James Moore

Hire Date: 1/02/2016 as a Mechanical & Controls Engineer Intern.
Career progression and Current role: Mechanical & Controls Engineer to a Lead Fire & Hydraulic Engineer and currently an Engineering Design and Delivery Manager
Degree: Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering
University: Queensland University of Technology

What initially attracted you to this company and role as a new graduate?

It presented as an interesting foot into a sector I knew very little about but knew was a growing market and with a company that had a lot of potential growth ahead of it.

Can you share some of the most valuable skills or experiences you’ve gained during your time here?

Communication cannot be understated enough, highly technical without the ability to present that knowledge is limiting, humility, being the first to explain you don’t know something usually brings up a bigger conversation about the solution.

How would you describe the company culture and working environment?

Dynamic, NEXTDC has been an incredible learning experience but first and foremost it’s been dynamic in its expectations of me to learn and develop to new challenges all the time.

In what ways has the company supported your professional development and growth?

I have been lucky enough to have 4 roles in 8 years pushed on by the support of the company and my manager, in both formal and informal professional development, whenever I have reached out someone has been there to guide or support me.

Can you share any memorable projects or achievements you’ve been involved in since joining the company?

My most memorable memories are all related to seeing designs I helped put onto paper constructed and operated as data centres, it’s hard to pinpoint single moments but the scale of everything doesn’t stop amazing me.

How does the company encourage innovation and creativity among its employees?

NEXTDC has a good culture of accepting and resolving any question, it’s very rare that an idea is dismissed without being discuss and resolved as appropriate for exploration or not suitable for the application, with this we are enabled to push the boundaries of what the industry is doing.

What advice/tips would you give to new graduates considering applying for a role at NEXTDC?

Speak up as often and as loudly as possible, it’s easy to be swept away in the pace of NEXTDC, don’t be afraid to present ideas, ask questions and challenge the status quo, you won’t be punished for it, and it will probably produce great results.

Pearlie Zhang

Hire Date: 20/11/2017 as a Network Engineer Intern.
Career progression and current role: Graduate Network Engineer to a Junior Network Engineer, then a Network Engineer and currently a Software Engineer.
Degree: Bachelor of Commerce (Finance)/Bachelor of Engineering (Computer)
University: University of New South Wales

What initially attracted you to this company and role as a new graduate?

I believed it was a company in a growing sector in technology in a growth stage

Can you share some of the most valuable skills or experiences you’ve gained during your time here?

Learning to communicate with different workplace dynamics and hands-on learning and development.

How would you describe the company culture and working environment?

Lots of opportunity – There is a company that values innovation and giving it a go. Allows you to develop yourself.

In what ways has the company supported your professional development and growth?

NextDC encourages PD through many training programs and networking with internal/external people

Can you share any memorable projects or achievements you’ve been involved in since joining the company?

It is encouraging to know that everyone is an important cog in this company. For me, it is encouraging to see how I’ve been instrumental in developing new products and creating solutions.

How does the company encourage innovation and creativity among its employees?

Everyone has a voice in the company and encourages improvement in everything. There is opportunity to research and experiment.

What advice/tips would you give to new graduates considering applying for a role at NEXTDC?

NextDC is a great place if you like to learn fast and discover yourself. There is a lot of opportunity and your input is valued.

Rebecca Hopping

Hire Date: 1/02/2016 as an Electrical Engineer Intern.
Career progression and current role: Electrical Engineer to a Lead Data Hall Fitout & Telecommunications Engineer and currently an Engineering Manager – Data Hall & Telecommunications.
Degree: Bachelor of Mathematics and a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical)
University: Queensland University of Technology

What initially attracted you to this company and role as a new graduate?

I believed working for a data centre company would be really interesting and couldn’t pass up an opportunity for work experience in a sector that wasn’t the norm route discussed during my degree.

Can you share some of the most valuable skills or experiences you’ve gained during your time here?

How to effectively communicate and how to work within teams. Also, learning how to build various relationships with everyone in different roles has been invaluable for my career. I love the company’s value: Straight talk – which talks about resolving issues head on with empathy and respect. I’d also like to mention how to work on multiple interesting projects simultaneously without getting overwhelmed is a skill we’re constantly practicing in the role here.

How would you describe the company culture and working environment?

The company culture really encourages bright people to take initiative and get involved with a good attitude.
In what ways has the company supported your professional development and growth? As the company has grown, our team has needed to grow and change and the roles and titles I’ve fulfilled at NEXTDC have reflected that growth – what I appreciate is that NEXTDC seek out learning and development opportunities to bring to our attention that we can opt-in to and I’ve always found them valuable to my career and personal growth every time I’ve taken advantage of those opportunities.

Can you share any memorable projects or achievements you’ve been involved in since joining the company?

Our team was awarded with the Data Centre Dynamics Design Team of the year in 2018 and this was global recognition of our teams ability so I would call that pretty memorable 😊 There are some significant customers and customer deals we’ve worked on designing and delivering that hold a special place to me too.

How does the company encourage innovation and creativity among its employees?

When I was given lee-way to own a part of a project or design, I was trusted to execute that design to the best of my ability even if that was straying away from ‘the way it’s always been done’. I wasn’t afraid to fail or try something new as I knew I had a team I could work with to come up with the best way forward.

What advice/tips would you give to new graduates considering applying for a role at NEXTDC?

There can be a lot to get your head around in this industry so take the time to ask relevant people around the company how their roles connect and help the business because you’ll often find interesting context that helps you in your role. Secondly - Take advantage of opportunities to take on additional responsibility because if there’s something you feel you could take ownership of for your team as we grow and move forward you’ll quickly become valuable.

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