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Home >> Employment >> Vacation employment

Vacation Employment
for Mining Engineering students

 

What is Industrial Training?

An important component of all engineering programs at UNSW including the mining engineering program, is completion of a period of Industrial Training (IT).

Students must complete a minimum of 80 days of IT in the mining industry during one or more of the long vacation periods in order to fulfil the requirements for graduation. Part of this requirement also includes submission of formal written report(s) covering the full period of IT.

In addition, companies often are interested in the type and range of experience gained by students applying for a graduate position.

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What opportunities are there for IT?

Aside from the monetary rewards, there is the opportunity of experiencing albeit for a short period, the adventure of traveling to distant parts of Australia and/or overseas and getting a taste of the relaxed lifestyle offered in many remote communities.

Opportunities often arise to work in a range of locations ranging from the Pilbara, Kimberley and goldfields regions of Western Australia, to northern Queensland, the Northern Territory and the west coast of Tasmania.

The introduction of fly-in / fly-out shift rosters at many mine sites offers the opportunity of living in remote areas interspersed with company provided flights for a break in a capital city/major regional centre on your rostered days off. Some students have been even more adventurous and traveled to mining operations in South America, Canada and Africa.

Opportunities also exist to work closer to home, at the quarries and coal mines in the Sydney hinterland, in the Hunter Valley and Illawarra as well opportunities in the banking, finance and consultancies organisations within the city.

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What types of IT are recommended?

Students in the first year of the program are usually advised to seek employment at locations closer to home, venturing to more distant parts of Australia in later years.

The nature of the practical experience gained should also be varied beginning with generally hands-on experience in earlier years, changing to work of a more technical nature involving a design or industrial research project.

It is also recommended that students endeavor to gain practical experience in different sectors of the mining and allied industries so that by the time the student reaches the end of the program and they have to choose from the varied graduate career opportunities they do so with some prior knowledge and insight of the different career pathways.

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How do I gain an IT position?

While the School will assist students as much as possible, essentially the onus is on the student to obtain suitable employment. Searching for employment including letter writing, producing a resume and being interviewed are all part of the learning process and helps to prepare the student for the time when they seek a graduate position in the final year of the program.

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When should I begin looking for IT?

For many organisations, recruitment begins in the second half of the year with commencement of the second semester.

Representatives from different organisations often visit the School and give a presentation on IT opportunities at their operations. Sometimes they combine the visit with interviews of candidates following the presentation. Students should keep watch on the main notice board and School intranet Calendar section for 3140 in Vista for announcements of upcoming visits.

The Careers and Employment Unit at UNSW also co-ordinates visits from a larger cross-section of industrial organisations.

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How do I ensure my IT experience is recognised?

Industrial training provides an opportunity for students to put into context much of the knowledge and engineering design principles presented in lectures as well as gain a better understanding of the various roles that a mining engineer can be involved in.

Supplementing this training are field studies held in each year of the program which supplement the learning process in the mining program.

To help keep track of their industrial training, students should use MITy, the online Mining Industrial Training system which is the authorised system for tracking student's IT records in the Mining Engineering program. Each record relates to a period of industrial training. Students must use the system to

  • gain prior approval by the IT Co-ordinator of the employer and nature of employment duties before employment begins;
  • provide contact details during periods of industrial training;
  • provide contact details of their workplace supervisor;
  • provide details related to training on completion of employment; and
  • lodge their IT Report. The IT Report must be submitted within 28 days of completing IT. A guide to writing IT report is available.

A User's Guide to MITy is available to assist students in using the system. For further details contact the IT Co-ordinator.

For the transition period covering the 2006/07 summer vacation period, in addition to using MITy, students may also lodge a completed hardcopy of the IT Destination Form. This Form has two parts:

  • Part A must be submitted by the last week of semester prior to starting employment. This section of the Form confirms that employment has been approved. Part A must be submitted by the end of the semester prior to the start of IT.
  • Part B must be completed and counter-signed by your supervisor at the end of the period of IT. Part B must be submitted together a copy of the IT Report.

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Which organisations offer IT?

Some of the organisations offering IT this summer include:

If your company wishes to offer vacation employment/Industrial Training should contact the Director - Undergraduate Studies in the School.

Students are also advised to regularly scan the Discussion section (Vacation Employment folder) for 3140 in Vista under 3140. If at the end of semester you are still looking for employment then send your contact details to the Undergraduate Co-ordinator as companies often seek students closer to the end of the year.

The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), the peak industry body representing the major mining companies in Australia, has for the past few years managed a database linking students with organisations offering IT. For further information go to the Industry Experience for Undergraduates (IEU) website.

In addition, there are a number of research projects within the School available to interested students over the summer vacation under the Faculty's "Taste for Research" initiative. Some of these will also be suitable thesis projects.

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Further information and enquiries

  • For further information on vacation employment, contact Rudrajit Mitra, the IT Co-ordinator
  • If your organisation would like to be included in the listing of employment opportunities then contact Rudrajit Mitra

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Page created on 01/11/07
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