Kiera Rose

"Coach - key attributes of a coach are being understanding, creative, takes pride in exceeding expectations and compassionate. I think this heavily aligns with my personality, as forming and maintaining strong professional and personal relationships is extremely important to me. I believe that working with a kind and supportive team throughout your career is just as important as the work you are contributing to. I feel that by surrounding yourself with likeminded individuals, you are more likely to succeed. I also think my compassion is reflected in my desire to work in a career that promotes sustainability and minimises environmental damage.Influencer - key attributes of an influencer include diplomacy, good at explaining and detail, reliable and leadership qualities. I feel that having 'people-skills' are essential to my role, as I am required to liaise with operational teams to ensure environmental compliance, which can often be a difficult or daunting conversation. By forming personable relationships with internal teams and stakeholders, this can aid those difficult conversations and provide contacts and assistance which may be useful in the future. Quality controller - features trustworthiness, having a natural sense of justice and being proactive. As I am currently part of the Thames Water Science Graduate Scheme, I am required to be very proactive in my approach. I have done this by organising meetings and shadowing days with different business units to gain a more complete picture of the business and how teams are connected. I also feel like this will stand me in good stead when deciding the direction of my future career path."

"I am on the Thames Water Science Graduate Scheme, which consists of four 6 month placements within different scientific services at Thames. My first placement has been within the Environmental Permitting and Regulation (EPR) team as an EPR coordinator. My main responsibilities have been supporting the permit application process, attending meetings with the Environment Agency and analysing how future regulatory changes will affect the business and highlighting principle compliance risks. I have loved my experience at Thames, especially being surrounded by such supportive and kind people that are always willing to give me advice and tips for my future career. I also love how varied the scheme is, as I have the opportunity to meet and shadow people from all different areas of the business which has been invaluable in helping me to decide what areas I would like to pursue in the future. The starting salary for my role is £28,000 pa. "

"For my undergraduate degree I studied Animal Science at the University of Nottingham. During this degree I had the opportunity to explore some ecological and conservation modules which I really enjoyed, and this led me to apply to conservation summer internships. I ended up interning at a company called 'Roots & Shoots' which is a flagship organisation founded by Jane Goodall, an incredibly inspirational primatologist and anthropologist who set up this charity to tackle worldwide conservation and animal welfare issues. After my time here I was inspired to pursue an environmental career, so I interned at another conservation charity called 'Elephant Family' a year later and applied to study a Masters degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Queen Mary University. I graduated my Masters degree with a distinction and international abstract award, and decided to join Thames Water to begin my environmental career. "

"In my spare time I love to travel. My favourite places I have visited have been spending two months in Beijing and a month in Borneo in the rainforest. I have four more destinations planned for 2020 and my top three on my travel bucket list are: 1. Iceland (to see the Northern lights), 2. Bali, Thailand and the Philippines and 3. A tour around Italy (including La Spezia, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast). My favourite quote is: \"Fill your life with adventures, not things\"."

"A typical day at work: 9:00-9:30: Check emails and respond to them. Make an action plan for the day including any tasks that may have been emailed to you that morning. Review calendar for the week so I know where I need to be and when. 9:30-12:00: Either work on ongoing projects (such as a partial surrender application for a permit), ad hoc tasks (such as producing presentations to train operational teams or administrative tasks) or I usually have a scientific overview session in the morning around 2 times a week (this can be anything from workshops about water disinfection to learning about the Regulatory Response team). 12:00: Lunch! Often with other Thames Water graduates13:00-14:00: This is usually a good spot for meetings or catch-ups (whether that be with people in my team or 1:1s with my manager)14:00-17:00: Continuing on with ad hoc tasks or ongoing projects. Some afternoons can consist of training sessions organised by the central grad scheme, such as 'Driving your development' or 'Start working smarter'"

"A-levels: Biology, Chemistry and MathsBSc Hons in Animal Science (University of Nottingham) MSc in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (Queen Mary University)"