Herbert Smith Freehills’ position as one of Australia’s leading graduate employers was highlighted last night when the Top 100 Graduate Employers were announced at an awards ceremony in Sydney by The Hon Christopher Pyne MP, Leader of the House and Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science.

Law students from across Australia voted Herbert Smith Freehills as the number 1 legal sector graduate recruiter, and number 17 overall across all graduate employers Australia-wide.

Herbert Smith Freehills’ Regional Managing Partner, Asia & Australia, Sue Gilchrist, said, “We’re proud to be nominated as the top law graduate employer in Australia for the second consecutive year, and to again be placed in the top 20 of all graduate employers in Australia – recognising that this is such a special and fulfilling place to work.

“The legal graduate market in Australia is extremely competitive: the best of the best graduates will only choose to join firms that have a highly compelling graduate program, and rightly so. We invest significantly in our program to ensure we can offer our graduates the best opportunities to learn, grow and excel, and to feel as though they’re challenged, and can begin adding value from Day 1,” she went on to say.

“Our leading graduate program offers extraordinary access to the best work for the best clients, with the opportunity to work alongside some of the country’s – and the world’s – exceptional legal practitioners. Our graduates also have the opportunity to be part of our highly successful international secondment program, which gives our people the opportunity to live and work in some of the most exciting cities in the world – it’s the icing on the cake for many of them,”  Ms Gilchrist continued.

The Top 100 Graduate Employer Rankings are based on the results of an annual survey conducted by GradAustralia across 38 higher education institutions. The survey explores career motivations and expectations, and asks students to nominate graduate employers that most appeal to them.

Minister Pyne unveiled the Top 100 employer results during last night’s event and thanked employers for their focus on graduate development.

“The Government is building a national agenda around science and innovation, so it’s important to commend these employers for their focus on nurturing young talent and fostering new ideas and innovation. The graduate programs being recognised tonight are further investment in our future leaders,” said Minister Pyne.

About the survey

http://www.gradaustralia.com.au/

The Top 100 is Australia’s first comprehensive and objective survey of student career motivations and expectations. The survey is conducted by GradAustralia, a member of the Group GTI global network, under the guidance of trendence Research Institute. Every year, more than 500,000 school-leavers, students and young professionals take part in trendence studies to determine the most popular employers in over 30 countries worldwide. Graduate employer rankings are determined by respondents nominating the organisation that most appeals to them as a first employer. The survey also explores employer brand perception and motivations and expectations when students are selecting a graduate employer.