Dave O’Reilly
Bachelor of Environments: Urban Design and Planning

I chose the Bachelor of Environments because it allowed me to dabble in a range of disciplines.

I decided to major in Urban Design and Planning because of the array of insights the subjects offered me. The course structure opened up many opportunities to hone my existing skills to forge myself a new career.

My favourite subjects were Mapping Environments and Urban Precinct Studio. They were very insightful and delivered in an interesting way. Although academically they weren’t my strongest subjects, they were great experiences and informative, and ultimately affirmed my career choice.

To me, studying at the University of Melbourne meant I had a chance to change careers. Returning to university as a mature student felt like a risky project with little to no financial support. Now that I have finished my undergrad component, I see my loss

of income was ultimately an investment in my own human capital

and now my prospects are much stronger than before.

My advice to new students is to study at the expense of your social life. The commitment is what makes you employable and by executing a task as best you can, within an allocated time, is how you will be assessed both at university and at work. All students pay fees so be sure to get your monies worth.

I am looking forward to finishing my masters and gaining practical experience.

The BEnvs helped prepare me for a multi-disciplinary and multi-faceted career in an exciting and engaging industry.

My personal motto is ‘the voice of hindsight is rarely heard’

DAVE IS NOW DOING GRADUATE STUDY

I chose to do graduate study in Urban Design because I need knowledge and confidence to provide informed decisions.

Its different studying at graduate level because now I have to balance a work/study balance and the assignment requires more diligent and comprehensive analysis. Unfortunately that takes more time.

In my Masters I am looking forward to finishing.

What inspires you at Uni? The validation you get from a good result.

DAVE IS NOW WORKING IN THE INDUSTRY

What do you do? I am a graduate urban designer at NH Architecture.

How did you find your job? I like to think it found me, but in reality it came down to some basic networking

Recently I have been working on secret projects

What inspires you at work? The fantastic opportunity I get working alongside some amazing, brilliant people. On top of that, having a supportive, positive and well-resourced company with good coffee makes this job extremely valuable – and the pay cheque helps too.

The future of the UD industry seems to be undergoing significant change. The prospects and demand appear to be growing although I’d suggest I’m still too green to provide an accurate forecast.

My greatest achievement so far is finishing BEnv.