As part of a series of stories profiling people of influence from around Beca, we asked Water Engineer Sophie Hunter to tell us about her career journey and life outside of work.
How did you get into engineering? How did you decide what to study?
I have to confess that I really didn’t know what engineering was when I signed up to an engineering degree at the University of Canterbury. I just knew it involved maths, and I love maths! From day one, as soon as I started to learn what engineering was, I never looked back.
I chose civil engineering because I could see a wide range of opportunities at the end of it, and I wanted to keep my options open. I found I was drawn to the more environmental papers I was doing.
How did you end up working for Beca?
I did two summers as an intern in the Christchurch office. That first summer, I joined the dragon boating team and got to know people in the Water team. They asked me if I’d be interested in joining the Water section for my second summer. I really enjoyed it – I felt like I’d found my Beca family and work that I love doing. I took a graduate role in the Water team in Christchurch and spent 2.5 years there.
You’re now based in Melbourne? How did that happen?
I’d been to Melbourne on holiday and then had the chance to attend a Beca water conference here. I loved it and mentioned that I’d be keen to live in Melbourne one day. The manager here was very keen to offer me a role. I moved in 2019.
Melbourne is an awesome city to live in, but to begin with I missed the diversity of work I’d been doing in Christchurch. What changed things for me was the ‘See More’ course at Beca which is about building trusted consulting relationships with clients. It was an eye opener for me. Everything about it made sense to me, and I realised that I probably think differently to a lot of engineers!
I started to seek out opportunities to get involved in business development work. Since then I’ve had the chance to be part of bids and interactive sessions with several big water clients here in Victoria and had really good feedback. I’ve found that I really enjoy talking to clients and helping solve problems at a strategic level.
I hear that you almost resigned at one point. What happened there?
My partner and I had been on a cycling trip around New Zealand for 3.5 months and felt it wasn’t long enough. We started planning another, bigger one around Europe. We wanted to go for a couple of years, so I was reluctantly ready to resign. I was really lucky that people at Beca wanted me to stay and supported me to take unpaid leave so that I could travel with the security of a job to come back to. We started in London and spent 17 months cycling 18,500km all over Europe and Morocco and Türkiye. It was an amazing and challenging experience, definitely not a holiday! The best part about it was all of the people we met along the way.
What’s your role like now?
People will often comment on the fact that I’ve been at the same company since I was a grad. I’ve been with Beca for eight years now, but it doesn’t feel that way because I’ve done so many different things. At the moment I am Acting Section Manager for the Water team here in Melbourne, while our Manager is on maternity leave. I’m really enjoying people management – I get to talk to so many people throughout the day!
There has been so much growth in the water industry here in Victoria. It’s an incredible place to be and to grow my career.
How would your friends describe you?
A social butterfly. I’m the person who likes to move around the room and talk to as many different people as I can.
I vividly remember doing a Myers-Briggs personality test at university and finding out that I was the opposite of most people in the room. I thought, ‘What am I doing here?’
I know that, for some people, talking to people is not their happy place at all, but I think it has brought me lots of different opportunities in my work.
What advice do you give to others who might be interested in a similar career path?
I’ve been very lucky with the opportunities I’ve had at Beca, but I’ve also been very proactive in talking about what I want to get involved in and seeking out opportunities, as well as saying yes to things that have come my way. Finding someone who supports you and will advocate for you really helps.
I think it’s a case of working out what you’re good at and what you like doing and then diving into that if you can. The beauty of Beca is its diversity and I truly believe everyone can find their place here.