Excited for your next rotation Graduates?



We recently interviewed Akash Mohan and Liz Tolhurst for advice on how to successfully transition to a new placement. Check out their tips and tricks below.




Akash Mohan
Engineering Graduate

Tell us about yourself, your career with Transport and how you get to where you are today.
My name is Akash Mohan and I'm a second year graduate for Transport for NSW. I was with Sydney Trains for two rotations and I'm currently working on the Sydney Metro West project.

Any tips on leaving your current placement?
Always leave on good terms. Keep in touch the best you can - this is where a professional network on LinkedIn is fantastic. If the placement is something that interests you, definitely let them know and they will reach out to you if any longer-term opportunities open up.

Reflect on your placement and see what you would do differently in your next placement. Also, if I am no longer using that particular email from that agency, I leave an out-of-office message with my new contact details.

What challenges did you face when you changed placements?
The way you should look at a placement is that it’s a brand new role. There's very few times in life where you will be able to change jobs or roles four times in two year, and no one is going to question it. So use that to your advantage. Make sure you sit down with your manager on your first day and talk to other people too, and let them know you’re here from the graduate program for a developmental opportunity and here to learn. It’s definitely scary going into a new placement, but it’s okay to be awkward for the first couple of weeks. It’s okay to not have an answer for everything; I think one mistake that a lot of graduates make is coming across as you know everything I think the best approach that I still take to this day, is to say “I have no idea what I'm talking about but I can give it my best shot and you can help me learn.” It disarms the person and a lot more people will be a lot more open to helping out. That's also a great way to build a good working relationship with somebody by just asking for help or asking for a favour.

Liz Tohurst
Human Resources Graduate

Tell us about your Transport journey to where you are today?
I started as a Human Resources Scholar in 2014 working during the University summer breaks and then streamed onto the Graduate program in August 2017. To date I’ve worked in Rail Safety at Sydney Trains, Organisation Development at TfNSW and am currently working in HR at Sydney Metro.

What are your tips for newer Graduates still navigating the rotation process?

  1. Meet with your next manager before you start the rotation, and come with questions to learn more about the team and their work. Managers always seem to ask you: “what do you want to get out of this rotation?”, so brainstorm beforehand.
  2. Organise building access, laptop, access to computer programs and email accounts (if applicable) before you transition to your next rotation.
  3. At the commencement of your rotation, talk through your PDP with your manager to set expectations on both sides about the work in the coming months.
  4. Give yourself some space to settle in. It takes time to get comfortable with a new team and a new agency, so don’t worry if you don’t have the answers right off the bat.

Would you suggest staying for all 4 rotations?
I think it is up to the individual. Some people will want to stay on the program to explore different teams and agencies and others will feel ready to move onto a permanent role before the 4 rotations are complete. There’s no right or wrong way.