Recruiting and Mentoring for Gender Equality

Noetic prides itself on being a progressive workplace that supports women wanting to take up a career in consultancy. ‘We are always seeking top quality staff and Noetic offers a pathway for female graduates,’ says Andrew Balmaks, Noetic’s CEO. Since 2017, Noetic has offered placements to 14 young women, which is half of the company’s graduate and research officer intake over that time.

Because Noetic is a relatively flexible and nimble organisation, all graduates and research officers can participate in projects and client-facing activities. This could include providing data analysis and research for large scale projects such as those at the Department of Defence or presenting sessions in workshops at the Professional Services Review Agency or the Department of Communications and the Arts. Noetic’s communication and design team provide another career stream for graduates who want to focus on business development and marketing.

“Being an integral part of a team lets you contribute while you learn to take on more responsibilities and build your resume,” says Sarah Gibson, a recent recruit. She appreciates the opportunity to apply her engineering background and systems thinking to help provide practical real-world solutions. Sarah enjoys Noetic’s collaborative approach to problem-solving as well as its positive and innovative environment.

Ellie Condon came to Noetic for an opportunity to put theory into practice on completion of her university studies and says that, “Noetic enabled me to transition to a role that provided a whole new range of opportunities and challenges.” Linda Nixon, a graduate in Noetic’s Sydney office agrees. “The industry experience and variation in client engagement that Noetic offers is fantastic,” says Linda.

Lucia Watson, a former graduate and current consultant at Noetic, valued the opportunity to start her career in consulting with an experienced and knowledgeable team. Lucia has worked on a range of projects including as part of a team led by Associate Principal Christine McPaul. ‘Mentoring young women entering the workforce is an important part of being a senior woman at Noetic,’ says Christine. ‘This not only means providing opportunities for female graduates to build their skills and confidence, but also supporting them to manage their career aspirations.’

As senior women and role models in Noetic, both Christine and Sandra Koost, Noetic’s General Manager Corporate and Operations, believe it is vital that young women are encouraged and mentored. Along with interesting and diverse hands-on work experience, Noetic provides graduates and research assistants with tailored developmental opportunities, performance feedback and coaching as well as the flexibility to manage work-life balance. ‘We value the contributions of all our staff and are very proud that so many female graduates see Noetic as their first career choice,’ says Sandra.