CareerTrackers interns sitting in theatre

People of BNE: CareerTrackers

Elise Hanslip

on February 13, 2024 at 3:45pm

An internship can be a life-changing experience, and in the case of two Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) summer interns, it has signalled a new career and degree change.

As part of BAC’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), BAC aims to improve employment outcomes by increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander recruitment, retention and personal development. A key avenue in this action is offering internship positions through CareerTrackers to Indigenous university students.

This summer BAC welcomed two interns Arabella James-Mason and Taylar-Jo Connolly. Stephen Kehoe, Head of Procurement at BAC explains what’s involved in the internship.

“The internship is full time for 12 weeks and offers participants real world work experience and exposure to various business departments in a corporate environment. The idea of what we’re trying to do through the RAP is provide meaningful impact in people’s lives and through the internship learnings participants can make significant decisions about what they want to do for their careers,” said Stephen.

Arabella, a proud Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi woman, joined the Security Policy & Compliance team and has found her internship to be very diverse.

“As part of my internship, there has been a vast amount of tasks and projects I have been exposed to. One of the main things is policy and policy refinement. We have a lot of security procedures that need updating as part of the Future BNE developments and one of my main roles was making sure that it’s compliant and easily digestible,” said Arabella.

If this wasn’t a big enough task, Arabella shares many more exciting projects she was exposed to. “I got to work with an airline and learn about their operations on the ground, how they get an aircraft in clean it fully within a couple of hours, which was an amazing experience.

Arabella standing in front of plane turbine

“I also worked with a RAP working group and gave suggestions from an Indigenous standpoint of what they should add or consider,” said Arabella.

Taylar, a proud Kullilli and Murruwari woman, joined the Procurement team as a summer intern. Taylar explains how this experience completely flipped her career direction. “I was studying a bachelor of law and found out about the internship through CareerTrackers. Originally, I was looking to join the legal team however due to available work, I was instead offered a position within the Procurement Team and I thought why not, I didn’t want to waste an opportunity so I decided to give it a go.”

“As part of my placement, I have been working on a consultancy report register and have taken on the responsibility of creating that. Since I have been a part of the Procurement Team I have done an absolute change in my degree to a business degree, which was a curveball, but also exciting,” said Taylar.

Both Taylar and Arabella say they have been in awe of all the moving parts that are involved in running an airport.

“There is so much that goes into an airport, even though you think you might know what’s involved there are so many things, stakeholders, not a lack of work, everyone has something going on to keep the cogs turning. The precinct is so much bigger than you think,” said Taylar.

But it’s not only the interns who have benefitted from the experience. Stephen shares it’s a privilege for everyone else to be part of their work experience.

“To be a small part of that decision is really cool, rather than just ticking boxes, it’s a real impact that I have witnessed being part of.

“Taylor’s experience has been great and through her internship learning is actually changing her study plans for her future career direction,” said Stephen.

For anyone interested in starting an internship through CareerTrackers Arabella suggests “I would highly recommend an internship to anyone else considering it, really go for what you want and take as many opportunities as you get because you never know what experiences will come your way and it’s a great learning experience.

“It’s a great opportunity to be part of a structure of working in a corporate environment, working with the team and refining my skills in the corporate space,” said Arabella.

Taylar’s advice to other interns - “Take any opportunity that arises, this internship was one of my favourites.”

Now that their internship program has come to an end, Taylar will be adjusting herself to her degree change while Arabella is excited to share she is joining BAC in a part time capacity.

“I’ve been offered a permanent part-time position with BAC working as a privacy officer. I loved the internship and it was such an amazing community to be a part of, you can tell everyone here really loves what they do and it shows in their work ethic and their personalities,” said Arabella.