A Grad success: A career that delivers for our people

When you join Australia Post as a Graduate, you're in the driver's seat of your own career. What you help us deliver for Australia is completely up to you. Our Manager of People Experience & Optimisation, Emma Quirk, is living proof of that.?

Joining our Graduate Program in 2016, Emma is first to admit she found her first rotation with us a challenge, feeling as if she wasn't equipped with the right skills to work with our digital team. What she did have was an inquisitive mindset and a passion for our purpose.?

"I've always been fascinated by the mail. I know it sounds silly, but I have always been amazed at how you can drop something off in a red post box and it can end up at its destination anywhere in Australia. I wanted to be part of that," Emma said.?

It was on her second rotation that she says she found her place, and a career with us that has already spanned six successful years.?

?"I ended up rotating into HR and loved it from the get-go."?

Emma jumped into everything from our annual team engagement survey, our performance and development cycle and our recognition programs—all as part of her graduate experience—and loved it all.??

Not underestimating the importance of being with all our people, Emma says it wasn't just her time at her desk that impacted her success. Learning everything about Australia Post and its people also meant regular facility visits, joining Posties and Delivery Drivers on their runs and even spending some time in a linehaul truck.?

"Seeing the frontline teams and learning how they worked gave me a better appreciation of how my role impacted theirs. It also helped me put context into problem solving and to keep our frontline teams front of mind when creating people-related solutions or working on people-related changes."?

It was this passion and mindset amongst other things, that saw Emma find a more permanent role with us. Finding a leader in the business who supported her ambitions and who she could constantly learn from helped her move through five different roles over the past four years.?

Today, Emma is our Manager of People Experience & Optimisation, working with a team of her own helping to improve people processes every day.?

“Working in the People Experience space, my role aims to make it as simple as possible for our people to do the people-related tasks and activities they need to do in their job. We aim to take away the stress of people-related activities, so that our teams can focus on their core roles.”?

Emma admits she never thought she’d be here for as long as she has, but it’s her constant desire to help drive improvement and be part of change with the great people she works with that keeps her here.?

“I love being part of an ever-changing organisation. I never thought I’d be here for over six years, but I haven’t become bored yet and there’s always a new challenge to set my mind to!” she said.?

Emma’s career success was formally acknowledged in 2021 when she won the prestigious Australian Rising HR Star of the Year award at the Australian HR Awards.?

If you'd like to kick-start your career with us, just like Emma, apply now for our 2023 Graduate program here: https://auspost.com.au/jobs/graduate-program

If you’d like to explore other opportunities for a career like Emma’s at Australia Post visit https://auspost.com.au/jobs?