Australia's best graduate programs

The number one priority of a typical university graduate is to find themselves a job, preferably in a full-time capacity. Unfortunately, the sheer volume of students finishing their tertiary studies each year far outweighs the number of positions on offer, meaning there are plenty who miss out initially.

Competition can be especially fierce for graduate programs, generally ran by some of the Australia’s (and the world’s) leading corporations. The 2017 Top 100 Graduate Employers list, collated by the Australian Financial Review and GradConnection, documented the most enviable companies based on the percentage of users who expressed interest to work there in a 12 month-period up to October 2016.

Deloitte came out on top with 18 per cent and was followed by PwC (15 per cent), while IBM (14 per cent), KPMG (13 per cent) and Aldi (11 per cent) rounded out the top five. The final of the Big Four accounting firms, EY, narrowly missed out and finished in sixth position with eight per cent. 

The list also included other heavy hitters from various industries, including Nestle (seventh), Woolworths (15^th), Telstra (22^nd), NAB (28^th), Coca-Cola Amatil (47^th) and Apple (80^th). There was a logjam of companies with two per cent that extended from CIMIC Group in 52^nd position to 94^th placed Jane Street.

One of the major factors for graduates was the prospect of career development. By gaining experience in a large-scale organisation, they are making themselves more employable should they look to move companies, or seek a promotion at their current workplace.

The opportunity to travel through work was also an enviable prospect, and something more likely to be available in global organisations with offices all over the world than a small business or a start-up.