After his first year in the Ryman Graduate Programme, Fin Martin’s piece of advice for incoming graduates is to simply get involved, because when you put yourself out there you can learn so much from so many people.
After graduating in 2021 with a double degree in Product Design and Commerce, Fin was unsure of his career path. He decided to apply to the Ryman Graduate programme due to its emphasis on the rotational structure that would allow him to do placements in different teams.
“Retirement living is a bit of a taboo topic with my age group, so I took a risk and wanted to challenge myself. Just jumping out there and trying something different,” Fin said.
The recruitment and induction process was really well done as he never felt left in the dark and he said; “It was really great having so many Ryman team members included. It was really clear that Ryman wanted to find people that were eager to get involved across the whole business”.
His first placement saw him working as a Quality Assurance Coordinator on the Kevin Hickman construction site where his role centred on managing construction quality throughout the building process.
Fin then moved to the Technology team as a Technical Writer, where he worked with various business divisions to document processes from technical manuals to end—user guides.
In his current placement, he has remained in the Technology team and has taken on a role as a Technology Business Analyst in the Business Partner team, where he works closely with the Design, Development, Construction and Property teams to implement and optimise SaaS solutions.
“I appreciated the flexibility of being able to work in a variety of places, with managers trusting us to work from home, and it still leads to good business output,” he said.
His favourite thing about the programme so far has been the regular weekly catch-ups between the graduates to see how everyone is progressing.
Along with regular meet and greets within the business, such as team members from HR, Construction, and Technology, the development opportunities so far have also been a major highlight for Fin. This included everything he has learnt throughout the business, working with Personal Development, and working with his managers to come up with a personal development plan to organise training opportunities.
Fin has been provided with the opportunity to participate in a variety of leadership programmes, and he praised the weekly one-on-ones he has had with his managers throughout the programme, as this clear communication and support has allowed him to efficiently put his all into his work.
Looking forward, Fin is excited about the further development opportunities he will receive as part of the graduate programme; “there seems to be such a large focus on developing our own, which is really encouraging and makes you want to keep working for Ryman instead of seeing it [just] as a steppingstone”.
“On a larger scale, I’m looking forward to being involved with systemic technology change within the business and I’m excited to see where these emerging technologies within the department are going to take us.
“Especially in the aged care sector, I think we can do a lot of good with technology within aged care to keep everyone connected,” he shared.