As a graduate engineer, why would I consider The Graduate Program in Engineering?

The Graduate Program in Engineering is all about you. It is all about you and your professional development.

What this means is that the focus of the program is to give you the professional development you need and at the right time in your career (ie at the start!!) so that you can leverage this for the rest of your professional life.

Firstly,there is a focus on getting you to Chartered Status. In fact at the end of The Graduate Program in Engineering you will be 50% or more of the way towards Chartered Status and have all of the skills and knowledge to know how to get there.

Secondly,during The Graduate Program in Engineering there is a focus on the development of professional skills and knowledge that build your confidence and competence in how you communicate as a professional engineer. It starts with understanding yourself and then others and builds into how you write, speak and present yourself. Further development into your ethics, business acumen and influence is all about how your professional understanding and how you communicate yourself as a professional within the engineering community.

Thirdly, we understand the importance of a strong mentoring and manager relationship, and we know that with a little help in structuring these relationships you can better leverage the experience of key people in your organisation to fast track your professional development. This is a win for you and your manager and your organisation.

Finally,you will not be doing this alone. Your organisation will either be running this program in-house (along with other engineers from your same organisation) or you will be part of a public group (eg 20 engineers from 6 different engineering organisations). You will quickly establish rapport and professional relationships with other engineers in a similar position to you and this will provide you with an excellent network as you progress in your career.

As a graduate engineer, what is Chartered Status, and why is it important to me?

Chartered Status is a competency benchmark for professional engineers in Australia and certifies that you practice in a competent, independent and ethical manner.

Chartered Status represents the highest standards of professionalism, leadership, up-to-date expertise, quality, safety, and the ability to undertake independent practice.

In the past Chartered Status has been a competitive advantage for engineers. Less than 1/3 of all engineers held the Chartered Status credentials. However, we are quickly seeing a shift in the engineering profession with more engineers becoming Chartered and it will soon become the recognition that represents professional hygiene rather than professional competitive advantage. What this means is that in the next decade, we could very likely see those without Chartered Status being left behind.

As a graduate engineer, what professional development is important to me, and how is this covered in The Graduate Program in Engineering?

The Graduate Program in Engineering focuses on the development of professional skills and knowledge that build your confidence and competence in how you communicate as a professional engineer. It starts with understanding yourself and then others and builds into how you write, speak and present yourself. Further development into your ethics, business acumen and influence is all about how your professional understanding and how you communicate yourself as a professional within the engineering community.

Whilst some of these professional skills and knowledge seem like common sense, you will soon learn in your career that they are not always common practice. During The Graduate Program in Engineering you will learn and embed habits that make you professional in the way you think, act and reflect. This is what will make all the difference.

As a graduate engineer, why is it so important to have a mentor and a manager take an active part in my professional development, and how does The Graduate Program in Engineering include this?

You will very quickly discover the importance of a strong mentoring and manager relationship (if you have not already). What you may not know is that with the right structure in these relationships you can better leverage the experience of key people in your organisation to fast track your professional development.

What we do in The Graduate Program in Engineering is help set up this right structure (and understanding of the relationships between graduate, mentor and manager). As a graduate you will be helped to play your part in these relationships better. We also work with your mentors and managers to build stronger relationships and structure within your engineering organisation.