Training & Personal Development at Department of Industry, Science and Resources

Formal training organised by the Employment Programs team was often far too late into the year, and often covering topics we had already learnt on the job, making it superfluous. training needed to be sooner and more condensed, as most trainings took far longer than necessary to cover the materials.

The stuff early on was very useful, some of these training programs though don't really require a whole day

The training provided was often out of sync with work requirements. It would be incredibly beneficial to make sure more of the foundational training (policy, briefing, skills etc) were offered closer to the start of the course. It would also be appropriate to offer graduates who have completed comparable trainings the opportunity to sit out program-run trainings once they've provided pageup/hireroad proof of completion, otherwise it's just a waste of time.

While I have had the opportunity to develop skills around policy writing, procurement and government process through my placement, very few of the training programs offered by the EP team offered any material value. The networking events, such as the Grad debate and Hackathon should have been excellent opportunities for networking and engaging with more senior staff, however there was no support or follow through during these to do so.

Fantastic training ideas from my team, poor timing on the ones given by the Grad team and a lack of choice in going to networking events during busy work times

I've found the majority of training in the graduate program to be useless. It is extremely time consuming, and I am yet to apply a majority of training to my day-to-day work. I also feel the majority of training (especially when it is about writing skills, government operations and policy) it should be provided at the beginning of our program, so it is actually useful. I also find I had a lot more time at the start of the program before I got busy with my rotations and the graduate program. Additionally, some training should be voluntary especially so late in the year as it is common for grads to have completed that training or similar training by the second half of the year. For example, I needed to analyse data in my first rotation so completed all the internal training for this on my own, then had to do it again in the second half of the year with the grads. Also, it is difficult to engage with online training and feel it would be significantly more beneficial if it was run in person, which was my expectations as graduates had to move to Canberra for this program. Lastly, the training is usually longer than it has to be.

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.

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.