What's your job about?
Palladium partners with governments, corporations and communities to create Positive Impact. We do this by implementing and managing development programs across several different industries including Health, Governance, Logistics, Education and Financial Management to create social and economic benefits. We work in over 90 countries across the globe.
As a new University Professional recruit, I’m part of the new Agile workforce. Which means I’m not tied to one function of the business and can develop a range of skills in several different areas.
Since starting, I’ve already been involved in business development, project closures, financial reconciliation and project operations. Currently, I’m responsible for the operations of four projects in the Asia-Pacific region. Two projects in the area of Education, one in Financial Management and one in Health. On any particular day I could be involved in creating or amending a contract, reviewing the financial status of the projects, preparing and submitting invoices, mobilising an adviser for an overseas assignment or reviewing technical deliverables. While there are periodic tasks that are needed to be completed every month, there’s also the urgent tasks that just pop up to keep me on my toes.
What's your background?
I grew up on acreage 40 minutes from Brisbane. After finishing high school, I moved to Europe for 6 months to play tennis full time. On my return, I moved to the Gold Coast for my undergraduate studies in Sports Science and then to Brisbane for my honours in Biochemistry. I then spent another 6 months in Europe backpacking. I think I learnt just as much in my time overseas as I did during my studies. After more than 2 years as a research assistant I started a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology. While science and health is still of interest to me, I wanted to be closer to where I was making a difference. I’ve been in my current position for 4 months and I’ve been able to use many of the transferable skills I gained during my science studies and I can see a direct impact to the global community.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Absolutely! In fact, many of my colleagues have very different backgrounds. Project operations and Business development both require a variety of important skills, some that you will have and some that you will need to develop further. Strong analytical skills, attention to detail, written communication and team work are a few of the skills that will make your time at Palladium a success. However, the most important thing is that you’re keen to learn on the job.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
One of the coolest things is that I don’t have one supervisor. Across every project that I work on, I report to a different supervisor. Because of this, it’s up to me how I manage my work load and prioritise different tasks. The supervisors understand this and give you the space to split your time between different projects how you need to.
What are the limitations of your job?
There is a very steep learning curve and you get given a lot of responsibility very quickly. As a global company, working across multiple industries, with a number of complex systems this may not be surprising, but until you get your head around a few in can be overwhelming. The benefit of this though is that you learn lots of new skills in a short space of time.
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