Career Prospects at CSIRO

It is early days for me so I don't know much about promotion opportunities yet having just joined as a graduate and there also being no other former graduates to ask or compare to. The organisation is quite hierarchical so there are tiered ranks. I am hoping I can get a promotion after completing the graduate program upgrading my CSOF level which is what it is called at CSIRO (skills and competencies needed to perform a role/job description) which will warrant a promotion.

The immediate next steps for promotion are good. They are to accumulate enough experience and demonstrate my learnings, do a PhD with the CSIRO and get into their CERC Fellow program. The steps after are much harder, getting onto the full-time research roles in a matter of luck and funding, as the positions are highly sort after, going up from there to team manager level is just as hard.

It's difficult to say at this point but there seems to be quite a linear career progression trajectory for most CSIRO staff - science staff I'd say, whilst the enterprise services seem to have more options. The promotion process seems pretty clear.

There are none in the Darwin office if I want to remain on my Aboriginal homelands, or nearby in Darwin.

while the experience and being able to include the csiro on my resume are both great, not having a continuing position to progress within the company when I had expressed that as my goal continually is very disappointing.

As far as my graduate program concerns, I haven't heard of any promotion opportunities, but I do know that the program offers employment following completion, so that is something I'll look into once it comes to that point in this role.

There is some controversy over promotions at my company. E.g. they have been in a restructuring process for over 6 months. They have not hired managers for certain functions and are reducing positions at higher levels. It is difficult to progress your career within teams and I have seen that most career progression requires you to leave your team and apply for roles elsewhere - this makes it difficult to see how you could progress your career in the areas you are passionate about. Graduates have not been provided with any information regarding potential career progression following the graduate program or what could be expected promotion-wise upon completion of the program.

The promotion opportunities have not been clearly explained. Roles after the graduate program are yet to be discussed.

Career/role mobility seems more restrictive than I had hoped. More opportunities/flexibility in terms of merit based progression would be appreciated

I have team members who have been performing higher duties for years without promotion or career progression. I have also been told that it is incredibly difficult to gain promotions at CSIRO. CSIRO as a whole has high staff retention at the higher levels. This, combined with cost cutting, means that it is difficult to see what career progression looks like.

I have not been formally told about ways to move up the ranks in the company. At the moment I am on a contract and when that contract ends, I will hopefully be able to become permanent at CSIRO or pick up another contract. My next major career progression goal is to do my PhD so hopefully I will be able to reach this next step at CSIRO. It is a great organisation, and I would love to be able to stay.

I am not too certain about how promotion works at my organisation, but I have already moved up a step within current pay/performance band in line with meeting periodically reviewed performance standards. I imagine you start as a team member, then become a team lead, unit manager and so on up the ranks, proving your performance and leadership skills at each step but for everyone else, there is still opportunities to move up so to speak within your current role

I'm unsure how I would progress in the teams I'm currently working in if I had the opportunity.

I joined CSIRO as part of their Indigenous Graduate Program with the promise of doing a PhD with CSIRO. As I am a little rusty on my chemistry skills they are allowing me to acclimatise back into science in preparation for this. After I finish my PhD I understand their CERC Fellows (Postdoc) program is robust and easy to enter. However the next step in securing employment here at CSIRO is harder, that is becoming a research scientist. I do not worry about this however as this is 6 years into my future.

I believe I am in an organisation where I can progress my career as a researcher or academic.

I am a bit worried about the opportunities to remain in the company after my contract ends.

I hope there is a future for me at CSIRO, because I love it here!

I don not know of any job/promotion to CSIRO after this, a PhD and honours would probably first be necessary, the internship may help somewhat if I want to work here.

I am only at the company for the summer but I am confident this position would enable me to pursue further opportunities at the company later into my career after I have graduated.

For a student to continue work at CSIRO they must undertake a PhD and receive a scholarship from CSIRO. They are then co-supervised by a CSIRO researcher. Landing a scholarship is a bit easier given your connections but there is no guarantee your supervisor will have funding for one. Then after a PhD you would apply for a Post Doc, successful completion of which may finally land you a staff position.