Graduate Profile - Master of Environmental Management

Degree Awarded (and majors if relevant): Master of Environmental Management (2002), Bachelor of International Studies - Honours (2001)
Position Gained: Graduate Administration Assistant, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry - Australia
Commencement Date: January 2003

Could you give us a brief description of what your position involves?

As a Graduate Administrative Assistant (GAA) with AFFA I am currently working within Crops, Wine and Horticulture Branch (Food & Agriculture business). I specifically work on international crops issues such as brief on industry for bi-lateral and multilateral talks, Free Trade Agreements, State Trading Enterprise arrangements, Food Aid, export issues and industry consultations. Examples of daily work include writing briefs, creating and reviewing policy, consulting with a variety of stakeholders, talking to industry and project work.

At AFFA, the Graduate Development Program (GDP) allows graduates to receive:

• A formal introduction to working within AFFA & the Australian Public Service;
• A professional program of competency based training and development;
• Three different workplace rotations within the Department;
• An industry tour in which you meet with industry representatives and a lot more.

At the successful completion of the graduate program we obtain a Diploma of Government, and are advanced to a higher level.

Have the skills you developed at university been an important part of your job?

AFFA looks for a variety of skills within its graduates and all employees have a ‘learning agreement’ as part of our Certified Agreement. This means that staff are encouraged to continue or supplement their education and skills, with provisions available to support these activities.

The skills I gained through my studies have formed an important base for my position, but I have found that a lot more of the ‘non-specific’ skills such as research, time management, conceptual skills and general knowledge have been specifically helpful. However, I have utilised my degree related skills for more specific tasks here at AFFA. One thing I have found is that you never stop learning ‘on-the-job’, as new challenges appear all the time. This is great as it keeps pushing you to develop and keeps things interesting.

As a graduate with AFFA, I am still studying! We undertake approved training and will be assessed for a Diploma in Government that is based on the competencies we have gained during our graduate year. This qualification is also nationally recognised. As for study beyond this I do get the feeling however, that I will be back at University one day, but not for a few years yet!

At what stage during your studies did you begin to think about employment choices and options?

In all honesty, by the midway point of second during my undergraduate degree I was beginning to seriously examine the employment opportunities available to graduates with similar skills to myself.

Although this seems a little early, the competition for many of the governmental graduate positions I was interested in necessitated it. Don’t be put off by this, it just means you need to identify where you want to go and start honing your skills by third year. Also by looking at the employers which advertise during your second year you have an understanding of what they look for in a graduate and an indication of the time frame surrounding their application process.

For me, March-August of my third year was dominated (after Uni work of course!) by applying for various graduate positions. I was lucky enough to be interviewed for a few Federal Government graduate positions, but I instead opted to do Honours, as I felt it would make me more attractive to the ‘key’ agencies I wanted to apply for.

With your experiences in securing employment what advice would you give to students who are in their first, second, and final year of study?

Given the fact that the graduate employment market is so variable, students have to be prepared to ‘go that little bit further’ when seeking positions. Generally there is a specific time period in which employers tend to advertise. Most employers use the Internet now with their recruitment drives, so visit their website and make a note of their recruitment schedule. Never think that its too early to be looking at career options, knowing what makes you ‘employable’, understanding what employers want and what you have to offer them is important. In this vein, key suggestions include:
Use the Careers Centre here at Flinders, they have heaps of helpful material and can help you get the skills to improve your employability.

Keep an open mind when applying for jobs. Just because it’s not ‘your dream job’, look at the business the employer deal in and the benefits they can offer you. Sometimes, a little ‘digging’ can yield interesting results.

Go to career fairs, employer visits, talk to people in the industry. Get to know what’s going on your area, where you can go and so on. Do a good job-make every application, interview, assessment centre count.

Many employers presenting employment information sessions have commented on the importance of students undertaking extra curricular activities during their time at university. Could you comment on this?

As interest in graduate positions throughout Australia has climbed, more employers now look for graduates that have the ‘total package’. This term refers to a graduate that possess the academic qualifications and knowledge they are seeking, as well as good generic skills. Generic skills help employers judge the suitability of candidates, and could include things such as teamwork, communication, problem solving, using initiative and so on.

Involvement in extra-curricular activities can help applicants demonstrate their skills in relation to the competencies the employer is seeking. For example, playing a team sport, participating in group activities or working part-time can help to illustrate your ability to work well within a team, solve problems and communicate ideas to others. These kinds of activities also help students to broaden their experience base beyond university life, develop new skills and meet challenges.

Extra curricular activities don’t have to be sport or debating, they can be anything that interests. Being able to use examples from my extra-curricular activities to support my selection criteria claims made the whole process easier. I used example of teamwork and communication from my soccer team, problem solving and diplomacy from my part time employment, and juggling study, work and life in general was a great example of my ability to meet deadlines and juggle priorities.

How did you go about finding employment? Can you briefly describe the application process relevant to your position?

I accidentally ‘stumbled across’ the Graduate Development Program 2003 advertisement on AFFA’s website while researching a policy paper on the Regional Forest Agreement for my Masters! The position sounded interesting and I applied there and then for it, ignoring all the advice I had been given to do you application slowly and review it!

• Application- March/April: The phone call inviting me to a testing venue in Adelaide was 3-4 after the closing date for applications, and came as a bit of a shock!
• Assessment Stage 1-May (Adelaide): At this session the AFFA recruitment team gave us an overview of AFFA’s role, an overview of the Graduate Development Program (GDP). Candidates completed a series of assessment exercises here and also had a former graduate give us a presentation of their experiences in the GDP.
• Assessment Stage 2-June/July (Adelaide): The short listed SA applicants were invited to an assessment centre, where they participated variety of exercises that were assessed by the selection panel. These varied from written tasks and group work to a presentation and interviews. We were also given more information on the Graduate Program and AFFA.
• Successful Applicants Notified-September: Offers for the GDP 2003 were made.

An aspect of the AFFA recruitment program I really appreciated was the fact that all applicants were informed of their progress at each stage. We were also provided with information at every stage, had the opportunity to comment on the process and receive comprehensive feedback on our performances.

What did you do to prepare for the interview?

It’s always a good idea to spend some time prior to an interview familiarising yourself with the employer. For AFFA, I spent some time examining AFFA’s website for information on its purpose, structure and business. I also used the information the GDP web page and promotional material to get a general idea of what skills previous graduates had, where they worked and what they gained from the experience. This was useful as graduates got 3 rotations into different business groups, which were useful in understanding how the different aspects of AFFA integrated.
As well as general information on AFFA I also examined areas that were of interest to me, and formulated questions on AFFA I could ask the assessors.

Generally the questions I asked at the assessment centres dealt with issues such as:

• Career opportunities
• Opportunities to ‘branch out’ from my current skills base
• Cross-departmental movements
• How graduates fitted into AFFA’s program
• What opportunities and experiences were open to graduates?

Do you have any helpful hints for graduates?

Use all the resources at your disposal; the Careers Centre, other graduates, the Mentor scheme, lecturers, websites, career advice...I could go on for ever on this, but more than anything students need to be aware of what is available to them and how to maximise upon it. The only other thing I would suggest is don’t give up. Each interview, application, assessment is a learning experience, learn from the feedback and don’t give up.

Good Luck.