Laura Zelesco
What have been the highlights of the graduate program?
The key highlights of my graduate program at Stockland have been the opportunity to deliver a brand new 18-home display village and begin the planning phase of a new town centre precinct, working collaboratively with the residential and commercial business units. It has been a whirlwind 12-months with the opportunity to gain exposure to a wide variety of people from across the national business.
Why Stockland?
Stockland is Australia’s largest diversified property company which brings reputable benefits such as, prestige, learning opportunities and large scale projects. Senior leadership believe and exude our founding vision to “not merely achieve growth and profits but to make a worthwhile contribution to the development of our cities and great country”. This message is deeply imbedded in the culture of the company which creates a rewarding and community focused learning environment for graduates.
What does a typical day as a grad involve?
For me every day and every week is different – I guess that is the nature of development. I spend my time between my project construction site, working flexibly from our sales and information centre and back in head office. Work consists of anything from basic administration duties, visioning workshops, consultant meetings to creating park designs, naming streets, internal/external stakeholder meetings and attending industry events.
Tell me a bit about your rotations and training and development opportunities
The graduate program focusses on key areas of personal development and brand building which included; a Stockland orientation, positive impact and communication skills training, presentation skills, influencing skills and a 6-week industry based course hosted by the Urban Development Institute of Australia. We spend the majority of our time in a our designated role and attend formal training in Sydney head office. We have fantastic mentors which guide and support us as well as our direct line managers which are always willing to teach and challenge us.
What are some of the social aspects of the program?
Stockland enables the interstate offices to amalgamate on a bi-monthly to quarterly basis in Sydney head office. This gives us an opportunity to not only travel but also socialise with other graduates which are likeminded individuals. We have many internal committees which focus on volunteering (through the Stockland CARE Foundation), industry partners (UDIA & PCA), social activity (localised state based social clubs) and organised sports (within and outside of work hours). There really is something for everyone at Stockland.
