Wow, how time flys by when you’re having fun…what with LOTS on at work, doing my MBA, renovating the house, not mention a wife and two kids, it’s just been ages since my last post – time to put that right!

Anyway, I was at the Engineers Australia annual conference yesterday, which was a fantastic event with a large number of stall holders, most of which were looking to attract the best and brightest of the Engineering Grads.

As always, I got myself out there to have a chat with the people on the various stalls and was delighted to find that a/ it seems that L&D people are playing an increasing role in these events (traditionally I’ve found that it’s mainly been internal recruitment staff manning the stalls), which I understand is due to an increasing number of enquiries from potential recruits about personal development opportunities (and the significance such programs have in the job-offer-acceptance decision making process) and, b/, that even the smaller organisations are recognising (and embracing) the need for a Grad development program if they wish to have a chance of attracting the better applicants.

Of course, for some of these smaller organisations, there isn’t a sufficient number of new Grads joining each year for a dedicated ‘Grad Dev Program’, however, a well thought out program can include topics that will benefit many other members of the organisation, which as a positive concequence, allows for additional sharing of knowledge that isn’t, perhaps, happening in the work place.

One thing’s for sure; there is an ever increasing demand for Engineering Grads and organisations that aren’t providing good Grad Dev Programs will struggle to get the better candidates on board.