First students to take up WIL

Business students have been given the opportunity to gain valuable organisational experience while completing a degree thanks to a new work integrated learning (WIL) course.

'Now that we have a WIL, you now have a way. This summarises the philosophy behind the course that will bring academic education closer to real world problem-solving and is another example the of the commitment of USQ Business to being community centred and career focussed,' Dean of the Faculty of Business, Professor Allan Layton said.

A Work Integrated Learning workshop was conducted as a collaborative effort between the Careers and Employment Student Services (C&E), USQ and the Faculty of Business to prepare students to identify potential sponsors for their projects. 

The C&E team consisted of Katrina Vagg, Annissa O'Shea, and Nancey Hoare.

'It is great to see that we can support an important pathway to employment. We want to make sure the WIL students get the best possible start to their course and approaching potential host employers,' Manager of C&E, Peter McIlveen said.

A comprehensive workshop manual containing all the key actionable activities that students can use to help them be work ready was developed by C&E based on their vast experience in dealing with students employment services.

'The workshops provided the first step to the work transition skills students need so that they are ready to approach host organisations. "Based on the feedback we received from students, this first workshop hit the mark. We are pleased with the outcome,' Co-course Leader Ray Hingst said.

Students were spread across two campuses and at a distance. The workshop was streamed live across the Internet and recorded for later review by all students even those that could not make the live presentation.

Four different technologies were used to facilitate this delivery method to test which is the most effective for students so that the next workshop in July will use this one method.