Where did you grow up? Important stages of your life (school, education, experience abroad, jobs etc.) 

I grew up in Adelaide and from school, went straight to university, studying at the University of Adelaide. During my time at university, I was lucky enough to get experience in a range of different industries including consulting, refrigeration and oil and gas. At the end of my penultimate year of study, I undertook a summer vacation placement at Santos. After graduating from my degree I worked in the refrigeration industry for a year and a half, where I gained some great practical experience, before landing a job with the coveted Santos graduation program.

How did you get to your current job position? For how long have you had it? 

Working for Santos as a vacation student allowed me to form relationships within the company so that I was made aware when any new opportunities became available. It’s how I found out to apply for the Santos graduate program, where I’ve been working for more than a year. 

How did you choose your specialisation (compared to others)? / Were you weighing up any other alternatives before choosing this specialisation?

Chemical engineering is a very broad degree and there are many different industries that you can work in. This made it very difficult to choose where I wanted to work – actually a good problem to have! So I was determined to get experience in a range of different industries while at university in order to compare and see what best suited me. My time in the Santos vacation program taught me that the oil and gas industry is a very dynamic and challenging one, which appealed to me a lot! I learnt that there are so many different aspects of the industry where engineers can work and that’s really what made the graduate program at Santos so appealing − I could choose one industry but then still have the opportunity to rotate into different roles to develop my career.  

What was your interview process like? What kind of questions were you asked?

The application process for the vacation program involved online testing followed by an assessment with other candidates where we were asked to do different exercises to show teamwork and collaboration. There was also a presentation and interview. When applying for the graduate program, it was mainly an online process, with a recorded video interview. The main questions I got asked in both of these interviews were about how I would handle different situations and examples of times when I displayed certain characteristics. 

What does your employer do? 

A proudly Australian company, Santos is a leading supplier of natural gas and has safely and sustainably developed Australia’s natural gas resources since it was founded in South Australia’s outback more than 60 years ago.

What are your areas of responsibility? 

My current role is a production engineer, where my responsibility is to work out how to produce and optimise production from our oil wells in the Cooper Basin. This involves both surface and subsurface technologies and can range from day-to-day to long term projects.  

Can you describe a typical workday? What was the last thing you worked on?

My current role is mostly office-based, however, I have had several opportunities to go to the field. I work mainly on long term opportunities for our oil wells, including pump conversions and upsizes as well as subsurface changes. One of the projects I am working on is looking at trialling a new scale remediation product, which has involved various lab tests and an extensive candidate selection process. As a production engineer, I get to work with many different disciplines within the business including geologists, reservoir engineers, completion engineers and operating engineers. A combined effort from all of these teams is required to successfully implement our projects. 

What are the career prospects with your job? / Where could you or others in your position go from here? 

Santos is a big company with assets and offices across Australia. There is the opportunity for both field and office-based roles in South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia. As a graduate, you are given the opportunity to rotate into different areas of the business and develop your career, either inexperienced technical or leadership roles. I am excited about my future with Santos, and where my career will take me. 

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Yes, definitely. There is currently a range of different engineers working in the production engineering team, including petroleum, mechanical and electrical.

What would your career be if you weren’t doing what you’re doing now? 

I would be working in refrigeration.

What do you love the most about your job? Which kind of task do you enjoy the most? 

I love being able to work both in the office and in the field and working with different disciplines on a daily basis. I also like the responsibility of managing my own projects and the excitement of executing them and waiting for them to come online. 

What’s the biggest limitation of your job? Do you bear a lot of responsibility? Do you have to work on weekends? Are stress levels high? 

As with all jobs, there are some times when last minute, urgent tasks take priority. In these times it is difficult to juggle day-to-day work. However, these periods don’t often last long and they can help with improving the way you work under pressure. I am fortunate that my role does not require weekend work, however, there are some roles within the company that does. 

Which three pieces of advice would you give to a current university student? 

• Try to get as much industry experience as possible (preferably onsite work if related to your degree). You won’t know what you like until you go out there and give it a go! 
• Start networking while you are at university. Attend all those industry nights! The more connections you have, the more opportunities will open up to you, and it’s always interesting to hear about other peoples’ roles and career pathways.
• Make sure to look after your mental health. Studying can be very stressful and I found it’s great to have something else to focus on, whether it be sport, music, part-time job, volunteering or other extracurricular activities (but also don’t overdo it!).