Industrial Training

Students on Industrial Training with
Whitesmiths' staff. Photo: Geoffrey Roberts

While UNSW focuses on making sure that students gain the greatest depth of knowledge, engineering degree students also gain relevant experience in the workforce through 12 weeks of paid professional industrial training.

Relevant professional experience has many advantages:

• Generic Skills: the opportunity to develop the generic (transferable) skills valued by graduate employers.
• Networks: students will have the chance to begin to establish a network of professional contacts.
• Self-awareness: students will gain increased maturity and understanding of the workplace, and a better understanding of their own career goals.
• Occupational Research: students will have the chance to evaluate companies for which they might wish to work, or make decisions about what industry they want to use their skills in.
• Relevant learning: when students resume their studies they will have more relevance, which will lead to more effective and motivated learning.
• Professionalism: puts students on a path to becoming a proficient engineering practitioner, which is an essential aspect of being a professional engineer.
• Money: students will be able to earn a good salary, which will assist them during the final stages of their studies.
• Graduate employment: many companies use Industrial Training as part of their graduate recruitment strategy and this may land students an offer of graduate employment.