What's your job about?

Winslow is a civil construction company that builds roads, bridges and land and industrial developments. We do a lot of earthmoving, which means we have lots of machines in the field turning vacant land into amazing communities. 

One project might be full of rocks, so we repurpose the rocks on those sites or crush them for road base, which means we are always looking for ways to be sustainable and environmentally sensitive.
If you drive around an area with new homes, there’s a good chance Winslow constructed the roads, bridges, water and sewers, etc. We build anything from small, medium density projects to large developments, and major infrastructure projects. 

My role is to track the performance of various jobs by measuring and calculating how much material was used and at what cost. 
My day consists of visiting several, if not all the jobs in my region north of Melbourne to gather data on each project’s performance. 

For example, with the construction of pavements I would gather information such as how much material we used for the various layers in the footpath. Then I work out if we saved on costs and where we did in the construction process. 

 Alternatively, if we used too much material where did we go wrong. By doing this we can learn from this information to improve construction costs for the next project we are working on. 

It’s all about being more efficient and productive, so my role is crucial to the business understanding where we are and how we can get better.

What's your background?

My parents came to Australia from Iraq in the 1990s before I was born. I grew up in the northern suburbs of Melbourne.  I went to secondary school at St. Monica’s College in Epping, but I was unsure of which path to take when I finished Year 12.

However, my uncles are mostly engineers, and they helped me make the decision to become an engineer. After talking to them about what was involved, I decided to study Civil Engineering at RMIT, which I graduated with my diploma in 2021. 

My uncles supported me along the way when I needed help during my studies, and they helped me gain invaluable experience by working with them and developing my knowledge in the field.

I applied for a Graduate Engineer position via the company’s website, which also highlighted Winslow’s Graduate Program, and it really appealed to me. 

A friend of mine who was a Site Engineer at Winslow helped me secure an interview and that went well because I was offered the job. I've now been with Winslow for more than a year and a half.

For six months, I’ve been working as a KPI Engineer, and I continue to learn something new all the time, which inspires me. There’s so many career opportunities here because Winslow identifies leaders early who are offered a place in the Emerging Leaders program.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

I believe if you’re working in the civil engineering field, you’d have an easy time transferring your skills to the type of work I do. However, most civil engineers may not have the on-site experience that we get from working at Winslow. 

I worked in the field when I began here so that I had a full understanding of all the construction processes. When I moved into the office, my role was so much clearer as I understood it better than someone who hasn’t gotten their hands dirty. Nothing beats hands-on experience to learn fast, and my supervisors were always willing to answer any questions and guide me.

Having strong communication skills is also important because you are working with many personalities, and getting along well with them is crucial to ensuring our job runs well.

What's the coolest thing about your job?

I love the freedom I have because I’m not being micromanaged the same way you might be in other roles. It’s great to be trusted to do my job, but I also know that I have support around me if I need it.

The team here is always available and willing to help me, which is extremely comforting especially when you first start in a new role.

The best perk for this role is the personal work vehicle and free fuel. Because you’re driving so much in this job you get a personal car, which you can also use outside of work – and that’s pretty cool.

What are the limitations of your job?

The only bad thing I could say about this role is it’s socially draining. I meet with and speak to so many various people each day that I do get tired by the time I finish work.