Work Experience

Work experience is a compulsory component of your degree if you are studying:

• Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (R&D) (Honours)
• Bachelor of Software Engineering (Honours)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Software Engineering
• Master of Applied Cybernetics or Master of Applied Cybernetics (Advanced)

For engineering students, the completion of Work Experience is REQUIRED to graduate as an accredited professional.

For students enrolled in the Master of Applied Cybernetics, Work Experience is listed as CECS8005 Applied Cybernetics Professional Experience. CECS8005 is eligible only to students admitted to the Master of Applied Cybernetics program.

The difference between work experience and an internship

Work experience is a mandatory requirement of your degree but does not count for any credit. Work experience is organised by YOU! Engineering students are required to undertake work experience and enrol in one of the following courses:

• ENGN3100 – Practical Experience (Bachelor of Engineering (Honours), Bachelor of Engineering R&D (Honours) and Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Software Engineering - compulsory)

There are changes to ENGN3100 pre-placement approval and enrolment process from March 2024. Please see information on this page.

• COMP4800 – Industry Experience (Software Engineering - compulsory)
• CECS8005 - Applied Cybernetics Professional Experience or CYBN8005 - Applied Cybernetics Professional Experience (Applied Cybernetics – compulsory)

For-credit internship courses ENGN3200/ENGN6200 and COMP3820/COMP4820/COMP8830 are offered by the College through an application process and are optional, assessed and count for 6-24 units of credit.

ENGN3100:

Undergraduate Engineering students are required to undertake 12 weeks (420 hours) practical work experience. A minimum of 8 weeks should be in an engineering environment, under the supervision of an accredited engineer. The remaining 4 weeks can be in any sort of employment.

COMP4800:

Undergraduate Software Engineering students are required to undertake 12 weeks (420 hours) of industry experience. Minimum 140 hours (20 days) must be in a software engineering context, 140 hours (20 days) must be a computer science related context, and the remaining 140 hours (20 days) may be in any professional context. You are required to organise work experience yourself and you must submit a 10-15 page report upon the completion of your placement/s.

CECS8005/ CYBN8005:

See requirements for work experience is specified under CECS8005 - Applied Cybernetics Professional Experience and CYBN8005 - Applied Cybernetics Professional Experience.

There are seven key steps involved in the completion of your work experience placement.

There are changes to ENGN3100 pre-placement approval and enrolment process from March 2024. Please refer to the ENGN3100​ page fore more information.

BEFORE YOUR PLACEMENT

Step 1: Contact a host organisation and request/apply to complete your work experience placement with them.

Step 2: Organise the details of your placement with your employer, including:

• The logistics of your placement (e.g. the dates and hours you will work).
• A system to record your hours worked.
• Your insurance for the work experience placement. Find out if your employer provides insurance. If they don’t, ANU insurance may be able to be organised depending on the placement.
• For engineering students: make sure to also talk to your employer about the ways you will meet the Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competencies Engineers Australia Stage 1 competencies during your placement. Remember, you must be supervised by a practicing engineer.

Step 3: Inform the Course convener about your intended placement

For ENGN3100: Please refer to the ENGN3100​ page for more information.

For COMP4800: a pre-approval from the COMP4800 convener is required only for

• Research internship or software development work within university or research institute (e.g., Data61)
• Overseas industrial experience

If you plan to undertake above types of work experience, email COMP4800 Convener with the following information BEFORE you commence employment:

• Organisation name, address and website
• Name of workplace supervisor and contact phone and email
• Description of the type of work to be performed
• Dates of the intended placement
• Paid or Unpaid placement

DURING YOUR PLACEMENT

Step 4: Undertake your work experience placement. Make sure you and your employer record the hours you work. This can be done manually (i.e. recorded in a diary) or electronically through spreadsheets or using an app such as the Record My Hours app.

AFTER YOUR PLACEMENT

Step 5: Obtain a formal letter of employment for each of your employers (if multiple) detailing the duration of your placement, the nature of your work, and your supervisor’s details (e.g. accredited engineer or not). This letter will need to be included in your work experience report.

Step 6: Formally enrol in a work experience course (ENGN3100, COMP4800) in the semester in which you intend to complete and submit your work experience report. This is usually the semester immediately following your work experience placement. After enrolment,

Step 7: Write your work experience report.

For ENGN3100: the report should discuss the work completed during your placement and how this is connected to the Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competencies. Reports are expected to be 10-15 pages. See information on this page or view on the ENGN3100 Wattle site.

For COMP4800: Information on the Report Structure is available here.

Step 8: Submit your work experience report via Wattle, including a copy of your letter of employment. The due date will be posted on the Wattle site. The due date is usually in the final week of the semester.

To complete your Work Experience placement, you will need to enrol in one of the following courses via ISIS:

• ENGN3100 - Practical Experience (Bachelor of Engineering (Honours), Bachelor of Engineering R&D (Honours) and Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Software Engineering- compulsory)
• COMP4800 – Industry Experience (Software Engineering - compulsory)
• CECS8005 - Applied Cybernetics Professional Experience and CYBN8005 - Applied Cybernetics Professional Experience (Applied Cybernetics – compulsory)

All work experience courses are zero units, and therefore do not attract a course fee.

For further information about these courses, please review ANU Programs and Courses.

By searching for your own work experience opportunities, you are gaining valuable insight into the job application process. Applying for jobs can be tricky, but luckily, there are many resources and support services available to help you find work, develop resumes and cover letters, and practice for interviews.

STEP 1: Understand the type of work experience you would like to get. Consider what industry, functions, location you would like to work in. This information can guide your job search.

STEP 2: Look for advertised opportunities or approach companies directly. Common places to look include:

• ANU CareerHub - an exclusive job search site for ANU students
• Current opportunities advertised on our CECC website​
• GradConnection
• Prosple
• Young Engineers Australia Internship Hub
• Seek
• LinkedIn
• Company websites
• Networking

Job search hint: don’t just search for ‘work experience’. Jobs advertised as part-time, casual and internship programs can often meet the requirements for work experience so don’t limit your options.

STEP 3: Develop a professional looking CV (resume) and cover letter. Utilise the resources available through ANU Careers for developing a professional and tailored application that clearly showcases your interest in gaining experience in a particular company.

• CV360 tool: get feedback on your CV through this interactive tool.

STEP 4: Prepare for interviews and other selection activities. ANU Careers also has resources to assist with these particularly the ANU Careers Toolkit. Book in and practice your interview skills at the ANU CareerHub. This is a specially designed space, which allows you to practice your interview skills using the latest interview simulation software.

Work hours undertaken for the Engineering Internship course ENGN3200 can be counted towards ENGN3100 Work Experience requirements. You do however still need to submit a report and required evidence for ENGN3100.

If your total work hours counted towards ENGN3200 are less than 420 hours, you are required to account for other work experience that brings total hours of work experience to 420 hours in your ENGN3100 report.

420 HOURS COUNTED TOWARDS ENGN3200

Do I need to self enrol in ENGN3100 to graduate? Yes

Do I need to submit ENGN3100 Report? Yes

Required documents to submit for ENGN3100:

• You must submit the following items via ENGN3100 Wattle site: - ENGN3200 Internship Report; ENGN3200 e-Journal and ENGN3200 Supervisor’s Report
• Note: Evidence of the total hours completed for ENGN3200 may be required if your ENGN3200 Supervisor’s Report does not include the total hours completed.

MINIMUM 280 HOURS (covering the full engineering component) COUNTED TOWARDS ENGN3200

Do I need to self enrol in ENGN3100 to graduate? Yes

Do I need to submit ENGN3100 Report? Yes

Required documents to submit for ENGN3100:

• You must submit the following items via ENGN3100 Wattle site: - ENGN3200 Internship Report - ENGN3200 e-Journal - ENGN3200 Supervisor’s Report
• Note: Evidence of the total hours completed for ENGN3200 may be required if your ENGN3200 Supervisor’s Report does not include the total hours completed.
• In your submission you must also include the following documents for your additional or non-engineering work completed elsewhere: - A formal letter of employment from your employer (detailing the duration of the placement including total hours, the nature of work undertaken and your supervisors name and position details) - A Feedback form completed by the employer.

240 HOURS COUNTED TOWARDS ENGN3200

Do I need to self enrol in ENGN3100 to graduate? Yes

Do I need to submit ENGN3100 Report? Yes

Required documents to submit for ENGN3100

• You must submit the following items via ENGN3100 Wattle site: - ENGN3200 Internship Report - ENGN3200 e-Journal - ENGN3200 Supervisor’s Report
• Note: Evidence of the total hours completed for ENGN3200 may be required if your ENGN3200 Supervisor’s Report does not include the total hours completed. You are still required to complete the remaining 40 hours of engineering work to meet the minimum 280 hours of the engineering work component for ENGN3100. *You do not need to provide a technical report for your remaining 40 hours of engineering work completed elsewhere or completed with the same employer but not counting towards your ENGN3200; however, in your submission you must include the following documents for the remaining engineering work hours: A formal letter of employment from your employer (detailing the duration of the placement including total hours, the nature of work undertaken and your supervisors name and position details). A Feedback form completed by the employer.
• In your submission you must also include the following documents for your non-engineering work completed elsewhere: A formal letter of employment from your employer (detailing the duration of the placement including total hours, the nature of work undertaken and your supervisors name and position details).A Feedback form completed by the employer.