Engineering Employability Week
Griffith University has a range of employability initiatives designed to get students ready to kickstart their career. Each year, the School of Engineering and Built Environment hosts Employability Week during trimester 2, which features industry talks, site visits, career seminars and employability enhancement activities available to all engineering students.
This year, Engineering Employability Week was offered online with a range of activities allowing students to engage with industry professionals, view presentations linked to key topics in engineering courses, and join career development workshops. The School also partnered with wide range of engineering companies, such as CSIRO, Gold Coast Council, Boeing, Jacobs Engineering Consulting, Energy Queensland, Wave International, Worley, Lucid Consulting, Northrop, Systra, SMEC and KPMG. Attendance at the industry talks also counted towards the 60 Engineering Professional Practice days needed to graduate.
Mr Simon Howell, Engineering Professional Practice & Employability Skills Stream Coordinator shared some highlights of the week below.
Employability Week is embedded into the fabric of the degree and it is designed to help students better understand their chosen engineering field through interacting with industry professionals. It also prepares students to successfully secure a graduate role after completing their studies.
“Thanks Simon and the team for providing such a valuable event. It was great to connect with industry and learn more about the various companies and career paths available.”
– Rory McGrady, B Engineering (Hons) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering student
“Thank you for organising such a worthwhile event for us! I gained many insights from the experiences shared by these inspiring industry representatives. It was a valuable continuing professional development activity for Griffith University students!”
– Selena Ferguson, B Engineering (Hons) in Environmental Engineering student
Visiting different industry sites really helps students see engineering in practice, and many engineering professionals are keen to help inspire the next generation of future engineers.
The industry careers fair for third years is a real highlight and we always receive lots of positive feedback. We also spend a lot of time ensuring that students have developed a good cover letter and CV and have practiced their interview skills to prepare them as much as possible to transition from engineering student to graduate engineer. For me personally, it’s great to see students securing internships at some of the firms we’ve visited, or when I see former students attend our careers fair representing the organisations where they now work.
“As a proud education partner of Griffith University, Queensland Airports Limited (QAL) is committed to the development of future talent and sustainable employment. Hosting the mechanical and civil engineering students onsite at Gold Coast Airport for a tour of our facility and projects currently underway, along with a presentation and insights into the career paths of members of our team, was a great way to bring university learning into the real world for students. It was clear that the students were engaged, inquisitive and appreciative of the opportunity. As a team we are passionate about our business and the roles we play in contributing to its success, and we enjoy sharing that with the leaders of tomorrow.”
– Nathan Spek, Project Manager, QAL
“I believe it is essential for engineering undergraduates to be exposed to industry via site visits work experience as soon and as often as possible. Riviera seeks the very best designers and engineers, and there are limited opportunities to work on such large and interesting products in Australia. We believe in training and growing people and this is why we help Griffith with industry tours, and place interns for work experience to complete their education.”
– Dan Henderson, Design Manger, Rivera Australia
