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News
Making the switch
Meet Kimberley. After a successful career in finance as a business banker and accountant, Kimberley made the switch from her office-based job to a frontline role as a Maintenance Superintendent for Aurizon - and no two days have been the same for her since.
Kimberley’s career began in the finance industry where she worked as a business banker with NAB before graduating with a Bachelor of Accounting from Central Queensland University.
In 2011 she joined Aurizon’s Graduate Program where she had the opportunity to work across various parts of the Company as an Accountant. This gave her great exposure to different areas and roles within Aurizon.
After two years Kimberley moved into the Business Systems Manager role where she was responsible for the Central Queensland Rail Network budget.
Kimberley recently took up the challenge to try something different at Aurizon and moved out of an office- based role into a job out in the field. She now works as Superintendent Maintenance for Network Operations in Gracemere near Rockhampton in Central Queensland.
In this role Kimberley is responsible for ensuring the safety and reliability of the Blackwater Rail System in Central Queensland for the operation of coal train services for Aurizon’s customers.
After working in office-based roles for a few years, Kimberley was drawn towards roles that were out in the field because of the hands on nature of it.
She also loves the variety as no two days are the same, and that she can see tangible outcomes and the impact her role has on keeping Australia’s largest coal rail network operating at its peak.
Kimberley is the first to admit that achieving what she has didn’t happen overnight - she has worked hard on the job, and along the way has completed both her CPA qualification and a Certificate II Rail Infrastructure Worker course to build her technical knowledge.
She also worked on a three year development plan with her Manager and set achievable targets. In preparation, she sat in meetings with superintendents, tried to understand what their job entailed and asked a lot of questions when she was out in the field with them. She familiarised herself with the teams, systems and processes.
Her advice to other women who are interested in making a seamless transition to a field-based role but are too scared to make the switch:
“Just because something has traditionally been a male dominated role doesn’t mean that it continues to be like that or should be like that. If you are genuinely interested in doing the role, work towards it and put your hat in the ring.”
She believes her willingness to learn and work hard has helped her create new opportunities for herself and allowed her to make the most of it.
In 2011 she joined Aurizon’s Graduate Program where she had the opportunity to work across various parts of the Company as an Accountant. This gave her great exposure to different areas and roles within Aurizon.
After two years Kimberley moved into the Business Systems Manager role where she was responsible for the Central Queensland Rail Network budget.
Kimberley recently took up the challenge to try something different at Aurizon and moved out of an office- based role into a job out in the field. She now works as Superintendent Maintenance for Network Operations in Gracemere near Rockhampton in Central Queensland.
In this role Kimberley is responsible for ensuring the safety and reliability of the Blackwater Rail System in Central Queensland for the operation of coal train services for Aurizon’s customers.
After working in office-based roles for a few years, Kimberley was drawn towards roles that were out in the field because of the hands on nature of it.
She also loves the variety as no two days are the same, and that she can see tangible outcomes and the impact her role has on keeping Australia’s largest coal rail network operating at its peak.
Kimberley is the first to admit that achieving what she has didn’t happen overnight - she has worked hard on the job, and along the way has completed both her CPA qualification and a Certificate II Rail Infrastructure Worker course to build her technical knowledge.
She also worked on a three year development plan with her Manager and set achievable targets. In preparation, she sat in meetings with superintendents, tried to understand what their job entailed and asked a lot of questions when she was out in the field with them. She familiarised herself with the teams, systems and processes.
Her advice to other women who are interested in making a seamless transition to a field-based role but are too scared to make the switch:
“Just because something has traditionally been a male dominated role doesn’t mean that it continues to be like that or should be like that. If you are genuinely interested in doing the role, work towards it and put your hat in the ring.”
She believes her willingness to learn and work hard has helped her create new opportunities for herself and allowed her to make the most of it.