The three-month internship that rounds off Engineering Education Australia’s Professional Year in Engineering program brings outstanding opportunities to both overseas students as well as the companies that host them as interns.
According to Michelle O’Connor, Graduate Programs Manager at Engineering Education Australia (EEA), the internship that concludes EEA’s Professional Year gives graduates who take part in the program an outstanding opportunity to put the highly valued skills they’ve acquired into practice.
“The Professional Year in Engineering program is targeted at overseas students who have obtained either a bachelor’s or master’s degree in Australia, and aims to give them the complex soft skills required to participate in the Australian workforce,” said O’Connor.
“The program educates engineering graduates what it means to work within Australian legislative requirements, how to communicate effectively within the workplace and participate in a team, as well as implement strategies for managing their overall career development.”
“If graduates satisfy the formal requirements of the program, they will undertake an invaluable 12-week internship as an intern with a company, and put into practice what they’ve learnt during their training.”
“It is essentially giving graduates exposure to what it’s like to be employed within Australia.”
While graduate students benefit from the internship by testing out the raft of soft skills they’ve acquired that will assist them in building a career in Australia, companies also draw tremendous benefit from the program, as it gives them a risk-free means of bringing in new engineers who can breathe fresh life into their business.
“One of the main benefits of hosting graduates in the Professional Year program is the access to fresh minds and knowledge from budding engineers who have just completed their education,” said Kimberly Burdett, Business Development and Industry Engagement Manager, Careers and Internships, Navitas.
“It’s an excellent way to bring new talent into the enterprise, and for the interns it is a great way to build their employability skills and have a real-life work experience.”
The program can also develop the professional skills of the company’s existing staff by giving them management experience as mentors or supervisors to the Professional Year interns.
"It provides great management training to current staff that might not otherwise have access to that form of professional development,” said Burdett.
“If a staff member isn’t currently a manager, but they’d like to gain some management experience, serving as a mentor for students provides them with an excellent professional development opportunity.”
The Professional Year program also gives engineering firms the ability to expand their professional expertise and delve into new skill and business areas.
“Some engineering companies have used the professional year program to develop new skills within their business. For example, we developed a relationship with a Queensland company who lacked a civil engineer, but knew of international expansion opportunities,” said Burdett.
“They took on a civil engineer as an intern, were impressed with his performance and consequently hired him following his placement. The company have since sent the new staff member overseas to manage operations in Germany, bringing new business to the company in an area where they previously didn’t have any expertise,” she said.
A final benefit of the Professional Year internship is the opportunity it gives engineering firms to demonstrate their credentials as responsible social and economic stakeholders; making a key contribution to the growth of future talent.
“The Australian government released the National Work Integrated Learning strategy, encouraging industries to become more involved with youth before they embark upon their careers,” said Burdett.
“The Professional Year Program is a great way for industry to engage with youth and make a difference to our future leaders in a mentoring capacity.”
Industry engagement helps close the gap between study and work-readiness, and yields great benefits to the host organisation, Burdett adds.
“Hosting an intern is a great way for industry to engage with young people and to have a positive impact on our future leaders through a mentoring capacity.”
Learn more about the Professional Year in Engineering.