I decided to apply for a professional placement in order to gain practical industry experience in engineering. Professional experience is something employers value, so I thought I’d make the most of the opportunity whilst I am still studying.

I completed my professional placement at the City of Yarra. I chose the City of Yarra because it offered a rotation program that could provide me with a range of different experiences.

Alex completed his placement at The City of Yarra.

My role varied depending on which department I was working within at the time. In the Traffic team, I assisted in the design of a Traffic Treatment. In Construction and Development I assisted in assessing; new vehicle crossings, Construction Management Plans and Utility Consent referrals.

I gained the ability to interpret and assess engineering drawings. I liaised with developers, contractors, engineers, architects, and other departments within the organisation to assist my team with positive project outcomes.

I was involved in real-world projects and was given on-site experience. The placement really helped to build my confidence and communicate effectively with my team, other internal and external stakeholders.

The City of Yarra’s work culture was very supportive and helpful, which are all key qualities that have helped me get the most out of the placement. Also, I received great help from my academic supervisor who responded quickly to emails that I sent regarding WIL assignments.

The placement will help provide context to all the things we learn at university.

  • "It has helped me realise how the skills we learn at university can be applied in a real-world context. I also think it will definitely help me get a full-time job because I’ve had a range of different experiences working in diverse teams across different areas of Council."

    Alex , Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)

My role was as an Undergraduate Engineer with Metro Trains on a 12-month placement. I performed tasks relating to fault identification, risk mitigation and project planning for asset renewals.

I’m very grateful to have worked with such a friendly team, and I also found rail engineering to be extremely interesting. Walking through the Melbourne underground rail loop was very cool and also taking a ride in a tamping machine (used to tamp railway tracks) was an interesting experience. Rail engineering involves many facets of engineering and provides plenty of topics to discuss and learn. It is great for people who enjoy learning new things continuously.

I have been lucky enough to work on multiple jobs independently, and in teams, that have resulted in outcomes which I felt proud to accomplish. I also expanded my computing knowledge while automating a data reclassification job that once took a team of three people a couple of days to complete. I was able to complete the job by myself in approximately half a working day with a reduced chance of human error.

Professional Placement at City of Yarra
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