GCCA | Graduate Careers Council of Australia

Graduate Careers Australia

Graduate Grapevine - Number 11, Winter 2008

Board Profile: Suzanne Curyer

It’s been a steady rise in career for Suzanne Curyer since she completed her Graduate Diploma in Business Administration at the University of South Australia – “to keep my options open” – in 1996. After working as an administration officer at National Mutual, Suzanne entered the public service as a Graduate Administration Assistant, rising quickly to be Director of the Career Services and Youth Pathways sections at the (then) Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, based in Canberra.

A former WestminsterSchool student, Suzanne didn’t really know what she wanted to do after leaving FlindersUniversity with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Sciences (Psychology and Sociology). Her ambition was to head a non-government organisation in South Australia to continue her interest in community development.

Suzanne is currently Manager of Career Services at innovative Adelaide-based national IT agency education.au (www.educationau.edu.au ). Suzanne works with a team of career and computer programming specialists to build services supporting lifelong learning and career development.

The www.myfuture.edu.au website is Suzanne’s major charge at education.au. It is one of Australia’s most comprehensive web resources and provides a load of facts about jobs, courses, education and training providers, scholarships, industries and lots more, all in one place. Anyone can use the site for free as it is provided by all governments across Australia.

Suzanne trekked the gruelling Kokoda Trail this year with people she met while taking part in the South Australian Governor’s Leadership Program in 2007. And last month she also completed the Australian Institute of Company Director’s course to help her be an effective Board Member, to prepare her for future roles with non-government organisations.

Suzanne has been a corporate member of the GCA Board for two years and was recently re-elected for a further two-year term. As a board member Suzanne believes it is important to be committed to the role, to keep up-to-date with good practice in board participation and to really understand the business of the organisation.