Students
Set yourself up for success
Complete Co-operative Education Program internships and get a kick-start on your future engineering career. Take time out from semester study or use the summer break to work full-time in paid roles, for periods of 3,6 or 12 months. Use Co-op internships to explore different industry sectors, develop teamwork and communication skills and apply your theoretical knowledge in a practical context.
Gain practical experience
Learn practical, hands-on engineering skills that complement your formal studies.
Explore your options
Gain real life insights into engineering practice and make informed decisions about your future.
Graduate job-ready
Graduate with skills, employment experience and a new professional network.
Hear from Co-op student Marielle Salom
How it works
The process
- Co-op internships can be taken full-time for 3 months over summer, for 6 months over a semester, or up to 12 months over a whole academic year. Co-op internships for 12 months will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
- Completing a Co-op internship is optional and is not assessed or graded.
- You’re strongly encouraged to complete at least two Co-op terms. After the successful completion of each term, the Co-op program will be listed on your academic transcript and assigned 0 credit point units.
- You stay enrolled in the Bachelor of Engineering program while undertaking Co-op internships, although the time taken to complete the degree may be extended.
- You do not need to pay tuition fees for Co-op internships.
- You receive a full-time salary paid by the Co-op employer.
- Time spent in Co-op internships can be included in Continuous Professional Development (CPD) hours.
- International students can only complete Co-op internships during the summer term.
If you're thinking about doing a co-op internship, definitely go ahead and do it. You'll get a lot out of it.
Billy Chen, Internship at Webjet
Example roles
Co-op roles can vary according to business needs, but previous roles and tasks have included:
Engineering Cadet
Performing engineering and analytical tasks to support a project team.
Production Assistant
Providing technical support including sales and production coordination and production schedule maintenance.
Software Engineering Intern
Designing, programming and building tests for autonomous vehicle technology.
Undergraduate Engineer
Supporting a project delivery team to ensure successful performance and delivery of planned works.
Computer Systems Engineering Intern
Developing algorithms and products for unmanned vehicles, intelligent surveillance and commercial applications with real-time performance.
Undergraduate Field Engineer
Conducting engineering calculations for substation and distribution line projects and providing project engineering and business improvement project support in a large engineering team.
Costs
A $400 fee is payable once an internship has commenced and a first salary payment has been received. The fee contributes to the overall running costs of the Co-op program, including establishing and maintaining employer relationships, providing the Employability Skills Program and other administrative costs.
Eligibility
To be eligible for Co-op, you must:
- Be enrolled in a single or double Engineering degree
- Have a minimum WAM of 60
- Have completed at least 72 points of engineering studies and have more than 48 points of engineering studies remaining
- Be eligible to work in Australia
Employability Skills Program
We offer a comprehensive Employability Skills Program as a core component of the Co-op Program. Before starting an internship, you’ll complete a suite of essential work-related training modules and personal reflection tasks to ensure you’re thoroughly prepared for the workplace and geared towards success from the outset.
Run in conjunction with Monash University Career Connect, the Employability Skills Program ensures you begin their internships job-ready and well-supported.The program will be offered over selected weekends and/or weeknight sessions throughout the year.
Program modules include:
- Resume writing
- LinkedIn profile training
- Interview skills “how to” workshop
- Mock interviews
- Personal growth videos
- Employment essentials
- Employability skills reflection
- Leap into Leadership Online
- Industry tailored skills sharing sessions and networking events
- Career development fundamentals
- Working in Australia
- Addressing key selection criteria
- Graduate recruitment
- English Connect workshops
Find out what Co-op students have to say
The greatest source of learning has come from the people I have interacted with, from line setters to formulators to engineers and managers, as they have taught me many amazing things over the last few months – procedures and insights that are near unobtainable from regular university classwork.
In all, the entire Co-op program has been an immensely valuable eye opener to true workplace life and I have been offered a position with the company after I graduate.
Ashlee Evans
Bachelor of Materials Science and Engineering
(Honours) and Bachelor of Science
Ensign Laboratories
The journey at Telstra has been very helpful in understanding how I can use my multidisciplinary skills from university to contribute to real-life work in a business. I was involved in a project that was focused on making improvements to an existing database in Telstra. The internship has helped me develop and train my soft skills in communicating and presenting, working in a diverse team, quickly building trust between teammates and being more confident about my abilities.
Jerry (Xiaxi) Li
Bachelor of Electrical and Computer Systems
Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Commerce
Telstra
Working on the multi-billion dollar North East Link Project really helped me see how transferable engineering skills are across the industry. I would say to students looking at the program. ‘What do you have to lose?” You know how people say, “You just have to get your foot in the door?” Well, Co-op is the program to do it.
Marielle Salom
Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Commerce
GHD
Hear from Co-op Academic Lead Associate Professor Pippa Connolly.