Industry Placement Program
We believe that a business degree should include genuine experience of today's business world, so we offer students who are enrolled in a Business School degree an opportunity to work for a leading firm as part of their degree. Through an established unit of study, specifically designed assessment tasks align theory with practice. Having studied the theoretical underpinnings of modern business practice a placement will provide an opportunity to apply acquired knowledge and skills in real business situations.
Enrolment into the program or unit of study is selective and only those students who successfully proceed through the selection process are considered for placements. Students from the Bachelor of Commerce & Bachelor of Commerce combined degrees; the Masters of Commerce & Masters of Commerce combined degrees; the Masters of HR & IR; the Masters of Professional Accounting; the Masters of Marketing; the Masters of Logistics Management and the Masters of Transport Management; plus those completing a Bachelor of Economics degree being administered by the Business School are eligible to apply. Every effort is made to match students with their area of specialisation in the first instance but this is not a guaranteed outcome and other options may need to be considered.
After successful pilots in both 2010 and 2011 the program is being expanded to include a wider range of host organisations/industry partners.
The program gives our students in both the undergraduate and postgraduate portfolios the opportunity to earn credit points towards their degree by working part-time (unpaid) for a leading business. During a placement, students work on genuine business projects specific to the host organisations business.
The program runs during both semesters 1 & 2 and over the winter and summer vacation period. During semester students will spend up to 3.5 days per week over 10 weeks working directly with a host organisation. The remaining 3 weeks of semester will be spent attending work readiness training and preparing a learning contract to be applied during the placement. During the vacation periods the duration of placements is based on the equivalent number of hours (somewhere between 230 to 250 hours).
An industry placement is highly coveted by students and therefore acceptance into the relevant Unit of Study (UOS) is selective. Host organisations who have partnered with the Business School to date are: Commonwealth Bank of Australia, NSW Treasury, Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst & Young, PwC, PKF, UBS, Crescendo Partners, Nuplex Industries and Computershare with more partners across a diverse range of industries coming on board with each round of placements.
The Industry Placement Program falls into three main categories:
- Local - placements with Sydney based firms
- Regional - placements with regionally located organisations
- International - placements in the US and Asia
For more information on each of the placement categories and the relevant application process please select the relevant tab above.
Local Placements
The Industry Placement Program offers placements with local Sydney based firms across a wide range of industries. The program runs over both semesters 1 & 2 and during the winter and summer vacation periods.
To be eligible as an undergraduate student you must have completed 48 credit points and have achieved an academic record of credit average or above by the time placements commence. For a postgraduate student you must have completed 24 credit points with a credit average or above.
To apply you are required to submit a letter of motivation along with a copy of your resume and evidence of your academic record (in a single MS Word document). Short listed students are invited to attend a panel interview and those who are accepted into the program will be matched to a suitable host organisation.
If successful you will be enrolled in a unit of study which allows you to earn six credit points towards your degree. The unit of study will include on-campus workshops and assessments.
The application period for local placements is outlined below (Note all dates are subject to change):
| Submit applications | Interviews | Placement Duration | Apply Here | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Semester 1 |
Applications Closed |
Applications Closed |
Applications Closed |
Applications closed |
Winter Vacation 2012 |
26 March to 27 April |
30 April to 4 May |
18 June to 27 July * |
|
Semester 2, 2012 |
26 March to 27 April |
14 May to 1 June |
20 Aug to 26 Oct * |
|
Summer Vacation 2012-13 |
10 September to 28 September |
15 Oct to 2 November |
Negotiated with host organisation |
Applications not yet open |
Semester 1, 2013 |
10 September to 28 September |
15 Oct to 2 November |
Week 4 to Week 12 * |
Applications not yet open |
* Dates are subject to change
Regional Placements
The regional / community based placements occur during the winter and summer vacation periods only. We are currently running programs with organisations based in Port Macquarie and Broken Hill, NSW.
To be eligible as an undergraduate student you must have completed 48 credit points and have achieved an academic record of credit average or above by the time placements commence. For a postgraduate student you must have completed 24 credit points with a credit average or above.
To apply you are required to submit a letter of motivation along with a copy of your resume and evidence of your academic record (in a single MS Word document). Short listed students are invited to attend a panel interview and those who are accepted into the program will be matched to a suitable host organisation.
If successful you will enrol in a unit of study which allows you to earn six credit points towards your degree.
The application period for regional placements is outlined below:
| Submit Applications | Interviews | Placement Duration | Apply Here | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Winter Vacation 2012 |
26 March to 27 April |
30 April to 4 May |
18 June to 27 July * |
|
Summer Vacation 2012-13 |
10 September to 28 September |
15 October to 2 November |
Negotiated with host organisation |
Applications not yet open |
* Dates are subject to change
International Placements
To date the Business School International Placement Program has comprised placements in Washington DC and China.
- The University of Sydney Business School in conjunction with the United States Study Centre (USSC) at the University have established a partnership with the University of California Washington Centre (UCDC) to offer Business School undergraduate students an exclusive opportunity to study and work in Washington DC. As part of this program students will complete three units of study in addition to undertaking a 9 week professional placement based in Washington.
Further details about this program are available on the Washington DC Internship Program section of the site.
The application period for placements based in Washington DC is outlined below:
| Submit Applications | Interviews | Placement Duration | Apply Here | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Summer Vacation 2013 |
13 August to 24 August |
3 September to 14 September |
2 January to 8 March * |
Applications not yet open |
- The International placements in China are targeted towards students with the required work visas and language skills to allow them to work with International organisations at their offices based in China. To date students have had an opportunity to work at the Shanghai offices of Deloitte and PwC. The program runs over the Summer Vacation period only.
The application period for placements based in China is outlined below:
| Submit Applications | Interviews | Placement Duration | Apply Here | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Summer Vacation 2013 |
13 August to 24 August |
3 September to 14 September |
26 Dec to 20 Jan 2013 * |
Applications not yet open |
* Dates are subject to change
As a Business School student you may be eligible to enrol in the much sought after Industry Placement Program. An Industry Placement is highly coveted by students and therefore acceptance into the program's unit of study is competitive.
The program is open to both undergraduate and postgraduate students during both semesters 1 & 2 and over the winter & summer vacation periods. It is a great opportunity to put your theoretical understanding from your specialisation/major into practice.
Credited towards your degree the program provides a preparation course before you enter the work placement for up to 3.5 days per week for 10 weeks during semester or an equivalent number of hours over the winter and summer vacation programs.
At the end of your placement you are assessed based on a work-learning journal; your preparation of a business report, and a presentation to a panel of assessors from the Business School.
Host organisations in the placement program have included: Commonwealth Bank of Australia, NSW Treasury, Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst & Young, PwC, PKF, UBS, Crescendo Partners, Nuplex Industries, Computershare, Central Energy & Port Macquarie Hastings council, with more partners across a diverse range of industries coming on board with each round of placements.
- For undergraduate students you must be able to provide evidence of a credit average or above corresponding to 48 credit points.
- For postgraduate students you must be able to provide evidence of a credit average or above corresponding to units of 24 credit points.



