when I had the graduate job, my clear goal was to get to the end of the graduate program. When I finally achieved this goal, it was the first time in over six years, and the first time in my adult, professional life that essentially, I did not have the next steps laid out in front of me. If you also find yourself in this position, you are not alone! It’s daunting, but also discussing with mentors and peers, pretty common.

I have found it is extremely important to reassess where you find yourself at the end of your graduate program and what you have learnt in terms of skills and yourself during this time. If you find yourself, exactly where you want to be, develop clear direction on how you can continue to develop in this position. The biggest thing I have learned during the past year, is that its okay to just enjoy what you are doing in your role for a while, without having to worry about the next step in your career.

Contrastingly, most often the best part of a graduate program is that you get insight into different areas of the organisation you work in. If you get to the end of your program, and you think there is something you still want to explore, go back, and explore it further. Again, often organisations have just as many internal opportunities, as there are opportunities outside your organisation. At the end of last year, nearly a year after I finished my graduate program, I got itchy feet and needed both a professional and personal change. I made the decision to relocate from Toowoomba to Brisbane, within GHD. It was not for a promotion or a vastly different role, rather initiated by me to take a side-step and gain some new experiences. It was just the kind of move I needed to be able to reassess my goals and direction.

My experience has also reinforced my view that it is also extremely important for employers to continue to support younger professionals throughout their career. Young professionals will one day be the leaders and managers of your organisation, and employee satisfaction and ongoing professional development is key to an effective succession plan. Organisations do a great job onboarding and supporting graduates, but the transition from graduate to younger professional to senior professional is not as smooth – yet.

My biggest piece of advice to any young professional, is to just ask the question. Whatever your question might be, employers in our industry are invested in our development.