Training & Personal Development at Department of Education

In terms of formal training I have attended a few trainings with the graduates, a 3 day legal conference, and a full day training with all of legal. These have all been pretty good, I feel like I've learnt something in all the trainings that I've done. I think the most I've learnt is through informal training, such as my supervisor giving me tips or learning from feedback on my work.

I appreciate that we get to do a Graduate Certificate as part of our program. More could be done by Managers / Guidelines provided to Managers supervising a Grad to increase collaboration and get Grads more active within their actual roles. The activities within the Graduate Certificate primp one up nicely for these duties but in my case the opportunities haven't been available in the role to exercise the skills.

Formal training was quite scant but my team has been very supportive with informal training

As part of the graduate program, we undertake a Graduate Certificate of Public Administration at the University of Canberra. We undertake various learning and development sessions.

Mandatory online training modules which have to be completed yearly are fairly useless and more of a box-ticking exercise. Some basic information was helpful as I got started though. The grad program has provided day/half-day/session training sessions on various topics which have spanned from helpful to very unhelpful. At the Department of Education, we also have to complete a Graduate Certificate of Public Administration as part of the Grad Program. This has also been helpful at some points and felt like a waste of time at others. It does mean that you finish the program with an official qualification though, which is good for the resume. The Department in general provides lots of training and development opportunities, e.g., I've completed training in Procurement as I was going to be involved in a procurement process for my team. I was able to sign up to a session one day and get in the next to spend a half-day with an external trainer.

The graduate program involves a paid graduate certificate in public policy / administration.

There are many workshops for graduates that are very valuable, but some that are not always a great use of time. This cohort was not informed prior to beginning the program that, for the whole year, we would be completing a graduate certificate in public administration. The extra qualification is beneficial and makes sense, however it is difficult to manage time for assignments especially when we don't have specific study leave arrangements. The course content is not always relevant at times, but has mostly been valuable.

I think that the grad cert that we are completing should have been told to us upfront so we can have some sort of expectation of what sort of training we will be getting (especially when it is a year long commitment). Personally, I feel as though it is a repeat of content learnt from my degree but I can see the value in having grads complete the course. The in house training sessions have been useful.

The graduate certificate has provided an immense extra workload and takes a full day away from regular work, while the certificate is a fantastic opportunity, the inconvenience of a full day every week + assessments may outweigh the benefit of the qualification. Smaller training sessions have at times been positive such as the one about acknowledgements of country, however others have simply dragged on and not provided much value.

Excellent training opportunities but it's hard to find time to attend those trainings

Training has been great within the grad program. Particularly, briefing and responding to APS decisions makers, budget process, understanding policy.

The grad program training has been fantastic. 90% of our training had been really worth-while. We have done formal training in: innovation and strategy, communication skills, presentation skills, policy development, decision-making, writing and briefing skills and many others. There are also good opportunities for non-grads to attend presentations, session, workshops etc and work on their professional development.

We get very good training during our graduate program.

The Department's graduate program offers graduates with comprehensive formal training covering core topics within government, including policy development, responding to and briefing APS decision makers, emotional intelligence and communication, presentation skills, procurement, legal and risk.

the training programs have been varied but generally I feel that they have been timed poorly and occasionally poorly structured. For example, the majority of the training has occurred in the later half of the year when I feel I could have benefitted to a greater extent had it been earlier in the year.

Hit and miss. Some workshops have been good and others, not worthwhile.

The graduate program has provided some useful training, but more work related training is left to the area to organise.

The department's grad program provides training throughout the year, some of which is quite useful. I have improved my work-related writing skills and I have learnt more about the budget and cabinet processes.

While I appreciate the training opportunities, I feel that most training sessions I've had to attend as part of the graduate program have not been particularly relevant or helpful.

Plenty of opportunities for formal and informal training in areas that are directly relevant to the job and relevant to personal development.