Get hands-on in the tech-industry with the University of Canberra

For student’s looking for an international city to begin a career in technology, there’s no better place than Canberra. Australia’s capital city, has a thriving tech sector and thanks to strong investments from the Australian government, Canberra is one of the largest hubs of the cyber security in the country.

Think cloud computing, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things –fields that have come to the forefront of technology in the last few decades are all being driven by the highly skilled workforce in Canberra. Canberra’s cutting-edge infrastructure and the growing number of high-technology companies mean that students are in high demand – often gaining fulltime employment before they have even graduated.

As the industry continues to grow, new fields in the technology industry will require graduates with specialised skills. And this is where the University of Canberra (UC) shines. UC’s range of IT degrees, like the Master of Information Technology and Systems offer not only the fundamental skills students will require for a successful career in IT, but the opportunity to specialise in a range of fields, future-proofing their career.

The University of Canberra (UC) may be a newbie as far as Australian universities go, but it packs serious academic firepower. Established in 1967, the relatively young University has soared up the world university ranks to sit within the top 1 percent of universities worldwide (Times Higher Ed, 2022). It ranked number one in the Australian Capital Territory for full-time employment and starting salaries for undergraduate and postgraduate students, for four years in a row, in the Good Universities Guide (2023). Furthermore, UC was placed number one in the world for reducing inequalities for two consecutive years by the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings. These are remarkable achievements for a university barely over 30 years old.

UC attributes this success to a two-pronged approach to providing career-ready education and strong ties to industry. In this approach, Work Integrated Learning (WIL) plays an important role in ensuring students enjoy real-world work experience while they study. This is very useful for students, especially those keen on making Canberra their forever home.

What is Work Integrated Learning (WIL)?

Work Integrated Learning is part of every curriculum at UC. The principle behind the concept is simple – it pairs theoretical learning alongside the practical application of that knowledge in a real-world work scenario. WIL comprises of activities such as internships, projects, simulations, apprenticeships, and fieldwork. It is a great way for students to “learn the ropes” while pursuing their degree and helps them to be job-ready even before the completion of their graduation.

What are the benefits of WIL?

Apart from the obvious merit of training students to be industry-ready, WIL offers several advantages such as:

• Gaining prior knowledge of the industry before starting your career
• Developing new skills
• Learning to work in teams, developing soft skills
• Building a network of industry contacts
• Enhancing problem-solving skills
• Learning the tricks of the trade under the able guidance of mentors

UC works hard to foster close industry connections and collaborations with industry partners who can provide students with work placement positions and training opportunities.

WIL in Technology

UC offers a variety of courses in Technology namely, Information Technology, Business Informatics, and Software Engineering. The WIL opportunities differ slightly from one course to the other, but broadly speaking, throughout all of these degrees, students will be given a chance to apply their learning in a real world context. They will learn how to develop and implement their very own IT/engineering solutions for local, government, or community businesses. They will also undertake group project work on developing real-world IT strategies for real-world clients.

UC offers opportunities to learn from the very best in the business via the help of guest lectures, tutorials, and case studies. Additionally, students can opt to take up internship and cadetship programmes at some of Australia’s top companies such as Intelledox, Dialog Information Technology, Pursuit Technology, ESKAPEE, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and more.

To sum it all up, WIL is an important part of UC’s academic courses, giving students hands-on, real-life experience in the industries they plan to enter when they graduate. With its WIL approach, UC provides one of the best gateways for students to transition from the world of theoretical knowledge to the work-based, real-world practical application thus developing career-ready professionals in technology. By studying technology at UC students can position themselves at the frontline of a booming, multi-billion-dollar industry in new and emerging fields like data science, cyber security, artificial intelligence, and robotics.