Secondments - a career boosting game changer

At WGA, you don’t have to be an engineer to experience the freedom of secondments. Phoebe Maio (one of the first from the WGA Admin teams to take on a secondment) spills the beans on how her secondment turned out to be a game-changer.

Q. Tell us a little about your secondment. 

I’m from the WGA Perth office and I seconded to the Brisbane office in 2023. I was quite new to WGA – less than a year but I was at a point in my life where I wanted to explore something different and have a bit of a change. Work wise, I wanted to expand my skills and my knowledge. At the time I was in the administration team, so I wanted to experience the culture of different offices, along with the differences in people and leadership. 

Q. You are at an early stage in your career, do you think this is the best time to go on a secondment?

Yes, I definitely think early in the career is the perfect time for it, because you haven’t fully cemented in your ways of working. For me, seeing the different processes from an administration perspective was really helpful.

Before I went on my secondment, I thought our way was the only way. But in Brisbane, the team is smaller, with different leaders, different requirements, and a different market, and it made me realise that one size doesn’t fit all. It made me ask the question of ‘why’, which I think that is important in all careers.

Q. How did this secondment contribute to your growth as an individual?
I had a lot of professional growth, which gave me more confidence in my work and my personal life. Working alongside new teams gave me greater exposure and understanding of the business and opened my eyes to new opportunities for career growth. It helped me develop and build new relationships and learn from my peers. But, improved communication was the biggest success for me inside and outside work.

The change of environment allowed me the time to think about what I wanted to achieve, and what’s important to me. In Brisbane, I explored my surroundings, filled my weekends with new experiences and focused more on my health and wellbeing – a trait I have brought back to Perth with me.

Q. You moved to a new role after your secondment – to the Submissions team, did the secondment help in anyway with it? 

I had my first exposure to Submissions during my time in the Brisbane office. I had an opportunity to support the NSW administration team, and I assisted them on a couple of submissions – which is where I got my first a taste.  It gave me greater exposure to that side of the business and allowed me to map the pathway from administration into my current role as a Submissions Assistant.

Due to the Brisbane office being relatively smaller in size, my role was more diverse and expanded across other business functions.  I worked with the finance team, assisted in the development of a Quality Assurance (QA) guide, and boosted my design skills with the marketing team, all adding to new knowledge and understanding of WGA’s operations.

Q. What’s the most exciting part about this Secondment to Brisbane?

I think just experiencing something new, fresh and different both in work and outside of work. There were so many different things that I experienced whilst I was on my secondment that I would have never experienced otherwise.  I went to Fraser Island on a four-day camping trip which involved lots of four-wheel driving. Lots of swimming. Seeing dingoes. I think I went to four different islands. I went and saw an F1 race and a rodeo, which is something I would never normally do. But I was in a new place, so I thought why not?  So many new things and met some incredible people, it is hard to put into words.

Q. Got any tips for the WGA folks considering a secondment? 

My tip is, find somewhere that’s close to the office for your accommodation. My accommodation was a 10-minute walk from the office which was huge benefit to me – less commute, ability to socialise more and better work life balance.

Q. If you take on another Secondment, where would you want to go? 

Probably New Zealand, or Newcastle.