What to know about Telstra before you interview
Telstra launched Connected Future 30 in May 2025, following its T22 and T25 strategies. It has three goals: to lead in meeting customers' connectivity needs, to build and run Australia's leading network and get more value from it, and to be Australia's leading digital infrastructure provider. If you can talk about that strategy, and about Telstra's competitors and industry, you'll have more to say than someone who has only read the careers page.
Telstra's graduate pathways range from software and network engineering to cybersecurity, product design, finance and HR. Telstra says that whichever pathway you choose, you'll see its work in areas such as 5G, the Internet of Things, cybersecurity and AI.
The final interview includes motivational and behavioural questions, so prepare STAR answers with specific outcomes. Be warm and friendly, and give your answers a clear structure too. A specific example of something you did will tell the interviewer more than saying you're passionate about telecommunications.
Telstra's strategy and structure
Read the Connected Future 30 announcement on Telstra's website before your interview. Then make sure you understand three more things: what 5G means for Telstra's position against Optus and TPG, how the NBN changed Telstra's fixed broadband business, and why Telstra keeps its passive infrastructure in a separate business, InfraCo, and its towers in another, Amplitel. You don't need to be an expert, but you should be able to talk about each one.
Telstra's purpose and Big Three, and what they mean in an interview
Telstra's careers site sets out its purpose and three behaviours, each with three habits, which it calls the Big Three. Telstra introduced the Big Three in its 2024 financial year, so older guides may list a different set of values. Use them to decide which of your stories to prepare.
Purpose
To build a connected future so everyone can thrive
What to show
That you understand who relies on Telstra's network and services, and what being connected means to them. Telstra's careers page says it believes "it's people who give purpose to our technology".
How to prepare
Think about the people at the other end of the network: a family at home, a small business taking payments, someone living in the country. Have a reason for wanting to work at Telstra that goes beyond the brand. A story where you helped someone get connected, or use technology they found hard, fits here.
Behaviour 01
Look Beyond: see the big picture, strive for customers, learn and adapt
What to show
Telstra describes it as widening its thinking about what's possible to meet customers' future needs. In a story, that's thinking ahead for a customer, finding a better way to do something, or learning from what went well and what didn't.
How to prepare
Find a story where you saw that something could be done better and did something about it. It doesn't need to be a technical invention. A process improvement, a new way of keeping stakeholders informed, or a clever way round a shortage of resources all work. Make sure it was your idea and that it led to a result you can describe, ideally with a number.
Behaviour 02
Work as One: listen first, speak up, align and commit
What to show
Telstra describes it as coming together to serve customers better. Its habits cover both sides of teamwork: listening before you push your view, being open about your ideas, and agreeing who does what before you act.
How to prepare
Have two stories ready. In one, you raised a concern or a better idea, and it improved the result without starting a fight. Say how it was received and what changed. In the other, you brought together people who didn't naturally agree, such as different teams or people with competing priorities. Say what made it hard and what you did to bridge the gap.
Behaviour 03
Make a Difference: do what matters, own it, act with care
What to show
Telstra describes it as doing "the right thing for our customers, communities, each other and the environment". Its habits are about putting your effort where it's needed most, taking responsibility for your part even when things go wrong, and thinking about how your actions affect other people.
How to prepare
Find a story where you went out of your way for a customer, user or colleague, and explain what you understood about their situation that made you act. Say what you did, as well as how you felt about it. Community involvement counts here too, which helps if you don't have much work experience yet.
The application process
Stage 01
Online application
What happens
A short online form that checks you're eligible, plus your CV and most recent academic transcript (an unofficial one is fine while you wait for final results). The program starts in February. Applications for the 2027 intake have closed, and Telstra says the 2028 round opens in early 2027.
How to prepare
Check the eligibility rules first. You need at least an undergraduate degree from an Australian university, finished within the three years before the program starts. International students with unrestricted work rights can apply for the technical pathways only. Then make your CV easy to scan for the pathway you're applying for, with your most relevant projects and work near the top.
Stage 02
Video interview and online assessment
What happens
Both run through a system called HireVue. Telstra says this stage is for getting to know you a little better. Read the instructions in your invitation carefully.
How to prepare
Use the STAR structure for each video answer. Look at the camera rather than your notes, and practise saying your stories out loud beforehand: a story you've only thought through comes out rougher than one you've said a few times. Find a quiet room with a plain background. If the assessment includes timed tests, do some practice tests first so the format isn't new.
Stage 03
Final interview: case study
What happens
The final interview is virtual and has three parts: a Q&A with current graduates, a case study and a behavioural interview. For the case study, Telstra gives you a topical issue before the interview, and you prepare a three-to-five-minute pitch.
How to prepare
Lead with a clear recommendation, then give your reasons. Time your pitch out loud more than once, because three to five minutes goes quickly. Leave out detail you can't explain, and be ready to say how you reached your view if they ask.
Stage 04
Final interview: behavioural questions
What happens
Motivational and behavioural questions. Telstra describes this part as your chance to show your skills, personality, qualifications, work experience and mindset.
How to prepare
Know your stories well enough to answer follow-up questions on the details. Have a specific answer ready for why you want to join Telstra and this pathway, and use what you've picked up during the process, including from the graduates you met. If you get the chance to ask a question, make it about the work or the team.
Stage 05
Checks and offer
What happens
Before making an offer, Telstra runs checks such as a security or background check. If you're successful, they'll phone you. Telstra says it keeps candidates who just miss out in a talent pool, and gets in touch if roles come up later in the year.
How to prepare
Have an up-to-date transcript ready, because Telstra asks for one once you reach the interview stage. If you hear you've just missed out, keep an eye on your email for the rest of the year in case a role comes up.
Graduate pathways
Telstra calls its streams pathways. The program runs for 14 months, starting with a month-long induction, and you're placed in teams and given projects in your pathway. The application process is the same for every pathway, so the difference is in the skills you'll want to show.
Pathway 01
Software Engineering, Information and Cybersecurity, and Technology Consulting and Solutions
Who it's for
Graduates who want to build and run technology. Software engineers help analyse, design, build, test and maintain applications. Cybersecurity graduates help design and put in place security controls. Technology Consulting and Solutions graduates support the platforms, devices and systems Telstra runs.
How to prepare
Be ready to talk about your technical experience: projects you've built, the languages and tools you used, and how you approach design. Have behavioural stories about debugging a hard problem, working with people who aren't technical, and picking up a new technology quickly.
Pathway 02
Product and Service Design
Who it's for
Graduates interested in research and design. You'd help teams across the business with research and user testing, customer personas, user journey maps, and prototypes to test with customers.
How to prepare
Be ready to walk through how you'd find out what users need and test an idea with them. Have an example of presenting research findings to people who weren't involved, and one of changing a design because of what users told you.
Pathway 03
Network Engineering
Who it's for
Graduates who want to work on the network itself, helping Telstra's network engineering teams with specialist analysis, design and deployment in particular network technologies.
How to prepare
Brush up on networking principles, radio frequency engineering if you're interested in wireless, and how large networks are designed and run. You'll still have the behavioural interview, so prepare stories about customers, teamwork and solving problems. Know the basics of 5G and where Telstra's network reaches.
Pathway 04
Corporate pathways
Who it's for
Finance and Business graduates, and HR graduates, working in Telstra's corporate teams.
How to prepare
Be ready to show commercial awareness, including Telstra's position against its competitors and the Connected Future 30 goals. Have stories about managing stakeholders, analysing a problem with incomplete information, and explaining technical ideas to people who aren't technical.
10 questions to prepare, and what they're asking about
Q 01
Tell me about a time you had to work with a difficult colleague or team member.
Behaviour: Work as One
How you handle friction with someone: whether you work at the relationship or avoid it, and whether things ended up better.
How to answer
Be specific about what made it difficult. Then walk through what you did to understand their point of view or work around the friction, and finish with how it turned out for the work and for the relationship. Don't make the other person the villain. Show that you took your share of the responsibility for sorting it out.
Q 02
Give me an example of a time you identified an opportunity to improve a process.
Behaviour: Look Beyond
Whether you notice when something could work better and fix it without being asked.
How to answer
Say what wasn't working and how you noticed. Then describe what you did: the proposal, the trial and the rollout. Put a number on the improvement if you can. Include how people reacted to the change, because bringing them along is part of the story, and it shows Work as One as well.
Q 03
Describe a situation where you had to deliver something with limited time or resources.
Habit: Do what matters
How you decide what to do first when time or help is short.
How to answer
Explain the constraint clearly. Then describe how you prioritised: what you did first and why, and what you put off or dropped. Then give the outcome. If you made a call under pressure that turned out to be right, include it, and say why you made it.
Q 04
Tell me about a time you received feedback that was hard to hear, and how you responded.
Habit: Own it
Whether you can hear something hard about your work and use it, rather than getting defensive.
How to answer
Be honest about the feedback and why it was hard to hear. Then describe how you dealt with it, including any resistance you felt at first, and what you changed as a result. Show the discomfort as well as the change. Don't pick a story where the feedback turned out to be wrong, because that avoids the question.
Q 05
Why Telstra, why this pathway, and why now?
Motivation and commercial awareness
Whether you've done research beyond the careers page and know where Telstra is heading.
How to answer
Pick something specific about where Telstra is heading that connects to your interests or skills: Connected Future 30, 5G, its plans to use AI to understand customers better, the intercity fibre network, or its work with business and government customers. Link it to your pathway. Then explain why now, in terms of where you are and what you want to learn. "I love technology" and "Telstra is a household name" won't tell the interviewer anything about you.
Q 06
Tell me about a time you went out of your way to understand a customer's needs.
Habit: Strive for customers
Whether you try to understand a customer's situation, beyond what they asked for. Telstra describes this habit as understanding what's most important to customers before making decisions.
How to answer
Describe a time you found that what a customer asked for and what they needed were different, and how you found out. Then say what you did about it. Spend some time on how you found out, because that's the part that shows you were trying to understand them. If you haven't worked with customers, count the colleagues or supervisors you've done work for.
Q 07
Describe a time you had to present a recommendation to someone more senior. How did you prepare and how did it go?
Habit: Speak up
Whether you can put together a convincing recommendation, read your audience, and handle questions or pushback calmly.
How to answer
Describe the situation and what you recommended. Explain how you prepared, including the objections you expected. Then walk through the conversation itself: what happened, how you answered questions and the outcome, plus any follow-up. Give enough detail about your preparation to show you thought about this particular audience.
Q 08
Tell me about a time you had to learn something completely new to complete a task.
Habit: Learn and adapt
How quickly you learn and put it to use. Telstra expects a lot of change over the next few years, and "learn and adapt" is one of its habits.
How to answer
Be specific about what you had to learn and why it was new to you. Walk through how you learned it: what you used, how long it took and your approach. Then say how you used it in the task. It's a bonus if you then taught it to someone or wrote it up for others. Avoid stories where the new thing was a small variation on something you already knew.
Q 09
Describe a time you were part of a team working toward a shared goal, and the role you played.
Habit: Align and commit
What kind of team member you are, and whether you know it. You might be the one who organises, the one who keeps people talking, or the one who solves the problems.
How to answer
Describe the team's goal clearly. Then be specific about your role: what you did and why, rather than a general "team player" description. If your role changed during the project, say how. An honest account of what you did is more believable than an inflated one.
Q 10
What's something you've built, created, or initiated that you're proud of?
Behaviour: Make a Difference
Whether you've made something of your own, and can explain the difference it made to other people as well as to you.
How to answer
Choose something substantial: a project, a program, a system or a community initiative. Explain what it is, why you started it, what got in the way, and what difference it made. The question asks what you're proud of, so let some enthusiasm show rather than reciting a dry STAR answer. Keep the STAR parts underneath, though.
How to prepare for a Telstra interview
You can prepare for most of the final interview. You get the case study topic in advance, and you can have stories ready for the behavioural questions. Do that work and you won't be making things up on the spot.
Build a bank of five to seven real examples from work, study or community involvement. Match each one to the Big Three: Look Beyond, Work as One and Make a Difference. Then check that, between them, they cover the skills your pathway needs. One good story can answer more than one question, but you need enough variety that you aren't telling the same one twice.
Prepare your commercial awareness separately: spend an hour on the strategy and structure points near the top of this guide, plus recent news about your pathway. It will help with the case study pitch too. Use it in your answers where it fits, rather than reciting it to prove you did the reading.
Use the graduate Q&A
Meeting current graduates is part of the final interview. Ask what they worked on in their first few months, what surprised them, and what they'd do differently. Their answers give you specific things to mention when you're asked why you want to join, and a better sense of whether the pathway suits you.
Practise your answers before the real interview
InterviewZap asks you behavioural questions about your own experience, written from your CV and the job description you give it. It follows up on what you say and gives you feedback and a score after every answer, so you can see what to work on.
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