Australia needs engineers! Industry experts say the country has a shortage of 60,000 engineers as the country experiences a boom in major development projects. Due to the COVID19 crisis, state governments will be bringing even more infrastructure work forward so the demand for engineers will grow even more.
It is likely that if you graduate in engineering in Australia for the foreseeable future then you are guaranteed a job, right? Not so fast! Because Australian companies want graduates with experience and majority of companies prefer local experience. It’s the age-old problem of needing the experience to get a job but also needing a job to get experience.
Is there a solution?
Yes and the Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT) is offering it.
Typically, to get a job in engineering, not only will students need an engineering degree but they will also need to build a local network of industry contacts. This is hard to do when you have come to Australia from overseas.
Internship to get local experience
One way to get local experience and build a network of industry contacts is to do an internship with an Australian company. EIT has an internship program that runs alongside their engineering degrees. They partner with industry group Outcome. Project that places student with companies that they are a good fit for. In addition to allowing you to show a company your skills and develop key contacts within your chosen industry, an internship can allow you to find out about jobs that are not advertised. An estimated 85% of jobs are not advertised.
Standard twelve-week internships normally cost about $2000 but as an EIT student, you’ll only pay $1375. Additionally, EIT is offering four internship scholarships at its Perth campus so if you are successful in securing one then you’ll get an internship for free. The internship counts as a degree work placement so it won’t affect your ability to continue with your student-visa-allowed 40 hours of work per fortnight.
If you think you need to go to an university with great reputation to get a job then think again. Gerard Holland, from Outcome. Life, says he went to an ivy league university but his college is way behind EIT when it comes to the successful integration of their courses with industry and business needs.
The job market was already competitive before COVID19 and now it is even more so. Help your career chances by studying engineering at EIT and applying for one of their internship scholarships.
Hurry up and contact us ahead of the annual mid-year intake.