Graduates for Public Service

The value of suitable University graduates for administrative posts in the New Zealand Public Service is fully realised by the Public Service Commission, and under a recently inaugurated scheme holders of degrees may enter the service in other than purely technical or professional positions.

With the responsibility of stalling 40-odd State departments the Commission is always in search of well qualified recruits to train for high administrative posts. The United Kingdom system of recruiting only graduates into the administrative class would not be acceptable in New Zealand; but the present scheme sets out to use suitable graduates to reinforce those training for administrative posts.

Selected graduates will be given three years of planned training. Including tours of duty in various offices and courses conducted by the departments and by the Commission. They will not be expected to stay in one department, but have as their career field the whole Public Service. After a few years' experience they will be eligible to apply for bursaries to attend the School of Political Science and Public Administration at Victoria University, full-time and on full pay, to study for the Diploma in Public Administration.

Wide general knowledge and interests, with practical knowledge of documents and the ability to present a reasoned case make many graduates specially suited for administrative careers. They are needed to help in planning the development of the country's resources, in administering social services, and in regulating the economy of the country.

Every effort is being made to place graduates in departments in which they are interested, or where they [unclear: er] they have a contribution to make. Graduates already appointed under the scheme have received rapid promotions to positions of responsibility.