Training & Personal Development at Optus

We have very well designed training which lasts 8 weeks after onboarded. the new grads got to know each other and worked on tasks together which is a very good chance to build connections with new people. as tech grads we went through cyber, it, software engineering, testing courses to get a general idea of each area. i found the cyber part was quite interesting and may choose to do more work regarding that.

There are a lot of training programs at optus. formal training such as optus u (partnerships with other universities and institutes to run courses across six weeks) , certifications, informal training (by organising events and inviting speakers from companies such as tiktok, google to speak to us). there is also on the job training.

There has been very limited formal training or development and instead requires picking things up as you go about your role

Mixed media training including, q&a, ar experiences, video training, hands on, lectures and more. they do a good job at keeping it interesting.

Many options both informal and on the job. regularly get guest speakers and industry experts. offer university accredited micro credential courses.

Lots of voluntary workshops and guest speakers to get involved with as well as optus u, where you can complete short courses.

There are platforms that support our learning, as well as reimbursements for certificates.

Some teams seem to have a large budget for formal learning, but this hasn't been my experience. there's quite a lot of informal training resources in networks provided by external companies, but i haven't had much paid for training. the one exception for this is optusu, which is a great way to develop skills which i have done and learnt from, but the options are quite limited.

Overall there are lots of learning opportunities and everyone at optus is encouraged to do at least 12 hours of learning each year. there are many sessions run across optus and digital learning opportunities as well, plus extra certifications you can get. there was less grad specific training sessions than what i first imagined though.

As mentioned previously, the company is great at supporting young talent. in the case of formal training, we have formal process training sessions getting us across how to use certain systems and processes. we also have available micro university courses we can take through our university partnerships. informal training includes on the job, and coaching/mentoring from senior staff.

Training can depend on the team, some teams excel at onboarding graduates and have work for them akin to a proper role within the team, other teams seem to be filling admin type gaps where graduates are given work that doesn't develop their skills

Bootcamp for tech graduates was 3 weeks which prepared us well for joining our teams. afterwards i had the opportunity to engage in other development programs and bootcamps such as optus u - optus's program which collaborates with universities to upskill empolyees, as well as coursera, umedy and other independent bootcamps.

On the job training is minimal. mostly, you have to learn yourself. sometimes there isn't enough documentation specifying how to set up/use a new system.

* on-job training, within grad program we also have a 'team buddy' assigned in the team who answers any questions: learnt collaboration, problem-solving, advisory/coaching, ppt and excel skills,etc. * optus u - partner with universities to complete online macro-credential courses. * development programs for women in leadership/high potentials * exchange program

I had a two week bootcamp in which we got to know the rest of the cohort as well as participate in a variety of networking events, activities and develop our people skills in the workplace. following this was a one week bootcamp for my specific stream of work. during this bootcamp, we had lecture presentations in the morning and then practical work in the afternoon. the bootcamps were useful for networking purposes, and provide basic knowledge on how the company operated. i also had informal training, which included my own learning of specific languages i had to learn for my role, this was extremely helpful to settle me into my current position.

Pretty useless, most learning is on the job

Optus offers a few learning and development opportunities. i have participated in optus u which is a range of micro-credentials with partner universities

A lot of the training is on the job and just picked up through shadowing and experience. there are often speaker sessions held by optus on broad topics such as innovation but not specific to a role, and we have an online training portal with short optional video courses. i have learnt many skills such as communication, project management, stakeholder management, problem solving, time management and excel.

There are so many ways to learn in the company internal and external resources are provided and i am currently undertaking a university level certification which is recognised by unsw for process improvement

Many training and development programs, both self guided and facilitated. i've learnt a lot about managing multiple stakeholders, each with their own kpis and expectations whilst also working to tight deadlines. i have learnt the applications of marketing guidelines in a practical context and the importance of striking a balance between long and short term activity.