Where to Find the Best Graduate Jobs in Australia [Real Data]

Don't know where to find graduate jobs? The key lies in figuring out where employers "hang out" in person and online.

As it turns out, there's data for that – the Australian Association of Graduate Employers (AAGE) conducted a survey of over 100 employers and asked them about their favourite channels for recruiting grads. Let's go over this and what it means for you.

Graduate employers' favorite recruitment channels

*Employers were asked to rate how helpful they found a recruitment channel. These figures are the percentage of employers who found each channel "excellent" or "very good" for recruiting grads.

What this means for you

#1 Online, use Prosple & Linkedin

• We're proud to say that employers ranked us as their all-time favourite channel for recruiting grads! 😎 Linkedin came in a close second.

• Online job boards offer the most efficient way to reach a large number of potential candidates with different backgrounds and skills, so it's no surprise that employers' all-time favourite recruitment channels are us and Linkedin.

 📣 Hear from a grad

When I was applying for graduate jobs ... I found that I heard back more from employers when I applied on Prosple and Linkedin. – Associate Software Engineer at Xero

#2 On campus, go to career fairs and campus presentations

• Career fairs are, hands-down, employers' favorite in-person events. That's because they get to meet potential candidates directly – which is more enjoyable than reading through a stack of CVs. Plus, they can scope out talent in person, sometimes conducting interviews and offering jobs on the same day.
• Many employers also do on-campus presentations – that's when they come to your school to introduce their jobs and internship opportunities. These are a great way for you to learn more about a company in-depth and meet recruiters in a more intimate setting. Compared to career fairs, you'll also get more time to ask any burning questions you may have and leave a good first impression.
• Sign up for your school's careers centre mailing list early on to stay up-to-date on career fairs and campus presentations.

#3 Attend in-house events

• In-house events are events that employers host on their premises. These might be hosted by recruiters or by employees themselves.
• If the employer has an office in your area, it's a good idea to attend one of these. You'll get to check out the office, observe employee interactions, and generally get a feel for the company culture.

📣 Hear from a recruiter

Our in-house events are initiated by current employees who want to bring the local software engineering community together to show off our brand and company but also to bring new ideas to the team – Senior Technical Recruiter

#4 Join (employer-sponsored) student societies

• If you've ever wondered whether it's worth joining a student club or society that's sponsored by an employer, the answer seems to be "yes": close to 1 in 5 employers do find this to be a helpful recruitment channel.
• Joining a student society can help you hear about opportunities and also get you on the employer's radar if you join the society's leadership board.

 📣 Hear from a grad

Since my first year, I was pretty active online on Facebook and saw opportunities around from student societies. One of the industry sponsors ... for the Actuarial society was Quantium. So... that's how I got to know a bit about them. – Graduate Data Analyst at Quantium

Bonus: Graduate employers' least favorite recruitment channels

Now let's get into employers' least favorite channels for recruiting grads – i.e. where you don't need to be spending time on.

📊 What this means

• You'll notice most items in this chart are social media platforms. AAGE notes that 93% of employers are not even on Tiktok! (But we still encourage you toclean up your online presence because employers do check.)
• It's worth noting that AAGE found that 68% of employers do participate in virtual career fairs – but only 1 in 10 find them helpful (here are a few reasons recruiters hate them). So don't stress about attending them. 

What next?

Head on over to our homepage and marvel at the array of graduate jobs available! If you see an employer you're interested in, save them so you get notified when they post new jobs.

Remember, every job application, every interview, every rejection, is a stride closer to that dream graduate job. Good luck!