There is a misconception that a career in the Defence sector means you have to be in uniform.
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That is a notion that pathway program manager John Herd was dispelling at the Australian Maritime College careers expo on Friday.
Mr Herd was manning the Defence stall at the expo with three colleagues, all AMC graduates and was providing current students with information about the Defence Department's graduate program.
The Defence stall was located next to the Australian Defence Force stall, which was providing the flip-side to the coin and recruiting for in-uniform careers with the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Mr Herd said the Australian Government's push to create a sustainable shipbuilding program was "absolutely massive" for the country, and provided a unique opportunity for AMC graduates.
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"We have gone down this process [shipbuilding] in the past, but now that's coming to an end, and we're here with a workforce that has nowhere to go," he said.
"But this new plan will give them somewhere; it's amazing for Adelaide, and will be magnificent for Australia."
Mr Herd said the AMC was the best place to recruit new talent and make them aware of the graduate programs on offer.
Another stall at the AMC Careers Expo was Navantia Australia, which is a company from Spain that has been directly involved in the design and delivery of the new Australian destroyers and warships.
Navantia Australia acting human resources director James Cowie said it was his personal first time at the AMC expo but Navantia had been at the event in the past.
"We have designed and built the warships that are currently in the Australian fleet," he said.
"But we have recently been involved in AOR vessels, or auxiliary oil replacement vessels."
Mr Cowie said the AMC Careers Expo was a great opportunity for the company to reach out to the "brightest engineers and naval architects in the country".
Navantia Australia offers AMC maritime graduates internships and support programs, as well as graduate programs, which all aim to help bolster its workforce in the future, Mr Cowie said.
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