In Focus: Fahad Hassan
University is the perfect opportunity for students to explore which career path they are looking to follow and for many of us just starting we may not know what it is we want to major in. To give you better insights to life after a degree and a few words of passing wisdom, The Griffith Collective has started a thread of blogs, IN FOCUS, to highlight some of our Alumni who have found success after graduating. Each blog will focus on one Alumnus from Griffith’s different disciplines to give students a wider perspective from past students.
In this edition of In Focus, we interviewed Fahad Hassan who graduated from Griffith University as an international student with a Master of Engineering in Engineering Management in 2012. Fahad chose Griffith for its remarkable reputation in engineering after completing a Bachelors from Pakistan and was made to feel welcomed very quickly by Griffith Mates. Since graduating on the Gold Coast, Fahad has worked in Brisbane, Sydney and now resides in London where he is a Project Controls Consultant and is managing and planning, risk, costs and change on infrastructure projects in the UK. Fahad is passing on his words of wisdom to students in engineering.
How did you find settling in as an international student?
There was a large community of friendly and helpful international students at Griffith who made me feel welcome, however, I was proactive in approaching them as I was enthused about starting at Griffith and being part of this community.
Were you involved in any clubs or associations during your time at Griffith?
I joined Griffith Mates. The same group who made settling in at Griffith very easy for me.
What advice can you give students who are about to graduate from your degree and are in the process of job searching?
Network, network, and network!
Make the most out of career support services offered at Griffith. Look for mentorship opportunities. Get tips on how to write a CV and create a LinkedIn profile. Reach out to people in your industry (such as Griffith Industry Mentoring program) asking them for advice, try forming a relationship and trust so that you could ask them for opportunities in the future. Try to find professional organisations in your field of study, join them and attend their networking events. (Engineers Australia and Project Management Institute (PMI) were the ones I joined). Establish a relationship with the IAP (Industry Affiliates Program) office and see how they can support you in your endeavours.
What do you do in a day and what are some projects you are working on?
I develop project plans, liaise with project managers, determine scope, identify risks, develop plans and actions to deal with risks, look at the finances of doing the above and deal with changes which may change project plan, risk profile or budgets. I am currently working on water infrastructure, airport, and tram extension projects.
What’s one thing you would have done differently at university?
Be more positive, open-minded and worried less.
What advice do you have for students studying your degree?
Focus on practical projects where you could apply your engineering and project management knowledge. Try to find case studies and analyze how someone managed risks on a project or did resource planning on the project. Learning the theory is good but also good to see limitations of it in a more practical context.
By Zehra Rabbani