Dear Sir or Madam

I am writing to apply for the Industrus Graduate Engineer position as advertised on the careers page. As a penultimate-year Civil Engineering and Business student at the University of Technology Sydney, I believe I possess the relevant skills and experience required for this role. I have two years of Undergraduate engineering experience as I’m an Asset officer at Liverpool City Council, which has allowed me to develop strong communication and teamwork skills. Please find my address of the selection criteria

(3.1) A commitment to ethical conduct and the highest standards of professional accountability
During my work experience at Liverpool City Council, I was asked to supervise the installation of a bus shelter in Moorebank which required the kerb to rebuilt as it was damaged in the installation. When I was supervising the construction of the kerb, I had realised that the formwork to pour the concrete was less than 150mm which is the minimum required height for a kerb according to Australian standards. I had then got the measuring tape out and soon realised there was a 15mm gap from the minimum standards. I had called my supervisor who was also supervising the installation and he also had taken a look at the work. After checking my measuring, he was extremely grateful and had instructed the tradesman to redo the formwork and to mix more concrete to achieve the right height of the kerb. I believe I made the right decision as a non compliant kerb would have been built and therefore become an legal issue if an injury occurs due to the low level kerb when boarding the bus. This situation taught me attention to detail and the importance of understanding Australian standards the role they play in the construction industry. The situation also taught me to speak up and and communicating issues safely and confidently.

(3.2) Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate both with other engineers and with stakeholders from different fields.
I was part of the asset planning and management team which means all the assets owned by council which include buildings, parks, drainage systems and carparks are managed by the asset team. By working in this team I had the responsibility of inspecting and providing a condition report of a community centre in Hinchinbrook which was then required to be sent ot the structural engineers. After completing the inspection and condition reporting, I had presented it to the structural engineers. While I was presenting I had provided a brief explanation fo what we had encountered visual inspection and what capital and renewal works need to be completed. From this experience, how to effectively communicate with other departments in the council and how to fulfill their expectations with what they were asking.

(3.3) The ability to engage with a creative, innovative and proactive environment
Part of being the asset team, my duty is to complete inspections of all assets owned by the council and complete by 10 year capital and renewal works program so that the assets can be improved and improve their life span. My first inspection experience was to complete all the building in the government area and provide a works program. The works program was completed after completing 200 buildings which means the amount for works required was extremely long and estimating the cost of each work took me more than 2 months. To avoid this tedious and time consuming process when completing other works program, I had began working on it simultaneously to inspecting the asset. When I began the inspection of council park and reserves, i would download all the data collected on the field and provide costing for works on the same day so that when it was
time to submit the works program it was completed in a week rather than 2 months. From this experience it had taught me to be proactive and to work smarter and not harder and I have now my entire team has adapted this process.

(3.4) Demonstrated ability to use and manage information
The asset management team were experiencing in its asset management system which has all the information of all the conditions, costing, value, depreciation cost of all the assets record. Due to the enormous data base, there were always delays in operation and maintenance works of assets. I had taken up the responsibility to clean up the data base by grouping certain assets. For example all the plastic bollards were grouped as one asset with the the total cost and depreciation value becoming an average. In doing so, the asset data became more streamline and when reporting for maintenance issues, naming the park or building would suffice for the asset to be fixed. This had taught me to be more proactive and to constantly think outside the box to improve operations within a business.

(3.5)The ability to manage your own performance in a professional environment.
In my internship, I would often complete a task and then would have an expectation to be told what to do next and how to do it. However i had soon realised this was false in a professional environment as everyone is busy and are focused on their tasks. After completing the works program for the building, I was wondering what to do next and did not take the initiative to fins out. However I soon realised, it was my responsibility to do so in which i had spoken to my supervisor who had given me the task of land validations of the lands owned by the council. My manager was elated showed my manager that I’m keen to learn and eager to do more. This experience had taught me to be more proactive and and to constantly to take initiative in what ever work I do.

(3.6)A demonstrated ability to work as part of a team and to show leadership when required.

It was towards the end of the financial year where my coordinator had given me and my other three colleagues time to complete mapping of all the new drainage systems which have been added in the last financial year so that the system can be updated for maintenance purposes. It was coming closer to the due date and my colleagues had incomplete work. I knew this would disappoint my manager which then lead me to create a gantt chart with the dead line and what needs to be completed by each one of us so that the system was up to date before the end of financial year. The realistic gantt chart had worked and we were able to complete our work on time which had met our managers expectations. This experiences had taught me the importance of being a leader and how taking control of a situation helps a team to work together towards a common goal.

I look forward to hearing from you. If you need any further information, please don’t hesitate to reach out through my email. Thank you for your consideration.

Kind Regards,
Calvin Kandiah