Investing in our future
At TasWater there is a strong focus on the workforce of the future, with a number of programs held annually to ensure we provide meaningful career pathways and opportunities for young people, particularly Tasmanians, to have interesting and important work in their home state.
The programs we offer are focused on young people from high school to university aged students.
One example is the annual internship program, which has just commenced for the year.
Each November, chosen students from the University of Tasmania (UTAS), in their penultimate year of study, work at TasWater sites and offices across the state for a 12-week period, offering them a glimpse of what life could be like for them after their studies are complete.
Organisation Planning and Performance Manager Yvette Gilbert said students work closely with staff in a range of areas.
“The areas include network optimisation and asset performance, dam safety, projects, finance, human resources as well as data and analytics,” she said.
This paid internship program is one of the many ways TasWater is looking to the future, helping to ensure Tasmania’s water continues to be safe and reliable in addition to sewage being taken care of as sustainably as possible.
“We also have our annual Steve Balcombe Scholarship, which has been running now for 22 years,” Mrs Gilbert said.
“One winner is selected who is a year 12 leaver intending to study engineering or environmental sciences at UTAS. In addition to financial support, upon graduation, the recipient has the opportunity to take up a permanent position at TasWater.
“There is also a graduate program which is competency based and runs for 24 months with three rotations between different areas of the business. We have an intake of up to five graduates per year.”
While these programs are primarily focused on the more corporate areas including engineering, projects, science and human resources, one of our more established development programs is aimed towards the important function of the field-based service delivery teams. They are directly involved in getting water from the plants to people’s taps, and ensuring wastewater gets to a treatment plant and back into the environment.
“We regularly bring in trainees in the networks, water and sewage treatment spaces throughout the year,” Mrs Gilbert said.
“We offer a nationally accredited VET Certificate III course to all our operator-focussed employees in this space, to help ensure they are equipped with the right tools for the job.
“We have talented staff already who are doing great things for the Tasmanian community and who are eager to pass on their knowledge to the next generation, and we hope that can continue.”
While there are a range of programs in place, aimed to attract and retain the ‘start of employee lifecycle’ demographic, TasWater recognises that the competition for top talent will only increase in coming years.
“We need to continue to build the right skills and capability for the workforce of the future and we seek to nurture those skills from local talent where possible,” Mrs Gilbert said.
For more information on scholarship, intern, graduate or trainee opportunities, go to the TasWater website and select ‘Education’ under the ‘Community’ tab.