Meet some of our graduates

What does a typical workday look for you?

I work in the network team and my main role is to communicate and provide assistance to clients for firewall rules setup, proxy configuration, network troubleshooting. I will also occasionally get involved in the work such as switch upgrade, device decommission etc.

Describe one thing you have learnt about yourself since participating in the ABS Graduate Program?

I’m afraid of public speaking but I could still do it…

What made you apply to the ABS Graduate program?

I was a vacation student at the ABS before applying the Graduate program, and I applied it because I loved working here.  I could get in touch with different technologies and tools, and there are a lot of training opportunities. Most importantly my teammates are awesome. They are all network experts, and they would love to teach me a lot of stuff.

What advice would yourself before starting at the ABS?

Relax and enjoy.

What does a typical workday look for you?

I currently work as a developer in the team responsible for maintaining legacy applications used for data acquisition.

Typically, my day begins with a team catch up to discuss the tasks we are working on. Following this I work independently to solve whatever my task may be.

We are lucky to see a large variety of work, some of the usually suspects involve providing triage support, fixing bugs, upgrading servers, and applying DevOps practises to older apps.

Describe one thing you have learnt about yourself since participating in the ABS Graduate Program?

To better trust my own learning process.

My team has a pretty large scope when it comes to the different applications and variety of work that we deal with. Combine this with being a relatively new starter in ICT, it’s a regular occurrence to go into a new project feeling a bit daunted due to lack of experience.

I learn by doing, so while the work may start off slow, it does pick up and at the end I am often surprised by how much I have learnt considering where I began.

What made you apply to the ABS Graduate program?

I was a part of the vacation student program, so applying for the graduate felt like a natural progression. 

I actually accepted the vacation student position at a time when I was looking elsewhere for a graduate program (I think I had missed the ABS grad intake). My sister suggested that I should still seriously consider the vacation role based on her own experience working in the APS and the ABS’ reputation as a great workplace.

What advice would yourself before starting at the ABS?

I would never describe myself as naturally organized…
So rather than focusing on several different tasks that you ‘could’ be working on, try to set one attainable goal for each day. This provides a bit of clarity to both the team and to yourself. Initially these goals will be small but will grow with experience.

What does a typical workday look for you?

A typical workday for me begins with a big cup of tea. I like to make a to-do list each morning; with the work I have planned for that day along with any meetings I might have. I often have meetings with my team, my section, some other graduates, or small working groups so I like to be prepared at the beginning of the day. In my team, I am currently working on analysing data for our next release, so I spend a few hours in the morning looking through the data for what we can use for our publication. After lunch, the meetings begin! It’s nice to catch up with people in my team, and for any big meetings where we might not all know each other, we often have an ice breaker questions so we get to know each other. Something I love about working at the ABS is that my “typical workday” changes every few weeks as our work changes, so it’s always interesting and there is always something to learn.

Describe one thing you have learnt about yourself since participating in the ABS Graduate Program?

One thing that I have learnt about myself since participating in the grad program is that there are a lot of things that I am good at, but also lots of things to learn. I am pretty good at time management, but still have a lot of work to do in regards to prioritisation of tasks. I am also a leader but have learnt that I can’t do it by myself and that surrounding myself with good people makes a project much easier and more successful. I also enjoy work that interests me but work that might not lie in my area of expertise or experience can also be extremely rewarding and fulfilling.

What made you apply to the ABS Graduate program?

I worked as an essential health care worker during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and got the opportunity to help some other teams analyse data as part of our COVID-19 response. I had done some data analysis while I was at university, but seeing it work in the real world, and the benefits we got from doing it, made me decide to pursue a masters of biostatistics. In the first three weeks of the masters, a friend of mine who was already working at the ABS told me about the grad program. He’d been through it himself and had nothing but good things to say about it, and I can honestly say that applying for the grad program was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, both for myself and my career.

What advice would yourself before starting at the ABS?

If I could go back in time and give myself advice before starting at the ABS, it would be “don’t be afraid to ask questions”. The people at the ABS genuinely care about the work that they do and are more than happy to take you through anything you have questions about. Senior managers offer the chance for you to shadow them so you can see how their work looks, and if you find anything that you’re interested in the extensive ABS work program, there is always training materials, resources, and friendly people around to teach you more about it.

What does a typical workday look like for you?

I currently work in Location Analytics as a geospatial specialist, specifically tasked with supporting the objectives of the Australian Climate Service. As a result, my typical day changes with the weather. During the high-risk weather season, I work to provide datasets and geospatial analysis based on non-standard geographies impacted by severe weather events. Recently, that included providing analysis and data output to aid the response to Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie.

What advice would you give yourself before starting as an ABS Grad?

I’d remind myself that everyone at the ABS brings unique skills and experiences to the agency, and that it is a privilege to be able to work so closely with colleagues with such varied practice and knowledge. Ask questions, listen, and enjoy learning from some truly insightful people.

What made you apply to the ABS Graduate program?

I was drawn to the ABS because of its significance in informing Australia’s important decisions. I knew that the work that I would be doing at the ABS would be meaningful and engaging, and I was excited to provide analysis that shaped Australia’s future. I am proud to work at the ABS: providing objective insight that serves the community is a truly rewarding experience.

Describe one thing you have learnt about yourself since participating in the ABS Graduate Program?

The ABS Graduate Program provided me the opportunity to explore my statistical interests, and the freedom to find work within the agency that closely aligns with my passion. The program reaffirmed my keen interest in climate and environmental statistics, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue to contribute to this area.

What does a typical work day look like for you?

No workday is exactly the same. I am usually progressing work on the project I am on and using statistical programs to produce and validate data. I might also brief others about the practical meaning of these numbers and collaborate with team members to investigate unexpected trends in data, which we have seen a lot of recently due to COVID-19.  There are also social aspects of my day such as coffee catchups with team members/fellow graduates, or our weekly branch quiz!

Describe one thing you have learnt about yourself since participating in the ABS Graduate Program?

I’ve learnt that I enjoy working for the public service and find it very rewarding to see how the work at the ABS can contribute to policy and see the discussions that our statistics generate in the wider Australian community.

What made you apply to the ABS Graduate program?

Given my background in economics, maths, and statistics I wanted to use my quantitative background in work that would be helpful to others. I saw ABS as the perfect place to do this as there is so much meaningful and interesting work in a variety of areas such as economics, population, and so much more. The ABS Graduate program was also a great starting point in my career and transition out of university as it offered many components to train graduates in data and soft skills while working on statistics that are important to the Australian community.

What advice would you give yourself before starting at the ABS?

There are so many opportunities to learn and upskill in the graduate program, so take time to think about what your current strengths are and what you want to develop at the ABS. Take your graduate year as a time to explore your interests and take advantage of the opportunities given to you by the graduate program but also don’t feel the need to say yes to everything!