The Graduate Development Program offers an opportunity to work in a department that supports economic growth and job creation for all Australians.
As part of the Graduate Development Program, the Employment Programs team provides scheduled training throughout the year. These training sessions include items such as learning the Foundations of Government, Project Planning, and E?ective Communication. These skills helped in building appropriate language and understanding of Government work. I have also undertaken elective training in building stronger application skills and strengths and values training. Being a STEM graduate, I have had the opportunity to have a mentor support me in my transition into the APS, which has been great to build informal training and goals. My supervisors during my rotations have also informally trained me in government priorities, the most important skills and equipping me with the appropriate skillset required for my day-to-day work.
The graduate compulsory trainings were consistently poorly run by both internal and external staff. They were often outdated and did not reflect current APS values, as well as being presented in an unprofessional fashion where we were often treated like naughty school children. Trainings I attended through my teams were much more focused and the training budget is an excellent initiative.
Formal training is pretty subpar. I think some of the non-governmental training that has been mandatory has been taught at a high school level, nothing new or interesting. The formal 'government' training has been somewhat useful, it just depends on when you have it because if you get it later in in the year, you have probably already worked it out along the way. As always, you learn a lot more on the job than you do in a classroom.
Trainings can be hit or miss with some not always aware of the practicalities of the work the department does or feel like a box tick training.