Certificate IV in Engineering

Swinburne has chosen units to specifically provide students with the skills and knowledge to understand and implement quality control techniques, exercise good interpersonal and communications skills, work from complex instructions and procedures, exercise discretion within the scope of responsibility, perform work under limited supervision either individually or in a team environment, be responsible for assuring the quality of their own work, provide trade guidance and assistance as part of a work team, perform non-trade tasks which are incidental or peripheral to the primary tasks and facilitate the completion of the whole task, inspect products and/or materials for conformity with established operational standards, operate lifting equipment incidental to their work and assists in the provision of training in conjunction with supervisors and trainers.

The student cohort is predominantly male aged between 21- 50 and are usually people who wish to progress further in their trade after completing an apprenticeship or make a career change. Students usually study part time.

While there is no qualification entry requirement, it is assumed that the learner is either already a tradesperson with access to structured on and off-the-job training or is an apprentice under an Australian Apprenticeship arrangement. It should not be used as a pre-employment or pre-apprenticeship program. It is specifically designed to cover the skills and knowledge required of workers employed as Engineering/Manufacturing Tradesperson – Special Class Level II as defined in the Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award.

The on-campus training involves face to face theory training and practical tasks that are required to be assessed and deemed competent. Both knowledge and skill are required to be demonstrated to obtain a successful outcome in each unit and the qualification. Many units require a specified number of hours of practice on relevant skills in a workplace.

Graduates may find employment in refrigeration and air conditioning, casting and moulding, computer numerically controlled (CNC) programming, fluid power, heavy fabrication, instrumentation, maintenance, plant mechanics, marine electronics, mechatronics, patternmaking, robotics, toolmaking, welding and watch and clock services and repair, including post-trade work.