Lots of uni students don’t know when they should be applying for graduate programs.
The answer? Early in your final year.
So if you’re in your final year of uni now, it’s time to start applying!
What are graduate programs?
Graduate programs are jobs for university graduates. That’s pretty obvious.
But they’re usually more than just a standard job.
The people who run graduate programs – state governments, the federal government and large companies – are usually want to set you up for a great future in their organisation. So you’ll usually get extra support, mentoring and training as a part of the your graduate program.
As a result, graduate programs can really ramp up your career. And I know lots of people who have accelerated pretty quickly after joining a graduate programs. There are definitely other ways to ramp up your career, but if you’re close to graduation, it’s worth looking around to see if you’re interested in any of these programs.
When do you apply?
Applications open early in the year (usually in February or March) and close early as well. Some graduate programs for 2022 are already closed.
If you’re graduating this year, my advice is start researching your options ASAP!
And don’t just look at graduate programs in your industry – look at state government, federal government and other, what are called “generalist” graduate programs. You might be surprised by what’s out there and which ones you get excited about.
Where can you start looking for graduate programs?
- GradAustralia “find a job” search – a super helpful website for finding different grad positions across Oz
- APSjobs Graduate Portal – find all the graduate programs in the Australian Public Service (APS) in one place – here!
- Queensland Government graduate programs – check out all the different graduate programs in the Queensland government, including the very cool Policy Futures graduate program.
- And research any big companies you’re interested in – lots of big employers have graduate programs!
Good luck! 💪