As we welcome a new round of graduates for 2022, it was great to have Ventia's graduate program ranked among Australia's top 100 in the Top 100 Graduate Employers 2022 ranking, and listed as #3 in the category for Property, Infrastructure and Logistics employer.
Our graduate program has achieved Top 100 status each year since it began in 2017. Australian Financial Review magazine and the GradConnection jobs platform have published a list of the most popular employers among Australia's new graduates for the past seven years.
Second year graduate Erin Kenny (they/ them and pictured below) has a passion for sustainability. Now into their third rotation, this one in our Defence & Social Infrastructure sector, they are excited to be working with the team on opportunities to support clients with energy efficiency improvements around generation, storage, efficiency and enablement.
Erin believes the breadth of experience they will gain during the 2-year Graduate Program will be invaluable exposure to different work environments.
My education, my passion and now the experience I am getting here at Ventia has really helped me see how I can make a difference with my career path, Erin says.
Pictured: Second year graduate Erin Kenny
Completing university with a degree in Commerce and Arts meant that Kate Murphy's career opportunities were quite broad (she/ her and pictured below). The diversity of Ventia's business really appealed to her.
"Working across different parts of the business over the two-year program enabled me to work out what I enjoyed doing and where I saw my career taking me," Kate says.
I was really pleased to be offered a permanent role in the Strategy & Corporate Affairs team this year at the completion of my rotations, as it's an area I've developed a real passion for.
Kate says that learning the ropes in a business like Ventia showed her roles and skillsets she didn't know existed.
"I love working in Strategy because you never know from one day to the next what might hit your desk," she enthuses. "I am constantly encouraged to ask questions and challenge thinking, as that's how you get the most out of the experience but also show where you can add value to the team."
Pictured: 2020 Graduate Kate Murphy
Group Executive People & Culture Charmaine Higgins says that having worked closely with the graduates over the years, she's seen for herself the value that both they and Ventia get from the program.
'Each year the quality of the work our graduates output blows me away,' Charmaine says. 'They are passionate and keen to learn and suck up every bit of knowledge shared with them by the teams they work with across our business.'
Rob Farrell (he/ him and pictured below) didn't go straight to university from school, instead working in Central Queensland in the mining industry before studying Engineering at the University of Queensland.
"There's a bit of an understanding in Engineering, where whatever you start out in is where you end up," Rob says. 'So I figured I'd give myself the best chance of working out what I am most passionate about by doing my graduate rotations at Ventia, where there's so much choice and opportunity.'
Rob spent six months in our Defence business, followed by six months in Rail at Mascot in Sydney. His final rotation was with our engineering consultancy subsidiary (now part of our Infrastructure Services sector) where he was recently offered a permanent role.
"Transitioning from grad to a full-fledged role has been exciting," Rob says.
I couldn't have done this without the hands-on, frontline experience I gained through the program. I highly recommend it to new graduates.
Pictured: 2020 Graduate Rob Farrell
About the awards and #VentiaGrad
The Top 100 awards are based on the votes of around 50,000 users of GradConnection, an online platform connecting students and graduates with prospective employers in Australia. The votes reflected which companies the graduates would prefer to work for after graduating.
The #VentiaGrad program is a two-year program consisting of three rotations over a two-year period, commencing in January each year. Read more about the program here.
Welcome to our 2022 graduates!
More information: #VentiaGrad; Top 100 Graduate Employers 2022 and AFR List Top 100 list