Seventh Year In Row: UNSW Tops Employability Rankings

40 UNSW Sydney students have been recognised in the Top100 Future Leaders Awards list, the highest number of any university in Australia.

UNSW has been named AFR Most Employable University for the seventh year in a row, with 40 students recognised as the most sought-after hires by employers at the 2026 Top100 Future Leaders Awards.

The Top100 Awards, hosted by graduate employment platform SEEK Grad (formerly GradConnection), The Australian Financial Review, Chandler Macleod and SHL, aims to identify the top emerging graduate talent.

Students took part in a highly competitive process that included online skills and psychometric testing, video interviews and participation in an in-person assessment simulation which mirrors a typical graduate recruitment program with Australia's top employers.

UNSW Vice-Chancellor & President Professor Attila Brungs said he was delighted UNSW had once again been recognised as the AFR's Most Employable University, marking a record-setting seventh consecutive win.

"Each of these students should feel very proud of this achievement," Prof. Brungs said. "It recognises their determination and the meaningful impact they are already creating beyond their work and studies. Their adaptability, purpose-driven mindset and clear human capabilities in an AI-driven world will help them and their future employers thrive in an ever evolving landscape."

L to R back row: David Cami, Executive Director, UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture, Sabine King, Director Career Accelerator at UNSW Business School, Louise Knowles, Director of Student Experience, Michelle Morris, Head of Co-op Program, Brooke Johnson, Careers & Student Engagement Manager at UNSW Law & Justice, Melissa Pye, Engagement Manager, Career Accelerator, Biance Greig, Senior Industry Engagement Officer at UNSW, Cerys Roger, Senior Industry Engagement Office, Career Accelerator Maggie Bell, UNSW External Engagement and Helena Baric, UNSW Employability. L to R front row: Kevin Liu, Associate Dean (UG) at UNSW Business School, Alberto Motta, Senior Deputy Dean Education and Student Experience at UNSW Business School, Isabella Dobrescu, Head of School Economics, Vanessa Bakhos, Lead, Coaching & Development, UNSW Employability, Esmond Esguerra, Head of Employability, Victoria Miller, Student Industry Engagement Manager at UNSW Engineering, Christine van Toorn, Senior Lecturer, School of Information Systems, Marlene Manks, Senior Industry Engagement Officer, Career Accelerator, Jinxia Zhu, Director B Actuarial Studies and Michele Hannon, Work Integrated Learning Industrial Training Manager at UNSW Engineering. Photo: UNSW Sydney

Six UNSW students in the Top100 were also category winners of the 10 available highly competitive employer awards:

Armansyah Putra Marpaung (B Engineering; Co-Op Scholar) - Transitioning Well First in Family
Jennifer Freiha (B Commerce) - PwC Management & Commerce
Olga-Liana Athanasatos (B Engineering Honours) - Lendlease Engineering & Construction
Arya Ahluwalia (B Data Science and Decisions) - Quantium AI & Data Science
Dev Shah (B Actuarial Studies / B Commerce) - Protiviti Innovation
Stuart Cutbush (B Commerce / B Computer Science - Suncorp Technology.

Arya Ahluwalia, a UNSW Co-op student, said she was delighted to be recognised.

"I'm extremely grateful to be recognised as a winner among the SeekGrad Top100 Future Leaders in AI & Data Science. This award motivates me to continue following my passion of harnessing data to benefit communities, and I look forward to launching my career in this space."

Other UNSW students to reach the Top 100 Future Leaders list were: John Lane, Eva Madan, Joel Gelding, Ruiyi Zhao, Elke Giordano, Michael Heneen, Havish Annamraju, Vatsal Sharma, Mo Yi Cai, Christopher Kong, Ngoc Linh Nguyen, Aatman Joshi, Daniel Jinsig Yoon, Grayson Ng, Lauren Tomlin, Nandit Shah, Ria Bhatt, Juan Louis Santo Domingo, Darcy Keenlyside, Yee Lok Adam Lam, Emma Kirkland, Harrison Crisp, Ishan Arora, Imogen Wills, Abena Mandigora, Jessica Mckenzie, Joshua Maung, Zara Joseph, Om Patel, Hannah Hartley, Daniel Shieff and Gloria Chan.

UNSW Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education & Student Experience), Professor Sarah Maddison, congratulated the UNSW graduates who were recognised.

"I'm extremely proud of our 40 students who've been recognised this year as Future Leaders. This is an exceptional accomplishment and reflects the professionalism and commitment to excellence of our students, and their desire to make a positive impact in the workplace and community more broadly," she said.

"UNSW has a steadfast commitment to equipping students with the skills and capabilities that industry needs and empowering them with the confidence to secure fulfilling careers. This recognition also highlights the exceptional, hands-on education delivered by our staff and the critical collaboration with our industry partners," Prof Madison said.

More information about the award and individual profiles of the Top100 Future Leaders can be found on the GradConnection website.

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