What's your job about?
My role at the Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) is as Communications graduate. Working communications and stakeholder engagement for LXRP is being the connection between the project team, the public, key stakeholders and the Victorian Government. My work involves knowing what is happening at the sites and clearly informing the public and other stakeholders. We also provide feedback to the team about the community’s sentiment, any issues and what we can do to minimise the disruption.
On the other side of Melbourne, I have helped with the communications for the Pakenham construction blitz which removed 3 level crossings and opened 2 new stations. With this project I was writing email updates, creating disruption tiles and assisting with a project update information session.
What's your background?
I am from Christchurch, New Zealand, a ‘city’ significantly smaller than Melbourne with 380,000 people, with a relatively isolated location in Te Waipounamu (South Island). This city often felt more like a small town where communities know and help each other out, particularly seen after our earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. During high school here, I had a strong interest in sciences and art but a strong dislike of English and anything writing, the complete opposite of me now.
I had a break before commencing my university studies where I did a gap year living in the UK working at a boarding school in Bournemouth and taking every chance I could to explore Europe. Sadly 15 months into my life in Europe, the covid pandemic hit and the safest option was to return to New Zealand.
Communications was not something that I had considered studying whilst I was at high school, and I wasn’t exposed to the possibility of it until I was researching university options. University of Canterbury captured my attention as they had recently started offering a Bachelor of Communications which taught a combination of marketing, journalism, politics and communications courses which I had developed a strong interest in while overseas and during the early stages of the pandemic.
Prior to my role at LXRP I did not have any communication specific work experience but during university I had taken part in roles that had dealt with many stakeholders and interacted with the community. These experiences cemented my want to work in a community focused positions.
I applied for the grad position while I completed my final year of studies in New Zealand. I have now been in the role for around 5 months and am about to complete my first rotation with the North West Program Alliance where I have been able to touch on a range of different projects each with different needs and priorities.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes – I think that there are a lot of degrees and roles that can cross over into communications but not all. Many arts and business degrees have relevant information and skills, particularly in journalism and marketing.
Having good people skills, strong attention to detail, and being flexible are important traits to bring to the role as you are working within the community and priorities can shift quickly.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
The nature of LXRP’s work means lots of changes and disruptions for the community, but the coolest part is seeing the positive impact it can have for them. Already in my first 5 months I have witnessed a lot of gratitude from the public on what our projects bring to the communities and the ways that the teams go about minimising impacts on them. We have recently received praise from a community group for reopening a road early and the time their staff have saved because of our works. It has also been interesting to see how we are able to tailor our communications and assistance to specific community members to better suit their needs, such as giving personal tours to a blind community member or sending individual SMS’s to those who can’t access information in other ways. This job is really one where you really get to see the changes that your contribution makes.
What are the limitations of your job?
Dependent on where your projects are depends on what work and experiences you are getting. Different stages of the projects require different work and when you are in a team centred around one project that can mean a lot of repetition in tasks and less exposure to new things. The good thing about this graduate program is that being rotational you are guaranteed to be exposed to different projects over time. I have also found that often team members you work with can have varying work, so it is important to build connections with them and volunteer to help whenever you’re able to.
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