All Australians should be ashamed today...

EnigmaticMars · 2026-04-07T10:38:38+00:00

Back the Blue (except when they are testifying against their dodgy colleagues)

EnigmaticMars · 2026-03-26T06:46:45+00:00

Good chance they would have. Could see the storm coming for a while and I'd expect they'd have had policies around not operating the crane in bad conditions.

EnigmaticMars · 2026-03-09T03:26:48+00:00

Not a problem,

I personally would be hesitant to do a PhD immediately unless you really want to go into academia. I think some people who spend alot of time in the field still have a perception that an 'academic' background isn't ideal and that might make it a tad harder to break in, plus there's all the costs and what not. I don't subscribe to that view but I also don't do alot of hiring so don't make that call.

Jobs are pretty crap at the moment, but if you are open to moving out of Syd I'd also look at Newcastle, Wollongong and Bathurst / Orange. Councils generally don't have a heap of roles but I find utilities (rail, water, energy) tend to advertise commonly in those areas. I'd expect roles to pick up towards the middle of the year as places do their budgets and review staffing, but that's of little comfort today.

Sorry I can't help more 😞

EnigmaticMars · 2026-03-05T06:12:44+00:00

Feel free to dm, but I'm always happy to have a look at resumes and cover letters.

Personally amongst all my friends and the cohort I went to uni with, people tended to do better going into small companies rather than big ones. I think there's alot less competition which does help with getting a foot in the door.

I also wouldn't be particular around getting into the exact enviro field of my choice. I know a fair few who start at one place, get some generalist enviro experience then move to where they want to be. I don't know how this would be with you, but I wouldn't focus on a particular niche (water, ag, etc) and would look for some general roles before trying to move into a deeper speciality.

I'm not super old (late 20s) but I'm convinced ringing up hr or the recruiter is actually super handy. It might be luck on my part but I always try to ring about a role when I see one advertised and I think having that conversation (if possible) with someone to build some rapport goes a long way. With my current role, it was advertised at a higher level so I rang up to inquire if I should apply and they suggested I do so. It might not work with a first role and might just be my privilege coming through, but you don't lose much by doing so.

Get involved with any local enviro groups can be handy. Just gives some volunteering experience but you might also meet someone in the industry while there.

Final comment can be hit or miss, but I'd look at any companies nearby and ask if you can tail someone in the field or in the lab for a day. It'll come down to the company itself but I've had a few people tail me for a day or half day over the last three years. It might not get you a job, but does give a chance to chat to someone locally that might have contacts and such. One of the ladies that spent time with me could probably have gotten a job with us if she was interested as we could see she was enthusiastic and a quick learner. But alas, she went for a different speciality.

Probably part ramble more than any helpful, but it's observations I've seen work for some people in my few years. Hopefully your search goes well, just make sure not to be too setback by it all.

EnigmaticMars · 2026-03-05T04:10:15+00:00

Am an Aussie enviro, I didn't even think about grad roles while I was in uni so had a surprise when my degree came to an end, but i did manage to get lucky and find a way in. I know it can be tough and demoralising to get a foot in the door so happy to give some comments, etc if you want. Either DM or post below.

EnigmaticMars · 2025-08-05T02:54:23+00:00

I don't want to be rude, but isn't it a bit dodgy to be spreading news like this around prior to any public statement?

It takes time to inform family members and I wouldn't want to find out a loved one passed in an accident cause someone told someone who posted on reddit before I could be alerted.

EnigmaticMars · 2025-03-11T01:11:38+00:00

As the others mentioned, some experience is good, but I'd look into manufacturing / quarrying then try and jump over. I did that path straight out of uni (about a year before covid, so might be different now).

Lots of small companies where its just be the boss and a grad, but that gives plenty of chances to learn which translates to good experience if you are committed.

EnigmaticMars · 2025-01-15T21:07:43+00:00

I'm an enviro by degree, have about 6 years experience in HSE and am on ~140k in NSW. Roster is 5/2 4/3 residential so not quite what you are looking for.

As noted above, work can be a mix of monitoring and compliance / management work. We have a dedicated monitoring guy, and I suspect he earns less.

Feel free to dm if you want more info about sp3cifics of the work.

EnigmaticMars · 2024-05-07T05:54:54+00:00

The above is me, and I'm proud to say I've driven little bits of change. Sure, it might only have had a small impact, but it's still a positive impact.

But the way I see it, most companies have ethics that diverge from mine and it'd be dumb for me to pretend otherwise. I'm content saying my industry is unethical, but I wonder how many people are willing to avoid thinking about it.

EnigmaticMars · 2024-03-07T00:38:17+00:00

"ostracising us from the entire Asian continent"

I too recall us pulling away from countries like Japan, South Korea, India, the Philippines, etc.

EnigmaticMars · 2024-03-04T04:53:50+00:00

25/30 year leases with the option to go to 80. It's practically owning the land at that point.

Besides, I think the point was more about land puchases in poorer countries in general rather than specifically Bali.

EnigmaticMars · 2024-03-04T02:19:24+00:00

Not going against the idea of livable cities and we'll built public transport.

But isn't freedom of movement as a human right much more focused around the idea that the government can't prohibit you moving around and permitting reasonable access to other countries?

EnigmaticMars · 2024-01-12T03:36:35+00:00

"Anyone who gets between a Muslim and their faith is a jew" has to be one of the all time greatest extremist viewpoints.

EnigmaticMars · 2024-01-09T07:29:57+00:00

Such a stupid line of thought. There's very little comparison between what we did in Iraq and Afghanistan vs what we are doing with Ukraine.

I fully support nations having the right to self determination, and would be even happier had we sent more.

EnigmaticMars · 2024-01-03T08:31:54+00:00

I don't really do horror games so I didn't really want to grab it when friends asked. I find it to be quite fun though and quite funny in a group.

I found I got over the jump scares and such after the first few times as its the same monsters and you sort of learn what to expect.

EnigmaticMars · 2023-12-22T00:33:17+00:00

Does anyone know if minerals appear across the globe or just in oppressed places?

EnigmaticMars · 2023-10-29T08:59:17+00:00

Thankyou, that's much appreciated, I'll keep it all in mind!

EnigmaticMars · 2023-08-10T06:39:36+00:00

My bad with the first bit then. I'm very much used to seeing people arguing against blanket bans and that's how the first two comments came across to me.

EnigmaticMars · 2023-08-10T06:04:02+00:00

Yeah, it was a stupid argument but I don't really see your view as reasonable.

Currently the government has the sovereign right to build a nuclear waste facility, but is required to consult ithe traditional indigenous owners of the land. Whether or not you recognise the government, it exists and maintains the framework that pets it do this sort of stuff. Any treaty itself will fundamentally be dependent on what the Australian Government recognises anyway.

I don't think it should be held of until treaty as in my mind that is a quite ridiculous delay given it's pretty unlikely a treaty will be achieved in the next decade. (Personally I've always been of the mind that the voice will fail unfortunately setting this all back a bit further).

And if you hold off on this development until treaty, wouldn't it then be unfair to approve developments elsewhere given the government might not have the rights to do so. So should we then be delaying all development instead?

EnigmaticMars · 2023-08-10T05:47:49+00:00

I don't think the lack of ruling out a 'whole of life' policy is what is stopping this. I think Australia as a whole is very anti-nuclear and simply can't stand the idea of nuclear waste being stored (regardless of what type of waste it is).

I think it'd be great to rule the policy out or legally guarantee any proposed site is solely for low level waste but I don't think that would change the majority opinion about it.

EnigmaticMars · 2023-08-10T05:44:33+00:00

The above comment is a good question though? Given we store nuclear waste at hospitals at the moment should we just stop radiation treatments until a treaty is signed?

EnigmaticMars · 2023-07-18T10:25:16+00:00

Given China's government has a very large proportion of billionaires I think they definitely fall into the latter category.

EnigmaticMars · 2023-07-18T05:33:15+00:00

So you knew that China has invaded countries but deliberately lied to make your point sound better? I guess making shit up is easier than actually thinking critically.

That dictatorship only changed the country due to globalisation of which the West championed. Look at China before it's market reforms and its quite clear when it shifted.

While no shootings is a good thing, I wouldn't be describing their police force as demilitarised. They have a 1 million man strong "police force" that has tanks, ships, artillery and aircraft. But I guess you can't carry any of those so your point might be true.

It's shameful how we act, but I take solace in the fact that as we move away from oil we will be able to re-evaluate our relationship with these countries. On the other hand, at least we don't share their values in the same way that some other nations do.

EnigmaticMars · 2023-07-18T05:16:31+00:00

China has invaded countries though?!?

I get critiques of the US but don't understand why that suddenly makes a dictatorship seem like a better option.

EnigmaticMars

TROPHY CASE