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Professional Work Experience Information for Employers

The School of Information Systems and Technology is an academic school within the Faculty of Informatics at the University of Wollongong. The School offers the Bachelor of Information Technology (BInfoTech) course as well as a Masters (MInfoTech) and a Doctoral (PhD) program.

Students are responsible for organising their own industry placements and quite frequently they inquire about the availability of information for the prospective employer. This document is to serve the purpose of providing you with relevant information about the degree and, in particular, the Industry Placement component.

Industry Placement

Students are required to organise placements and usually undertake the work over the Christmas vacation period (for students) i.e. November through to February. Typically, they will need to find a placement at the end of their second and third years of study depending on degree.

Our students are assessed in respect of their placements and are required to submit a number of written assignments. They will submit an assessment of each work placement. You will need to specify to the student any areas that may be regarded as being ‘sensitive’, so that they do not inadvertently include these areas in their report. The assessment (including co-ordination of topics) is the responsibility of Glenn Bewsell and Sim Kim Lau.

Industry Placement is one of the aspects that differentiate our degree from those offered in other places. Due to the high success rates we have had with our students to date, the degree continues to grow in popularity and the pressure for places in the degree, and therefore for Industry Placement, continues to rise.

We need your assistance to continue the trend of producing graduates who are already attuned to the employment situation so that they can be productive from the start of their careers.

Given the cost of recruitment, this program has also highlighted the benefits, to both employer and student, of being able to work together during the degree. Frequently students find work with employers who have employed them during their Industry Placement.

The Employee's Role

Students negotiate placement directly with the employer. Neither the School nor the University are involved in this process. Employers will need to treat the students as employees, (they will require minimum supervision in regard to completion of their assessment components) providing the usual conditions of employment such as Work Cover and so on. Should the student 'volunteer' to work for an organisation without remuneration then they are covered by the University's own insurance scheme. They must apply to for this cover to take affect by completing the UOW Insurance application. It will be in the interests of both employer and students for the role(s) and responsibilities of both parties to be clearly stated during the period of Industry Placement.

You will be asked to provide a reference:

• that indicates the period of the placement;
• that details the activities undertaken by the student, and
• which optionally includes comment on their performance in your organisation.

Reports from employers providing placements in the past have been very positive about the work performed and the quality of the students. As the purpose of these industry placements is to allow the students to start to apply their skill and knowledge and to experience the reality of the workplace, it is encouraging to receive this positive feedback.

Should you require further information or advice in regard to any issues raised on this web page please contact Glenn Bewsell (phone: 02 4221 5683) or Sim Kim Lau (phone: 02 4221 4132).