Candidates
Backing you to upskill for a new career
Digital skills are the in-demand capabilities of the future.
Enhance your digital skills and reimagine your career with the Victorian Government’s Digital Jobs program.
If you’re over 30 years of age, have an appetite for learning and feel motivated to make a change, then Digital Jobs is for you!
The program gives you:
- 12 weeks of free training in a high-quality, industry-backed digital course
- ongoing support from career coaches throughout the program
- opportunities to apply for a 12-week paid work placement with a Victorian business.
Build your confidence and job-seeking skills
Our experienced career coaches will help you build your confidence, update your CV, prepare for interviews and support you as you apply for jobs and move into your new digital career.
Gain experience with Victoria’s top employers
We can support you to:
- apply for a 12-week work placement through the Digital Jobs program; or
- secure a placement through your own contacts; or
- apply for ongoing jobs.
Read the frequently asked questions below for more information.
Through the program you can apply for a paid 12-week work placement to put your new digital skills into practice. We’ve lined up some of the state’s top employers, from large businesses like ANZ, Carsales and Zendesk through to exciting new start-ups and government agencies.
Reimagine your career
Upskilling for a career change doesn’t mean abandoning your existing knowledge and expertise. Skills such as problem-solving, planning and organising, collaboration, critical thinking and resilience are all valuable in a digital job.
Whatever your experience or area of interest, adding the latest digital skills to your existing knowledge, work history and skillset will create new career opportunities in the years ahead.
We’ve teamed up with some of Victoria’s top training providers to offer a range of industry-backed courses to suit different interests and skills levels.
Meet Cass: Gaining skills and experience to start her own consultancy
Meet Cass: Gaining skills and experience to start her own consultancy
Read the video transcript and more about Cass's story
Find your own path
Program candidates could find themselves in roles such as:
- social media manager
- web developer
- network administrator
- data modeler
- user experience (UX) designer
- business analyst
- digital marketer
- python developer.
How to apply
Applications for the latest rounds of the Digital Jobs program have now closed. You can complete the expression of interest form and we’ll contact you if there are any updates.
Frequently asked questions
Digital jobs require specific digital skills. These jobs can vary from digital marketing to software development to user experience designer and everything in between.
Businesses of all sizes employ people with digital skills, and the demand for skilled people to fill digital jobs is growing every year. In 2022, the Victorian Skills Authority anticipated that Victoria would need an extra 38,000 technology workers by 2025.
Digital Jobs is a Victorian Government program. To help us deliver the program we’re working with industry, training providers, and a recruitment service.
Find out more about the training providers and courses.
The program is fully funded by the Victorian Government, so there’s no cost to apply or participate in the program.
Applications for the latest rounds of the Digital Jobs program have now closed. You can complete the expression of interest form and we’ll contact you if there are any updates.
To be eligible you must:
- be a Victorian resident
- be an Australian citizen or permanent resident or
- have a valid visa to allow you to live, work and study without restriction in Australia for at least the next 12 months (certain visa types are ineligible; for example, student visa holders – subclass 500 – are not eligible for this program) *
- be over 30 years of age with five+ years of work experience; OR 10+ years of work experience if you are 30 years or under (years in total; not necessarily consecutively)
- have not previously undertaken Digital Jobs training (beyond week 1).
You will need to be comfortable conversing and writing in English. Familiarity with Microsoft Office is required; common tasks like carrying out computer updates and using collaboration tools will help you succeed. You should be able to confidently navigate the internet and use online services.
* Visa conditions are subject to change by the Department of Home Affairs at any time which may regrettably impact on your application. Please review the conditions on your visa carefully before making an application.
The Victorian Government is working with Hudson Australia to run the selection process for the program. You will need to complete and be competitive at each stage in the process to progress. Please note there is high demand for the program, and we are only able to offer a place to the most competitive candidates.
Competitive applications demonstrate the following critical competencies: growth mindset, resilience, planning and delivering, critical thinking, problem-solving, working with people, communication skills, and digital literacy.
We have highly successful participants from a range of backgrounds. If you require reasonable adjustments to complete the assessments, please indicate this on your application form and you will be contacted at the start of the selection process.
Online application
You will need to complete an online form, providing details about yourself and your employment history, and to confirm your work rights and eligibility for the program. After completion, you’ll receive an acknowledgement email. If you do not receive this email, your application has not been properly submitted. Check your junk/spam folder for the email and if not received, reapply. Only one application is needed from you.
If you meet the eligibility criteria, you will be asked to complete the following:
Capability assessments
Please note that any information you provide in this stage, including completed assessments, is not passed onto our training providers or used for any other part of the program.
- Skills Assessment - This is an untimed assessment, looking at your planning, delivery and communication skills
- Personality Assessment - This is an untimed assessment looking at your preferences in the workplace (e.g. do you enjoy working autonomously or in a group)
- Abstract Reasoning Assessment - This is a timed assessment, looking at your learning agility and problem-solving skills
- Digital Literacy Assessment - This is an untimed assessment, looking at your ability to perform tasks on computers and in an online environment.
Stream preference selection
Courses are allocated into streams by topic, for example, Digital Marketing or Web Development. You will also be asked to complete your stream preference selection online. You will be provided with the details of the streams and supporting documentation to allow you to make an informed choice about which stream(s) you would like to study. You can select a minimum of one and a maximum of three streams. If you are offered a place, it will be into a specific stream. Stream allocation changes cannot be made.
Round preference selection
There are two training start dates:
Round 10: 5 August 2024
Round 11: 11 November 2024.
You will be asked to indicate your start date preference. Please note there is no guarantee that you will be offered your preference and once offered start date changes cannot be made.
It may be possible to continue working in your current job and complete your 12-week course at the same time. Each course has different time requirements so you will need to select a course with hours that suit your availability. If you are asked to select your stream preferences, ensure that you nominate streams with courses that suit your availability, because stream allocations cannot be changed.
Most work placement opportunities are offered as 12-week full-time positions, meaning it would not be viable to have another job. However, we cannot guarantee if you will be shortlisted or selected by an employer for a work placement opportunity nor the timeframe. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that you do not resign from any existing employment unless offered a work placement opportunity.
Most work placements are offered as 12 weeks full-time, entry level positions. If you prefer a part-time arrangement, you may be able to find a host with the same preferences, or you may be able to negotiate a part-time arrangement.
Digital Jobs work placement opportunities are advertised to participants in the program.
You must successfully complete your 12-week training course to be eligible to undertake a work placement. The work placement opportunities are typically entry level roles paid at the minimum wage. You can nominate for placements that interest you and if shortlisted, may be invited for an interview with the employer.
Not all participants are looking for a work placement. Digital Jobs also provides a suite of employability resources including workshops and career coaching to support participants to apply for digital jobs that are more widely available.
It depends on your Centrelink profile and eligibility. You may get paid less from Centrelink if you undertake a work placement as you’ll be earning an income and will need to declare this. We encourage you to speak to your Centrelink advisor to discuss your personal circumstances.
This is a competitive program with a limited number of positions available each intake.
All candidates will receive feedback on their strengths and development areas from the personality assessment of the selection process. For unsuccessful candidates, we will provide details of other avenues that you may explore in your search for a new career path.
Page last updated: 5 September 2024