What's your job about?

I work for the Clean Energy Regulator, and our strategic direction as an agency is to accelerate carbon abatement for Australia. At the moment, I work in the Communications Section in the Internal Communications team, where our team looks after coordinating messages around the agency. My role includes putting together the agency newsletter, being the main communications contact for the Social Club and other groups within the agency, and helping people to get important news and updates out there to keep the rest of the agency informed on what’s happening.

What's your background?

I’m from sunny Newcastle, on the East Coast of NSW. I was lucky enough to be chosen for the graduate program at the Clean Energy Regulator, so at the start of 2016 I moved to Canberra and I haven’t looked back. Before that, I studied a degree in Development Studies with a major in Environmental Sustainability at the University of Newcastle. I also did a year of Honours, and my thesis was focused on anti-Coal Seam Gas activism in the Hunter Valley. After honours, I spent a few years working at the Department of Human Services at Centrelink.

Since I finished my graduate program, I’ve been working in the Communications Section at the Clean Energy Regulator working in internal communications. It’s an area I never expected to be working in, but the great thing about the grad program is that you get lots of opportunities to try new things!

I’m also a keen traveller, and I’ve backpacked all over the world - South America is the next place on my list!

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Absolutely! As I said before, the great thing about a grad program is that you get the experience to try lots of different things – especially in our day and age where our generation is unlikely to spend 40 years in the same job. I think you learn a lot of transferrable skills working in the Australian Public Service, so it’s possible to work towards working in many different areas regardless of your background or skills.

What's the coolest thing about your job?

My favourite thing about my job is being able to help people promote their personal causes in the agency – it gives me warm fuzzy feelings! Examples include helping to organise an event for shaving a staff member’s head for charity, and many other events where we raised money for charities and special interest groups who do really great work!

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

• Spend more time studying – I got pretty good marks without studying very hard, but I definitely could have achieved really high scores if I’d been more motivated.
• In contrast to number 1 – don’t take things like assignments and exams too seriously! It’s not the end of the world if you don’t do well – you can always try again. You always end up doing better than you thought!
• One thing I did a lot of and which I’d advise to others is socialise and make contacts. University isn’t just about studying, it’s also a great chance to make friends and try new things. Join the clubs, attend the events (even by yourself!) and make some new friends – they may end up being really valuable contacts for internships, jobs, etc in the future!