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Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry targets UNE graduates

March 09, 2005

John Shannon, Paul Russell and Ben Dal BroiThe Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has sent its Human Resources Manager and two of its star recruits to the University of New England to try to attract graduates to the Department.

UNE graduates are hotly sought-after within the Department for their generic skills and regional perspective, according to Paul Russell, Director of Learning and Development, People and Planning at the Department.

“We came back to UNE because we had such great success here with our graduate intake two years ago,” Mr Russell said. “We particularly like UNE graduates because of the strength of their personal skills and research skills, and because they show a bit of initiative. UNE is really preparing its students well for the workforce.”

“A lot of students here come from rural and regional backgrounds, and when you’re developing policy and programs they can offer a really valuable input that draws on their experiences, because they’ve been there and actually lived in the bush,” he explained.

Almost a dozen former UNE students have won places in the Department’s highly competitive graduate program since 2000. John Shannon and Ben Dal Broi were recruited by the Department immediately after finishing their studies in rural science at UNE in 2002. John now works in the Human Resources section of the Department and Ben, a former University Medallist, is helping develop policy as a Project Officer with the Rural Financial Counselling section. John and Ben were back on campus this week to encourage more UNE graduates to follow in their footsteps to Canberra.

John Shannon recommended graduates “get amongst” the Department’s graduate recruitment program. “It’s the best thing you could possibly do straight out of university,” he said. “It provides you with so many diverse opportunities and so much support. We developed instant social networks. It’s the best way to make the move [into the working world].”

Ben Dal Broi said that graduates should seriously consider applying to work with the Department of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries, as it could offer them “an interesting and rewarding career” that ranged from helping shape rural policy to being a dog handler with the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS). “I put the generic skills I learnt at UNE into practice every day,” Ben said, “and the knowledge and experience of working in rural industries that I took away from my degree help me to relate to my clients, especially farmers. Also, the networks and contacts I made while studying have proved useful in my job.”

Online applications for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry 2006 graduate intake will be accepted between March 12 and April 11, 2005. Short-listed applicants will complete a battery of tests of their problem-solving, communication and numerical skills, and will be interviewed by representatives from the Department. For more information visit: http://www.daff.gov.au/graduate.

Media contact: Rhonda Leece on (02) 6773 3408 or Leon Braun (UNE Public Relations) on (02) 6773 3771.

Click here for a high-resolution version of the photograph at right (from left: John Shannon, Paul Russel, Ben Dal Broi).

Posted by Leon Braun at March 9, 2005 10:40 AM