Training & Personal Development at Nova Systems

Early there is a lot of training: work specific courses (test & evaluation, consulting, systems engineering, requirements writing, system safety, Defence logistics), professional speaking course, professional writing course. Later we have done: self-awareness, self-branding (how to do LinkedIn), consulting course.

Nova has a great introductory phase where you feel safe and secure as a graduate. You'll be exposed to generic across the board training so that you can get a taste for the different sides of the business. Once your first rotation is locked in you're likely to get some prepartory "on-the-job" training too, though a large part will be learnt on the job with a supporting Novan as Nova's work covers such a wide field of topics/disciplines.

The training modules during the first few months of employment were average. They were not very useful towards any particular role and the volume of training was quite short which was made worse by extended periods of time before starting in a billable role. I did not think that the scope and amount of training and development we received was consistent with the notion that there was more investment in our formal training + additional courses in lieu of full PD benefits. Many grads would rather take the additional PD and use that for my own tailored development. An alternative could be pseudo-projects run internally which get grads hands on with engineering/logistics work that is more translatable to their role.

Many of the grad training sessions are great. Some don't resonate with me, but I know that they resonate with others, so I think it comes down to personal preference. Some miss the mark with many grads as they are not the most exciting or informative, but are still good for us to have an idea of.

The training and development program is great. I've learnt a lot both very technical and soft skills. Some of the skills I've gained is technical writing, how to present and be more confident, engineering standards.

The formal training was ok. Some of it was irrelevant (only relevant for a select few) and there was a very small amount of it. I feel it would have been better to have more, focused, training on the things we need to know and do to prepare for our roles and more specifically, our careers. We've essentially been left high and dry after the first couple of months. Informal training was ok as well but there was no context to it. So it also seemed pointless at the time. less pointless now, but still not hugely usefull

Systems safety and T&E training, were great overviews and introductions into the topic and gave a taste of what work some of Nova does. MBSE training (CAMEO and GENSYS) & UNSW systems engineering course, was an awesome introduction to model based systems engineering and a good refresher on Systems engineering processes. presentation training, good ideas and techniques for presenting.

Most valuable training has been informal through "on the job" learning. This experience will vary between person to person (and project to project) so it is difficult to generalise the training programs.

The formal training and development has been very beneficial to kickstarting my career in consulting. The informal training has been challenging at times but worthwhile. I have upskilled myself in using many Microsoft apps and had training in using Model Based Systems Engineering software.

They are good and appropriate for the work we do.

Could provide more training programs for general and targeted skills. Not much training, and sometimes irrelevant training to the person's profession.

The company is really supportive in providing useful training and opportunities to learn role-specific skills through PD funding.

Training was good, the team gathered for a 3-day training course specific to the area. Several training courses in the first few months of the program. Not much since.

Some relevant training for presentation and writing skills. Some basic introduction to role specific information, would much prefer a structured training that provides a better foundation for role specific work. Achieving the necessary skills and knowledge base is left to personal time currently.

As part of the graduate program, I had a set training schedule. I found it valuable as it covered technical and soft skills. However, I just think it perhaps needed a little rearranging to place some of the more consulting related training earlier in the program so that I learnt those skills before delving into a client project. By the time the training began, I felt I had already had to learn some of the skills on the job through trial and error.

Formal training has involved a few Courses online. a 3-day introduction course to my role and a 2-day Course at the Mid-point of first year on presentation skills.

Nova training and development programs: MBSE, Machine Learning, soft skills, public speaking, etc. Skills I have picked up working at Nova: MBSE, public speaking, coding, system engineering, project management skills using Jira.

Ah there's a lot of training, too much to remember it all. I would say it's pretty heavily focused on client/consultation training to begin with as well as the Defence industry space. Later, it becomes a little broader. Safety Training, Presentation Training and even equipment training within certain projects.

The training is not something that i've particularly enjoyed, i find it not relevant to what i want to achieve or am interested in. But i still do it because i can take something from it.

Training is left to individual business units and managers. Training for graduates is sparce and haphazard, with little information promulgated.