12 July 2019 – The South African Graduate Employers Association (SAGEA), a not-for-profit professional association dedicated to advancing graduate employment, recently released its 2019 Candidate Insights Report. Based on this year’s survey, global engineering, design and advisory company, Aurecon, came fourth among the top engineering employers in the country.

Aurecon’s Modlay Davids, Emerging Talent Recruitment Partner – Africa, who was formally voted as one of the best company representatives among survey respondents, comments: “Aurecon is thrilled to claim such a high position in SAGEA’s Top Employers list. I’m particularly pleased that our recruitment processes, which include interviews, gamification and client pitches, were mentioned as among the best that graduates were exposed to. This is testament to the effectiveness of our graduate recruitment campaigns and it shows that Aurecon’s position as the largest engineering consultancy in South Africa has consolidated our brand among graduates.”

The research, was conducted by High Fliers Research for SAGEA, was based on surveys with 2 168 new or future employees from 100 organisations between March and May 2019. The majority (71%) of respondents chose their ‘aspirational employer’ based on its overall reputation, while the most common factors in persuading candidates to stay with an employer included remuneration, promotion, international opportunities, training and development, as well as culture.

“Aurecon’s Emerging Professionals Programme ‒ a three-year development pathway for employees with four or fewer years of experience in their respective fields ‒ exposes employees to the various facets of engineering, design and infrastructure advisory consultancy that they are interested in. All emerging professionals and graduates are allocated a mentor and provided with support on their road to professional registration. To help them broaden their experience, graduates are rotated within and across units and locations,” says Davids.

“Many graduates who started their journey at Aurecon have climbed through the ranks and enjoy fulfilling careers, often having had opportunities to work across borders. With 88% of respondents indicating that they would want to work overseas at some point in the future, finding their feet in a global company that offers the right professional opportunities is key,” she says.

When candidates were also asked to name the organisation they most aspired to work for, irrespective of their degree or qualifications, Aurecon was placed 16^th in the SAGEA Aspirational Employer of Choice 2019 list.

“An array of training opportunities that are aligned to the ECSA (Engineering Council of South Africa) requirements for professional registration form part of our Emerging Professionals Programme. As a global company with a strong presence in Australia and New Zealand, the Middle East, Asia and Africa, students who join Aurecon are not only provided with the tools they need to progress locally, but they also become members of a worldwide network of technical experts. Upon graduating, innovative, entrepreneurial and creative students who join Aurecon can look forward to broadening their horizons and developing the skills to use digital engineering techniques to solve clients’ complex problems,” concludes Davids.