Career Prospects at Department of Industry, Science and Resources

I am aiming to become an EL1 ASAP and believe I can get there on my own merit. The teams I have all worked for are quite supportive and helpful. I feel that I may have had better chances had I had more control of my rotations, and more notice to prepare for rotations. often the notice for rotations through the Employment Programs team was provided to us with incredibly little notice, not giving me enough time to fully vet and speak to as many of the rotation supervisors in areas as I would have liked, as this would have allowed for a more rounded and informed decision.

Its been fantastic to work over a number of policy roles and without this program it would have likely taken me anywhere from 3 to 5 years to reach APS 5. A very well worth acceleration of career prospects and worthwhile programn, allows me to contribute more at a younger age

I feel like the Department provides a lot of opportunity for movement and advancement. Unfortunately, it feels like the program operators are more focused on completion statistics than on making sure that graduates get the best possible outcomes from the program.

I entered the STEM program and the Department of Industry Science and Resources hoping to use my STEM skills to benefit the Australian people. However, DISR has no framework to utilise my skills. Outside of subsidiary (non-DISR) agencies like ANSTO and NMI, DISR does not even participate in the Government Scientists group, because unlike many other agencies, DISR does not employ scientists, despite being the department of Science. The STEM graduate program in DISR has no mechanism to use the STEM skills of the Grads that they specifically recruit and this contributes to the "wastage" of STEM skills, directly in contravention of government goals to increase the number of STEM jobs in the economy. It also negatively impacts policy outcomes and makes me unwilling to stay in DISR long term.

Grateful that graduates move from APS 3 to APS 5 at the completion of the graduate program. Although I think graduates should start as an APS 4, as we are more often than not completing tasks of an APS 5 especially with many teams being understaffed, we are working above our paygrade. It has been suggested to me that I am working at minimum an APS 5 level, with suggestions from my General Manager to apply for APS 5 roles which is unfortunately not supported by the graduate program team. As I am early in my career my opinion is based on observations and conversations, with many of last year's grads currently apply for APS 6 roles and receiving them. It also seems a lot of teams are moving away from having many APS 5 roles which I think helps the career progression. I have been informed that it is easier for career progression when based in Canberra and have observed this as well but would like to see this change overtime as federal government becomes decentralised.

It is clear that to progress in DISR you must begin to manage people and I think it limits career progression if you are not willing to have people progress above APS 6 and be experts in their areas.

Hard to tell and I think it depends on what area you work. But it should be pretty standard.

The Graduate Program means I will progress to another level. The department has career plans and guidelines for people to use to meet the requirements for promotion. There is however a bottle neck for promotion above the EL1 level due to the amount of teams the department has.

Development in the broader DISR can be attained than career progression in NMI (lab roles). Due to the technical nature of working in a laboratory, although you can progress in your career, it might take longer to build up the appropriate skillset to move up an APS level. And with that, it narrows your opportunities to move laterally. Meanwhile, because DISR is so broad in its portfolios, you can move around to different teams to learn different skills laterally before seeking an opportunity to move vertically. Managers and mentors in DISR are also very supportive in self-development into seeking a new job position.