Student Sourced Industry Placements

Are you curious about what type of placement, job or career you can aim for?

La Troe University has produced career summaries for the major discipline areas taught at La Trobe. The summaries are based on the jobs and companies La Trobe graduates have gone on to work in, and the technical and transferable skills you’ll develop in your course.

You can refer to these PDF summaries when searching for a placement opportunity and an ideal host, enabling you to focus on some of the skills you are developing while you're studying (to add to your CV and cover letter) and the potential hosts that you could contact about placement opportunities.

Browse the list of career summaries here.

Overseas placement opportunities that are sourced by students directly, cannot be approved unless they come under the following circumstances:

1. Professional Accreditation Requirements: Where the placement is essential for meeting professional accreditation and the University cannot facilitate a suitable alternative.
2. Equity and Access Considerations: For compassionate reasons, or if the student needs to be overseas due to travel restrictions or other regulatory constraints.
3. Strategic Alignment: Where the placement opportunity aligns significantly with La Trobe's strategic objectives and offers potential future opportunities (as confirmed by the School and Education Partnerships/Industry Engagement (Business Development).

Requests for exceptions are managed by the Placement Partnering & Operations team, who will assess the placement against the agreed parameters. These will then be submitted to the School for final approval.

To find out more about this process, contact the subject coordinator for the placement subject you wish to enrol in: La Trobe University Handbook

There are also some La Trobe University sourced placement opportunities that allow students to undertake a placement overseas. These opportunities are listed under 'internships on the overseas short programs and are subject to an application and approval process. For more information, contact the team at: studyabroad@latrobe.edu.au

All La Trobe students undertaking a Work Based Learning (WBL) placement must complete the following requirements prior to starting a placement:

• Child Safety & Wellbeing (CSW) Training
• WBL Student Placement Deed
• Apply for a Volunteer Working with Children Check card (don’t worry, it’s free!)
• If requested by your placement host: obtain a Police Check through an accredited service by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission

Remember to ask a potential host whether you will need any additional pre-placement checks such as:

• Immunisation
• Health check
• First aid certificate
• Protective clothing or equipment requirements

If you need a Police Check, the Industry Placement team can help organise these.

Contact: industryplacements@latrobe.edu.au

Most La Trobe industry placement opportunities are student sourced however, we also have university sourced placement opportunities with our industry partners. These opportunities are secured by La Trobe University and are available to students enrolled in a variety of courses.

Find out more about the Industry Placement Elective subjects and how to apply for a University sourced Industry Placement opportunity.

It is possible to utilise a paid position with your current employer as a placement opportunity, provided that for the placement period, you would be undertaking a special project distinct from your current paid position. It would be your responsibility to demonstrate in your placement description and project proposa, how the internship project you are proposing to undertake is different from your current role.  A placement role in an organisation should not replace an existing position.

Talk with your manager to see if there is a suitable project that you can undertake for the internship period of 100-400 hours within your chosen semester dates.