Graduate draws on international experience

From spreadsheets to safari, Alex Jones talks through his graduate experience and life as an expat.

Meet Alex, a Finance Analyst at our Brisbane Head Office. Alex joined the Thiess team two-years ago as part of the CIMIC Group graduate program.
Joining as a finance graduate, he completed three placement rotations at our Lake Vermont operations, Brisbane head office and more recently, in the Johannesburg office in South Africa.
Alex believes it’s his driven, adventurous and curious nature that enabled him to spend his last graduate rotation living overseas.
He was grateful for the opportunity to travel, visiting Mozambique, Cape Town, Durban, Eswatini, Kruger and Pilanesberg.
“It was a truly rewarding experience. I enjoyed being able to learn about South Africa’s cultures and customs and exploring the amazing sites it has on offer,” Alex said.
Born and raised in the Gold Coast, Alex studied a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Accounting and Finance at Griffith University. He is now three-quarters of the way through his Certified Practicing Accounting (CPA) studies and hopes to complete his masters.
We caught up with Alex to talk about life on and off the graduate program.
What do you love about working for Thiess?
"The opportunities and the people."
How did your rotations compare?
"Rotating from site to head office and then internationally, it's hard to compare; they were all so different. But they did have a common theme: The people were always brilliant to work with."
What learning and development opportunities has the program provided?
"It was incredibly rewarding and challenging, receiving the opportunity to live and work in South Africa and learn about our business there."
"While living on-site in Central Queensland, I was fortunate to spend time with almost every team and understand how we operate our mine sites. It was interesting to see then how it flows through to the numbers I work with." 
What do you think has been your biggest lesson learnt throughout your journey?
"In Africa, the many priceless learnings I gained from our colleagues around the world."
"On the graduate program, the ability to learn about the various functions and departments in the business enabled me to understand my role in the bigger picture and how I add value to this company."
What are you passionate about outside of work?
Anything outdoors – I spend enough time in front of screens at work.
Click here to learn more about the CIMIC Group graduate program.