Updating Results

Xero Australia

4.1
  • 1,000 - 50,000 employees

Xero Australia Graduate Programs & Internships

  • Technology

Start something beautiful

Joining the grad program at Xero means taking the first step into a fulfilling career. With the support and on-hand career development, you’ll learn everything you need on the job. 

What we do

Small business runs the world. They make up 90% of all businesses in the OECD and contribute trillions to our economy. And we don’t think they should go it alone. Xero makes running a business more beautiful. Our platform gives business owners the tools they need to make running their business easy. From connecting with customers, accountants, banks, app partners and more, Xero makes doing business beautifully. 

Who we are

Working at Xero means joining a community of thinkers, creators and educators working towards the same goal. As a grad, we’ll invest in you to learn on the job and help your career flourish. You’ll make lifelong connections, build a professional network, get paid to learn and find your passion.

The Xero grad program 

We know what it takes to help you do the best work of your life, and we’ll invest in you to make sure you can. With the Xero grad program, you’ll learn on the job, take ownership of your work, and find out how your career can flourish. 

You’ll get the flexibility to build your skills, the opportunity to push yourself professionally, and the support you need to bring your ideas to fruition.

The graduate program starts in February and runs for 12 months. After the program, you’re guaranteed a permanent position in line with your career aspirations.

We have three different streams of grad programs, plus internship opportunities. Start something beautiful with the Xero grad program.

Diversity and inclusion

Xero champions diversity and inclusion to create better outcomes for our people and our customers.

We acknowledge, respect and celebrate all the ways our staff are different and create an inclusive culture so we can really tap into the power of our differences. 

In 2018, Xero NZ was awarded the Rainbow Tick, a diversity and inclusion award that formally recognises that it’s a safe and inclusive workplace for the LGBTQI+ community.

Our approach to diversity and inclusion is summed up in our key principles:

  • We value diversity because it reflects and serves our customers and ensures our people thrive
  • We’re all accountable to create an inclusive culture
  • We’re committed to attracting diverse talent and hiring fairly
  • We support flexible ways of working
  • We’re committed to equal pay for equal work
  • We have an obligation to champion diversity and inclusion in the community

To ensure we stay true to our values, Xero has a global diversity and inclusion team specifically responsible for leading the program. We champion diversity and inclusion in many ways, including by:

  • creating an inclusive work environment
  • committing to gender diversity at Xero
  • encouraging more women to get into the tech sector
  • using diverse channels to hire staff
  • promoting LGBTQI+ inclusion and awareness

Find out more about Xero’s diversity and inclusion work on our websites.

Recruitment Process

Applications for our grad and intern programs open 18 March 2024 and close 12 April 2024 for NZ. Our virtual grad days will be held in mid-late May 2024. The grad day is our version of an assessment centre, where you’ll complete two interviews and will have the chance to meet some Xero staff, and understand more about the grad program.

We take a rolling recruitment approach, so we’ll process your application as it comes in and you’ll complete all the assessments up until the video interview. Applications won’t be prioritised if you apply early, however we do recommend you give yourself time to go through the various stages of the application process.

The application process

You’ll progress through the application process in different stages.

Meet the eligibility criteria 

5 mins

The first thing you need to do is meet the eligibility criteria.

Our eligibility criteria for our graduate program is:

  • Full-time working rights
  • Less than 12 months of professional working experience in relevant industries
  • Availability to start full-time in February 2025

Our eligibility criteria for our internship is:

  • Availability for full-time work from November 2024 through to February 2025
  • Be in your penultimate year of study in your chosen field

Logical and skills assessments (60-75 mins)

Then you’ll be asked to complete a logical reasoning assessment (approx. 15 mins) – and, if you’re applying for the design or technical program, a technical skills assessment (approx. 60 mins).

For technical roles, you will need to complete a HackerRank test – which you can practice on our websites. While it’s not all about the test results, this is a language-agnostic testing platform that helps us understand what level and range of skills you currently have.

For design roles, there will be a multiple-choice skills test to also help us understand your level of technical knowledge. 

Record a short video interview for our team 

15–20 mins

Next, you’ll be invited to pre-record a video interview for our team.

If your video interview is successful, you’ll be invited to attend a grad day. We’ll review all applications before making a decision so you can expect to hear from us by early May 2024.

Virtual grad day 

The grad day is a 2.5 hour virtual event where you will be assessed across two different activities: one behavioural interview and one technical assessment. You’ll also have an opportunity to learn more about Xero and the grad program and meet some previous grads.

Remuneration & Career Growth

Starting at Xero

Your first week at Xero is focused on making sure you have everything you need to start working. We’ll get you set up with the right tech, you’ll meet your team, your manager, and the grad team responsible for running the program.

COVID-19 has impacted our usual inductions as we make sure you’re safe and well at work. Auckland and Wellington will hold separate induction days in the office you’ll be working in. You’ll have a chance to meet and get to know all the other grades in the program.

It’s important that we give you a really great start to your career, so we’ll cover all the processes in place to support your development. We focus on your technical development and your professional skills, including empowering you to set your own goals and choosing the learning opportunities available. We commit to giving continuous feedback throughout the year to make sure you know where you are in achieving your goals.

Rotations

Technical grads complete three rotations consisting of four months each. You’ll work with teams across the business in your chosen field and get an opportunity to diversify your skills and meet new people. Throughout your grad year, you will have a dedicated people lead who is there for you at every step of the way to support and guide you. You’ll also have a buddy in each of your rotations to help you with your day-to-day work.

Learning and development

When you join the grad program, we don’t expect you to know everything. The grad program is an opportunity for you to continue learning and developing. Throughout the grad year, you’ll be given the training to build your professional and technical skills and you’ll have access to a learning budget to use for external training and resources.

You’ll have a lot of support in the form of your buddy, your people lead, your team, and the grad team. You’ll have weekly meetings, training sessions and formal check-ins throughout the year so you’re able to grow and develop.

Graduate Reviews

Overall Score
4.1
Overall score based on 7 reviews
They Score Best in…
9.1
Culture
8.9
Diversity
9.0
Management
9.4
Recruitment
9.1
Work Hours
9.1
Culture
8.9
Diversity
9.0
Management
9.4
Recruitment
9.1
Work Hours
What Graduates Say About Them
  • The culture. They invest time and effort into developing me into the software engineer that I want to be. My manager is passionate about placing me in the engineering stacks that I am excited about and is eager to help me move in the direction that I want to go. The teams that I am in are supportive and encourage me to succeed.
  • Work culture and flexibility Focus on Junior Talent Technology first approach
  • Culture -- work-from-home policy, generous well-being leave, friendly and interesting people
  • Almost everyone I’ve worked with has been kind and helpful and from what I’ve seen the company culture is great at all levels. I also really appreciate how the graduate program is genuinely treated as a learning program and lots of support is provided for learning and development without pressure to deliver.
  • The culture, flexibility and work life balance are great - everyone is so compassionate, understanding, genuine and team centred.
  • New CEO and leadership team means many unknown risks
  • Communication -- very little transparency from upper management and little willingness to rise up to challenging feedback. During reset this seemed to trickle down to lower-level management of the grad program as well -- the way rotations and ungraduation work was changed under our feet without much acknowledgement or accountability Compensation -- low compared to other SaaS companies in Australia, not competitive
  • Reset was difficult however I can understand that it was an industry problem and many external factors were at play. one thing I will mention is that the messaging for associate placements for grads has been inconsistent over the year. coming into the graduate program, we were given the opportunity to rotate through teams across the company and we were not led to believe that associate placement would necessarily be tied to our location. it was disappointing to later learn that location can determine a graduate's associate placement as this can disadvantage some graduates, particularly those in smaller offices like Canberra which have less diversity in the roles available. in all honesty, this policy seems a little out of touch with the graduate and developer experience considering Xero's (and the wider tech industry's) virtual ways of working which are especially popular amongst engineers.
  • The grad program is quite focused towards techs/the engineers. The non-techs/designs grads often seem to be an afterthought or not considered at all, and it makes the experience confusing and sometimes lonely/lacking that sense of belonging.
  • The pay is not great.

Jobs & Opportunities

Locations With Jobs & Opportunities
  • Melbourne, Canberra
Hiring candidates with qualifications in
B
Business & Management
C
Creative Arts
E
Engineering & Mathematics
H
Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences
I
IT & Computer Science
L
Law, Legal Studies & Justice
M
Medical & Health Sciences
P
Property & Built Environment
S
Sciences
T
Teaching & Education
Current Jobs & Opportunities

Graduate Job

Melbourne & Canberra
Xero is a beautiful, easy-to-use platform that helps small businesses and their accounting and bookkeeping advisors grow and thrive.
Applications Close
12 Apr 2024
Start Date
17 Feb 2025
Salary
AUD 95,000 - 98,500 / Year

Employee Share Program, insurance benefits, a range of leave options + more

Graduate Job

Melbourne, Australia
Product designers help shape our products. We understand how people use Xero, then we work together to build delightful and effective experiences.
Applications Close
12 Apr 2024
Start Date
17 Feb 2025
Salary
AUD 95,000 - 98,000 / Year

Employee Share Program, insurance benefits, a range of leave options + more


Graduate Success Stories


  • Graduate stories
Working directly with accountants and being able to support them and their team through such a large transition is extremely rewarding.

Aaron Blackman

  • Graduate stories
Working directly with accountants and being able to support them and their team through such a large transition is extremely rewarding.

Aaron Blackman

  • Graduate stories
What drives me is growth. Xero offers plenty opportunities to expand my skill set. This is what I love most about my job.

Sabrina Swatee

  • Graduate stories
What drives me is growth. Xero offers plenty opportunities to expand my skill set. This is what I love most about my job.

Sabrina Swatee

  • Graduate stories
Working directly with accountants and being able to support them and their team through such a large transition is extremely rewarding.

Aaron Blackman

  • Graduate stories
Working directly with accountants and being able to support them and their team through such a large transition is extremely rewarding.

Aaron Blackman

  • Graduate stories
What drives me is growth. Xero offers plenty opportunities to expand my skill set. This is what I love most about my job.

Sabrina Swatee

  • Graduate stories
What drives me is growth. Xero offers plenty opportunities to expand my skill set. This is what I love most about my job.

Sabrina Swatee


A Day In The Life Of


  • Day in the life

Zachary Browning

Zachary Browning studied ​a Bachelor of Computer Science ​at the University of New South Wales and is now a Graduate Engineer at Xero.
  • Day in the life

Zachary Browning

Zachary Browning studied ​a Bachelor of Computer Science ​at the University of New South Wales and is now a Graduate Engineer at Xero.
  • Day in the life

Karmick Liu

Karmick Liu studied ​a Bachelor of Software Engineering (Honours) and is now a Graduate Engineer at Xero.
  • Day in the life

Karmick Liu

Karmick Liu studied ​a Bachelor of Software Engineering (Honours) and is now a Graduate Engineer at Xero.
  • Day in the life

Zachary Browning

Zachary Browning studied ​a Bachelor of Computer Science ​at the University of New South Wales and is now a Graduate Engineer at Xero.
  • Day in the life

Zachary Browning

Zachary Browning studied ​a Bachelor of Computer Science ​at the University of New South Wales and is now a Graduate Engineer at Xero.
  • Day in the life

Karmick Liu

Karmick Liu studied ​a Bachelor of Software Engineering (Honours) and is now a Graduate Engineer at Xero.
  • Day in the life

Karmick Liu

Karmick Liu studied ​a Bachelor of Software Engineering (Honours) and is now a Graduate Engineer at Xero.

Videos


Why Xero’s new Australian HQ is a flexible workspace for everyone

At Xero, we’ve always believed there’s no one-size-fits-all working style. Instead, our new Australian HQ has been designed with flexibility at its core. From sound-proof pods to collaborative breakout zones (and everything in between), this is a workspace for everyone.

Xero | What we do

Small business runs the world. They make up 90% of all businesses in the OECD and contribute trillions to our economy. And we don’t think they should go it alone. Xero makes running a business more beautiful. Our platform gives business owners the tools they need to make running their business easy. From connecting with customers, accountants, banks, app partners, and more, Xero makes doing business beautifully.

Why Xero’s new Australian HQ is a flexible workspace for everyone

At Xero, we’ve always believed there’s no one-size-fits-all working style. Instead, our new Australian HQ has been designed with flexibility at its core. From sound-proof pods to collaborative breakout zones (and everything in between), this is a workspace for everyone.

Xero | What we do

Small business runs the world. They make up 90% of all businesses in the OECD and contribute trillions to our economy. And we don’t think they should go it alone. Xero makes running a business more beautiful. Our platform gives business owners the tools they need to make running their business easy. From connecting with customers, accountants, banks, app partners, and more, Xero makes doing business beautifully.

Advice


How did you get here? - Hannah Gray, Principal Engineer, Engineering Practice at Xero

"I’ve never had a career goal or known what I want to be when I grew up - I just found things that were interesting and followed my nose."

How did you get here? - Megan Chu, Data Reliability Engineer at Xero

"It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge that exists out there. But in the end, it’s impossible for one person to be an expert on everything."

How did you get here? - Hannah Gray, Principal Engineer, Engineering Practice at Xero

"I’ve never had a career goal or known what I want to be when I grew up - I just found things that were interesting and followed my nose."

How did you get here? - Megan Chu, Data Reliability Engineer at Xero

"It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge that exists out there. But in the end, it’s impossible for one person to be an expert on everything."