Work experience opportunities
As part of your studies...
Bachelor of Information Technology students can apply in their final year to undertake an industry placement project, equivalent in value to two standard courses, as an alternative to doing a project at the University. (A standard semester workload is four courses.) The project is completed over two semesters with local industry partners, many of whom choose to participate year after year because of the high calibre of our students. These placements have led directly to jobs for some students with employers such as Queensland Health, Technology One and Dingo Maintenance. While students are doing their industry project, they carry a lighter load of standard courses. Read about one student's experience here.
Also available to BInfTech students is the Professional IT Placement Semester (PIPS), a work-based learning program which enables final-year IT students at the UQ to spend six months in industry while still gaining full academic credit.
Similar opportunities are available to students undertaking the Bachelor of Multimedia Design and postgraduate coursework programs in IT, Computer Science and Interaction Design.
IT students can also count industry certification courses licensed by major software developers, like Microsoft and Cisco, towards their degree.
Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Systems, Electrical, Electrical & Aerospace, Electrical & Biomedical, Mechatronics, Software, and Software Systems & Aerospace majors) undertake a final year project equivalent in value to two standard courses. Industry partners offer projects through the CEED (Co-operative Education for Enterprise Development) Program, a joint venture between Corporation Technologies Pty Ltd, UQ and other universities. Similar opportunities are available to postgraduate engineering coursework students.
Also available to BE students is the Professional Engineering Placement Semester (PEPS), a work-based learning program which enables final-year engineering students at the University of Queensland to spend six months in industry while still gaining full academic credit. Our unique approach has resulted in awards for excellence from the University and the Australasian Association for Engineering Education.
Placements can be in most industries that depend upon engineering both in Australia or internationally. Participating companies have been very impressed by the flexibility of this placement scheme. PEPS provides students with an authentic experience of professional engineering and gives companies the opportunity to observe the student’s performance as a potential employee under authentic conditions.
Bachelor of Engineering students also undertake 60 days of compulsory industrial practice, at least 30 days of which should be carried out assisting, or under the immediate direction of, a professional engineer. The other 30 days of engineering experience may be any work, including work of a manual or trade nature, carried out in an engineering environment. Students must source this work experience themselves, but information on opportunities is sometimes posted to student bulletin boards, or available at UQ’s Career Hub, an online careers and employment service linking UQ students and graduates with employers.
Research Higher Degree (MPhil, PhD) and Postgraduate Honours students undertake a substantial body of independent research to qualify in their programs. Several organisations co-fund scholarships with ITEE to assist these students to complete work that could be of value to industry.
Additional to your studies...
Students can also access industry placements during vacation periods or by interrupting their studies.
For example, IBM offers paid industry experience in its development laboratories, including at its Tivoli Security location on the Gold Coast, where a number of undergraduate BInfTech and BE students from UQ have had vacation jobs that led to offers of permanent employment upon graduation. More information here. And Google offers paid internships (usually over the summer vacation, but at other times too) at its Sydney centre, where UQ students have also been successful. More information here.
SAP offers internships for IT honours and postgraduate coursework students where you can interrupt your studies for a semester to get valuable paid experience. More information here.
The Australia-China Young Leaders Program, a joint initiative of AIESEC and the Australian Chamber of Commerce, Beijing, offers internships in China to recent IT and other graduates. More here.