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Stage 6 Engineering Studies
Career profile
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Name: Sean Rice
Age: 28
Employer: Bourke Shire Council
Position in company: Director of Engineering Services
Job description: My role is to manage a staff of 65 with an annual budget of $10 million. Together, we work for the Bourke community supplying and maintaining roads, bridges, water supplies and sewerage services, airports, parks and gardens and sporting ovals. You name it, we do it.
Qualifications: BE Civil (Hons) MBA (Tech Mgt)
Best thing about the job: I love working with staff. I spend a great deal of my time motivating them, and helping them to get the best out of themselves.
Worst thing about the job: Constantly being in the public eye can be pretty demanding at times. I think you have to be a special breed to be a successful local government engineer. I stay sane by having good moral values, and going to bed each night knowing that I’ve done the best I can for my community.
Strangest thing you’ve had to do: During the height of the drought last year, Bourke was in dire need of water. To solve the problem, we basically made water flow back up hill. We accessed a water supply five kilometres downstream of our township and through a series of pumps and other gadgets made the level of water rise back upstream to the point that our community could use it. The town was saved.
When you were at school, did you plan to do this type of work? I have always wanted to be an engineer from the time I was in primary school. To be honest though, even when I was in Year 12 and was filling in my preferences for Uni, I didn’t know what engineers did. Some people told me that engineers were train drivers. I know now, that being an engineer is all about making things happen.
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