Engineering Internships

* Students who commenced from 2019 but entered the university with credit/advanced standing must contact Ask SET to confirm which curriculum they are in and therefore how many weeks of internship they require.

Engineering internships must be undertaken in an engineering environment, under a qualified engineer’s supervision (someone eligible for Engineers Australia corporate membership).

To get the most out of your internship, you should ideally be exposed to a range of engineering activities that fall into the following categories:

• project management planning and analysis
• design, modelling, drafting, prototyping, installation and testing
• operations and maintenance
• testing or repair of engineering works, facilities, equipment or software

General internship opportunities must expose you to an organisation that may provide an opportunity to develop leadership skills. While some areas of work are not appropriate for engineering experience, they may be suitable for general experience if the practical skills learnt can be easily transferred to an engineering-related work environment.

Examples of suitable internships include:

• tradesperson assistance (e.g. plumber, electrician, mechanic)
• data processing
• administrative or secretarial work in an office environment
• supervisory roles

Examples of unsuitable internships include:

• shop assistant, bar, hotel or restaurant work (non-supervisory)
• supermarket night-fill
• delivery or courier work

Internships conducted with a business owned by a close family member is not acceptable. It does not challenge students to source positions themselves, and may create a potential conflict of interest when authenticating the student's internship experience.

To get started log into the Internship Management System in CareerHub and complete the five self-paced stages:

• Skills Training
• Professional Development Training
• Finding Opportunities
• Preparing for your First Day
• Reflective Writing.

Each stage has a compulsory element that will need to be completed before moving on to the next. The self-paced system allows you to go back to review each stage as many times as you like, so you can complete them in your own time and also use them as a source of reference.

It is recommended that you begin the Skills Training and Professional Development Training stages whilst in your first year of study.

Managed by the University’s Career Services, our online CareerHub enables you to search for paid and unpaid internships, graduate and full-time opportunities, as well as volunteer positions that may count towards your degree's internship requirements.

CareerHub also houses many events such as employer presentations, which provides you with valuable opportunities to meet company representatives on campus.

We strongly encourage all students to register with CareerHub to gain access to the University database of internships and other opportunities.

How do I join CareerHub?

Use your Student ID and password to register for CareerHub.

You can also subscribe to receive notifications and updates regarding when employers will be on campus, and opportunities that suit you become available.

All approved internship opportunities will be promoted on CareerHub.

We also promote opportunities for local and overseas placements in our faculty news. Make sure you bookmark this page and check back often as new opportunities are posted regularly.

Flagship projects are strongly multidisciplinary, bringing together academics and students across schools and faculties, with participation from industry.

They deal with real-life problems, current technologies and practices, and challenge your learning experience beyond your program.

Placements are available all year round to suit your study timetable.

EA Connect is a free service for student and graduate members of Engineers Australia. It promotes internship opportunities suitable for all training levels in one secure and exclusive location. Search by location and engineering discipline to find the right match for you. Opportunities are constantly updated, so be sure to check back regularly.

If you're already a member, log in and view the latest opportunities. Alternatively, sign up for free membership using the student online application system. As soon as your application is processed you'll be able to log in to EA Connect. Plus, you can browse the member site to access a range of information and resources to help guide your career.

The faculty can provide an introduction letter, which may be presented to a potential host organisation when seeking an internship. The letter will confirm that you are a student of the University seeking an opportunity to fulfil the requirement as part of your degree.

If you require a letter, you can request it from Ask SET.

Yes, you are able to utilise previous experience towards the internship requirements of your degree if the previous experience meets the requirements as listed above. You will still need to register your internship in SONIA Online in order to have it considered, please see information regarding the registration process below.

Registering your internship helps protect you as a student and has a number of benefits including:

• ensuring that your internship is pre-approved before undertaking the internship – this means you can be assured that your internship meets the internship requirements before beginning
• enabling the faculty to keep track of when and where a student is on internship – this allows check-ins to be completed and important information to be communicated if required
• providing legal documents for each internship including insurance cover and an internship agreement between the student, host organisation and the University
• providing a mechanism to receive valuable feedback from the host organisation.

Once you have completed the Internship Management System stages in CareerHub and have an internship that needs to be registered, you can begin the process of formally submitting your internship for approval through SONIA Online.

All information on how to submit a potential internship for approval and to complete the required forms can be found in the SONIA Online Student Guide.

You are required to repeat these steps in the SONIA Online system until you have completed the total required hours to satisfy the internship requirements of your program (see the Requirements section above).

Ensuring your safety and wellbeing is of paramount concern for both the faculty and University.

If you’re subjected to behaviour or placed in a situation that causes distress, the host company should provide avenues to address your concerns. This can range from mediation to immediate removal from the situation.

Regardless, please contact the Ask SET team immediately to report or discuss. 

You can contact us confidentially via email, phone or in person. The University provides several avenues of support, and we’ll work with you to determine the most appropriate.