Alumni Profile: Josh Siviour

Little did he know that a chance encounter with an alumni email would lead to a new chapter in his professional journey. 

“I wasn't sure what to do next after leaving the ADF, one day I received an email about the career fair and figured I had nothing to lose by checking it out and seeing what opportunities might arise.” 

The UNSW Canberra Career Transition Fair links current and former defence force personnel with organisations who can support their transition into the civilian workforce. 

For Josh, the Career Transition Fair wasn’t just about finding a job—it was about making meaningful connections. 

Josh said one of the most beneficial aspects of the Career Transition Fair was the mini-interviews set up between employers and job seekers. 

"Matching attendees with potential employers for mini-interviews was probably the catalyst for the start of my relationship with Kestra," Josh said. 

"The career fair put me in front of the CEO of Kestra for a five-minute chat about my motivations, interests, and aspirations—at a personal level.”

The format of the fair was set up for one-on-one conversations between job seekers and employers, allowing job seekers to align their conversations with their career aspirations and values, as well as network with industry and other jobseekers alike. 

Despite his background as an electronics technician and having completed a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering with UNSW Canberra, Josh initially struggled to see how his military experience would translate into the civilian software engineering world.

"Military experience is so varied and it can be difficult to map many of the hard skills gained to civilian work," he said. 

Paul Kelly, co-founder of Kestra, a software engineering company and UNSW Canberra Launch partner, says that the soft skills honed in the ADF, like leadership, teamwork, and professionalism, are transferable to civilian workplaces. 

After the fair, Josh was contacted by Kestra’s Engineering Manager, Jayden Rubinstein, who showed interest in onboarding him once he was ready to transition out of the ADF. 

Having already ‘interviewed’ and connected with Kestra at the career fair, Josh was able to discuss his interests over a casual lunch and was quickly onboarded, marking the start of his new career in software engineering.

His advice to veterans attending future UNSW Canberra transition fairs is simple: "Be yourself. These companies know the value a veteran brings and want to meet you. Bring along anecdotes from your service that highlight your potential and, if relevant, examples of hobby projects that display a curiosity and motivation to learn."

Josh’s story is a testament to the power of networking, leveraging both technical and soft skills, and checking your alumni emails!