International Youth Day is held each year on the 12 August and celebrates the qualities of young people and recognises the challenges they face. Currently, half of the people on our planet are 30 years-old or younger, and this is expected to reach 57 percent by the end of 2030. That’s a lot of creativity, innovation and talent. And we’re harnessing it through our work experience program to help support today’s young people to become tomorrow's leaders.
We launched our work experience program in July 2023 and have had 15 students undertake placements across our Maffra, Mitcham, Morwell and Werribee offices.
Available to students aged 15 years and above, they have a choice of the following areas to undertake their placement, with options available to be placed in multiple areas across the week:
• water operations
• occupational health and safety
• engineering and project management
• environment and climate adaptation
• business services (people and culture, communications, finance and accounting, information technology)
The program is designed to give students a real sense of what working in their chosen area is like and the skills and knowledge needed to excel in a career.
Bradden Taylor, Employee Relations Business Partner said students who’ve taken part in our work experience program had a wide range of interests and were encouraged to pursue them or try something new.
“Some of our students opted for a mixed week, spending time in human resources, communications, finance and engineering,” he said.
“During their rotation in human resources, they undertook a CV review, application tests, and interview training that will be useful to them in the future.”
Bradden believed it was valuable for them to split their time across multiple business units so they could again experience across a variety of career paths.
“I think it’s important for students who are starting to explore careers to keep an open mind and get a broad range of experience so they can work out what they really enjoy doing,” he said.
“It was fantastic seeing the passion and interest our student had for the work we gave them.”
Amanda Castle, Manager Program Governance has also mentored students and provided them with valuable insights into asset management and project delivery.
“Students enjoyed working in the office and joining the team on site visits to our assets, such as dams and irrigation infrastructure, to get a rounded and real-world insight into the working world,” she said.
Bradden and Amanda (pictured below) both attended recent career expos at Sale Catholic College and Maffra Secondary College.
Bradden said the event was a great opportunity to share insights about Southern Rural Water and why we are proud to be a local employer of choice.
“It was inspiring to see so much interest from students eager to join our work experience program and from parents curious about the roles and skills we value,” he said.
We have two intakes a year for our work experience program with applications open in February (for placements in the first semester) and July (for placements in the second semester). Bradden said they had received great feedback from the work experience alumni and looked forward to confirming and placing successful applicants of the current intake soon.
Below is some of the feedback we have received from former work experience students.
“Something that I found really satisfying was the amazing and friendly staff. They went out of their ways to explain to me about what they do.”
“The work experience exceeded any expectations I had.”
“The staff gave me detailed explanations and took me out to the irrigation district which was interesting and fun.”
“The work experience was all really fun as I could explore different fields of work, learn more about the irrigation district and what Southern Rural Water do.”
“I got great insight around into how water is managed and handled in an environmentally safe way.”
So, if you’re a young person and want to explore your career path, we can help support you get a feel for your future and how you could apply your skills to achieve great outcomes.
For your application to be considered, please include:
• A resume.
• An introductory letter about yourself and why you are interested in work experience with Southern Rural Water.
• Answers to all the questions on the application page.
Applications for our next work experience intake open in February 2025 and we would encourage you to keep an eye on our careers page for information.