What is Consulting?

What do consultants do?

The role of a consultant is extremely broad and can vary between industries and firms. At Worley and Advisian, our consultants add value at all stages of the asset and business lifecycle, from initial concepts, through to delivery, operation and post-closure. Our technical experts bring a deep understanding of assets, both existing and new, with extensive experience on many of the world’s most challenging projects. We do more than just front-end engineering consulting, as many of our engineering hubs operate across the entire project lifecycle.

What does Worley do?

Worley is a leading global provider of professional project and asset services in the energy, chemicals and resources sectors. Weprovide expertise in engineering, procurement and construction, as well as consulting services. Every day we help our customers get one step closer to solving our planet’s complex issues, such as climate change, the energy transition, digital transformation and how we are delivering a more sustainable world.

As a publicly listed company (ASX: WOR) headquartered in Sydney, our company consists of over 40,000people working across 49 countries, including a number of subsidiaries such as Advisian and Intecsea. Our people represent many cultures and backgrounds, and various groups exist that champion causes such as our Sustainability Network,Women of Worley and All Abilities group to name a few.

Are there different types of consulting?

The term “consulting” is very broad but generally, when most people talk about “consulting” they may be referring to the consulting industry and well-known firms like the Big 4. The types of consulting that such firms offer can include strategy/management, technology, risk, finance, advisory, HR, etc. There are also other types of consulting such as engineering consulting, which is one area that Advisian specializes in.

Worley and Advisian provide professional engineering services, very often with overlap (i.e. teams composed of Worley and Advisian people) but sometimes there are projects (or stages of a project)that may fall under a particular discipline of consulting. A hypothetical example of this could be a government customer who wishes to build a new wind farm and has contracted Advisian to begin the process – we would then bring in team members specializing in Power Advisory & Energy Transition, among others, and undertake concept/pre-feasibility/feasibility studies.

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As an engineer, how can students make an impact in consulting?

Making an impact in consulting, or any other industry, is very much unique to each person and how they go about their role, but some general guidance:

• Starting off in your professional career can be intimidating as you are just learning everything but being interested and engaged in the work that you do, staying open to learning new things and remaining curious and technically inquisitive will allow you to better understand your work and what you enjoy in your job – making an impact will just flow naturally from this
• As mentioned previously, a core part of consulting is engaging with customers and stakeholders so being able to communicate ideas and listen to others thoughtfully and respectively is extremely important. Likewise, the ability to work in a team (and independently when required) is highly valued as it shows that you are able to get along with other people well.

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How can you get started?

What steps can a student take now to understand engineering consulting?

As a graduate entering the industry, there isn’t an expectation for you to know everything and have all the technical skills straight away to deliver work. However, to understand the type of work you maybe exposed to, there are some steps you can take now whilst in your studies:

• Expand your network and make connections both professional and at university, e.g. attending career and networking events, signing up to UNSW sport/music/theatre or joining student societies (like WIESoc and EngSoc!)
• Keep up to date on industry news through sources such as the AustralianFinancial Review, Business Insider and Engineers Australia. This is really important as it provides some real-life examples of the different types of projects that engineering consultants work on as well as where the industries and sectors you’re interested in are heading.
• Sign up for the various internship and leadership opportunities thatUNSW, Worley and other firms offer. The more experience you have, the better you’ll be able to understand what consulting is like and whether it is something you’d like to pursue.

Do you have any tips and tricks to get a head start in university?

University is a great time to experiment and explore more about what you want to do for a career. Some things that you can do to get a head start, whether you are just starting your first year or fifth year:

• Do as many extracurricular activities as you can - joining club committees, volunteering for Open Day/O-Week, sports teams, music, performing arts
• Read up on industry news – Australian Financial Review, BusinessInsider, Engineers Australia – to gain a rough idea of the industry you'd like to go into and what's happening in that industry
• Seek out references such as lecturers, tutors, coaches, etc., regularly check your university careers page and apply for internships and leadership opportunities
• Learn about digital and data science - many companies including Worley are incorporating more automation into day to day tasks and, for example, things like VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) can be useful to know
• Take on electives or subjects outside of your core discipline to gain an understanding and appreciation for other disciplines and explore your other interests
• Take the time to have fun, relax and enjoy university life with your friends, family and pets

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Finally, I hope this blogpost has been helpful. As a reminder, Worley offer roles in our GraduateDevelopment Program and Summer Vacation Program - applications open in February2022 and June 2022, respectively. These positions are available in all ouroffices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. For more information on how to apply and other roles that might be suitable for you now, please visit www.worley.com/careers/early-careers and click on the APAC link.