GCCA | Graduate Careers Council of Australia

Graduate Careers Australia

ergo - Number 93 December 2003

Wollongong’s Careers Service Internship Program in 2003

The University of Wollongong’s Internship Program was first offered as a pilot in 2002 and has just completed its second successful year in 2003. Essentially the program was developed to give a select group of students from the University of Wollongong an insight into the day-to-day and longer term activities of the careers service, and in 2003 a total of twelve students participated in the program.

The University’s Internship Program gives these students, who are in the penultimate or final year of their studies in a range of faculties, the opportunity to be part of the Careers Service’s activities throughout the year. The recruitment process (assisted by ‘graduating interns’ from the current year) focuses on selecting students with good communication skills and good team skills. They need to be motivated, energetic and to enjoy meeting people.

Through their participation in the program, the Interns gain skills in administration, employing IT, marketing, communication and events coordination. The interns develop these skills by being involved in the promotion, planning and presenting of careers fairs and employer information sessions; maintaining the job boards and online job service; engaging in marketing and promotional activities across the campus; liaising with faculties and assisting other students in accessing the Careers Service resources. All of these experiences add significantly to the students’ employability when they graduate.

The program is coordinated by Careers Counsellor Robyn Gleeson and operates by a system of “commitments” from the interns. These include:

• attendance at the monthly Internship meeting
• a meeting with their faculty representative once each fortnight
• operating the mobile careers service – a gazebo placed at various sites across the campus
• assisting with the Careers Fairs
• helping in the operational activities of the Careers Service at least twice each month.

To facilitate this process a diary system is used, with each intern indicating their availability at the beginning of each session. The Internship program commences in Orientation Week each year, with a training day which is presented by all members of the Careers Service. The training day ensures that the interns have a comprehensive understanding of the functions and activities involved in the operation of the Careers Service.

In 2004 a couple of new initiatives are planned for the interns. These include conducting market research into the general university community’s perceptions of the Careers Service and its activities, as well as establishing a faculty ambassador program. This latter project will involve each intern being allocated a faculty with which to establish an ongoing relationship, thus developing another avenue for communication between the Careers Service as a whole and that faculty.

The Careers Service benefits enormously from the assistance of the interns in periods of peak activity, as well as the valuable insights they give into student perceptions of the Careers Service and its related activities.