Vacation Employment

Bachelor of Software Engineering (BSE) Student Information:

Eligibility to Graduate in BSE, Full Accreditation by Engineers Australia (EA) and Australian Computer Society, and Vacation Employment

Overview

In February 2006, Engineers Australia notified the Clayton School of IT that the Bachelor of Software Engineering at Monash University is fully accredited through to the first intake of students in 2009 based on the Clayton School of IT’s report submitted in November 2005 that the BSE students will be undertaking a 12-week work experience activity (vacation employment) in line with the requirements of the Faculty of Engineering at Monash.

Bachelor of Software Engineering (BSE) Course (2770) received full accreditation in Aug. 2003 from the Australian Computer Society (ACS) and a conditional full accreditation by the Institution of Engineers Australia (now called, Engineers Australia) after a joint panel visit by ACS & EA to review and accredit all Engineering courses at Monash University. BSE is fully accredited by ACS. EA accreditation for BSE (2770) was conditional, as EA requires students graduating with Engineering degrees to complete 12 weeks of approved engineering work experience and submit a report on that work. This work is best undertaken in the vacation between second and third years and/or between third and fourth years. Students who have completed all academic requirements for their degrees are not eligible to graduate until this work experience has been completed.

Students wanting to graduate in the Bachelor of Software Engineering program must complete a statement during the course of their study or at the end of their four year program indicating if they have worked in a full-time job for a period of 12 weeks ( or more) either in one block or in 2 blocks of 8 + 4 or 6+6 weeks in a full-time paid employment related to software engineering, computer science, IT or Engineering. They are required to follow the vacation guidelines below and submit two certificates of vacation employment: 1) student-vacation-employment-certificate form filled and signed by the student, and 2) employer-certificate letter written and signed by their employer(s). The Clayton School of IT will be keeping the original of these documentations and certificates from the students and employers to support the case for continued full accreditation by Engineers Australia.

Vacation Employment Guidelines

The following guidelines are provided to assist the Bachelor of Software Engineering Students to find suitable vacation employment that satisfies the eligibility criteria and write a report to complete the requirements. The guidelines are sourced from http://www.eng.monash.edu.au/mecheng/assets/docs/vaction-employment-guidelines.pdf, and modified where needed to fit the BSE degree requirements.

Objectives

The main learning objectives of the vacation employment program for Software Engineering students at Monash are:

To gain experience within a professional engineering setting while studying for Bachelor of Software Engineering degree
To learn about the future career roles and paths in the software engineering, computer science, IT, Engineering or related profession
To produce a formal technical report of the vacation employment activity by reflecting on what was achieved at a professional, personal and peer group participation level.

Vacation Work

Students are responsible for finding their own employment. It is recommended that the students start looking for summer vacation work (Dec-Feb) during the mid year break (June). Students wanting to complete the requirements in 2 blocks may want to look for employment during semester 1 in career fairs, on-line job ads and in the newspapers. Watch out for any promotion by the Faculty IT re: local and international internship positions for our undergraduate students. Also visit Monash Careers & Employment website for information. Students who have completed two years or more of study in the BSE program are hereby encouraged to apply for those positions.

Students should also consider applying for vacation work in Financial Institutions, Telecommunication, Transport and other utilities, Government departments, small to medium enterprises, consultancies, other Engineering firms and research organisations such as CSIRO and DSTO.

The Monash Careers & Employment Service

Monash University Careers and Employment (previously known as Monash Student Employment And Careers Service or MONSEACS) provides employment and career service to students, graduates and employers. Visit http://careers.monash.edu.au/ for more details. News, special events and programs are available at their site:

http://careers.monash.edu.au/news/

Other Sources of Information

Students should check some of these sites for general information about Engineering positions. They can also get an idea of what kinds of (short term) full-time positions are available and the rate of pay that you can expect.

Institution of Engineers Australia www.ieaust.org.au

Australian Computer Society (ACS) www.acs.org.au

Software Engineering Australia (SEA) www.seanational.com.au

The Faculty of IT page – http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/careers/

Clayton School of IT Notice Board for short term full-time positions in the industry or at other research institutions

The Age http://www.theage.com.au/

The Australian http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/

Applying for Work

Students should make sure that their vacation job application is done professionally. It should include a covering letter, a CV and an academic transcript. The Monash Careers & Employment Service can provide assistance in the preparation of CVs and application letters.

A sample letter of application for vacation employment is given in Writing for Science: a practical handbook for science, engineering and technology students (Silyn-Roberts, 1996, pg.170) (available at Hargrave-Andrew Library: 808.066 R587W).

The covering letter should be clear, concise and to the point, and cover:

Name of the University, your course & your year level
Type of employment sought: Vacation Employment
Duration and relevant dates when you are available
Your contact details for interview and follow up
Why you want to work for that organization
About you - any special area in SE /IT/Engineering that you are particularly interested in.

Vacation Employment (Work Experience Employment)

The Faculty of IT requires that all Bachelor of Software Engineering students must complete 12 weeks of approved paid work and submit a formal technical report documenting the work done satisfactorily to the vacation employment supervisor. This is part of the requirements for graduation in an Engineering program at Monash, which includes the degree programs at the Engineering Faculty and the Bachelor of Software Engineering Degree from the Faculty of IT.

Remuneration

Although it is important to make sure that you are paid at an appropriate level for the work undertaken, you must also remember that vacation employment helps you gain valuable industry experience in a professional work environment. It is important to have terms and conditions of your employment in writing from the potential employer before commencing work.

Purpose of the Report

The report must demonstrate that the student has worked in an organisation with a professional engineering setting, but not necessarily with only an exclusive focus on software engineering practice. The formal report must include a record of the work experience or internship with an analysis of outcomes achieved. The report should contain a section on self-reflection and also record experiences on group interaction with peers.

Structure and Format of the Report

A Spiral Bound copy of the report must be submitted to the vacation employment supervisor. It must include:

A Cover sheet with:
Student Name & ID, BSE Year Level completed, Contact Details of the vacation employer – Contact Person Name, Phone no., email address, Company Name & Address, Dates of Employment.
Employer’s Certificate:
A letter in the Employer’s company letter head stating that student xxx has completed the assigned jobs and documented the work satisfactorily for the company’s records
worked for xx weeks in the vacation employment.
The Body of the Formal Report:
Report writing is an important skill for a professional software engineer. References on report writing are available at Andrew-Hargrave Library. Writing for Science: a practical handbook for science, engineering and technology students written by Silyn-Robert, Published by Longmna, NZ, 1996 is recommended by the Mechanical Engineering Department for their vacation employment students. Students should refer to that and any others that are available to produce a professional report about their vacation employment.

It should contain the following:

A Brief Description of the Vacation Employer’s Business and its organisational structure (max. 3000 characters)
A description of the engineering process involved from project / job allocation to its completion in terms of assignment of tasks, monitoring of work in progress, how is evaluation done to ensure completion of the job on time and within budget . Include comments on any outcomes of interest out of the assigned work and process (max. 3000 characters)
A description of the interactions and communication flows in the company between various groups: between (software) engineers, between management and staff, and between software engineers and technicians. Give names and positions of people to whom you were responsible (max. 3000 characters)
An overview of the projects in which the student was involved and details of the actual work that the student did ( max. 3000 characters)
References to how the theoretical/practical knowledge in the BSE course was applied in the vacation work and any difficulties experienced (max. 3000 characters)
A critical review of the value of the vacation employment experience to the student (max. 3000 characters)

Assessment

The vacation employment supervisor or a designated staff will read the completed report by the student and assess whether the student has completed the vacation employment satisfactorily and whether the formal technical report meets the requirements as set out above. The supervisor or the designated staff will notify the student if the report is unsatisfactory or the work experience is not suitable.

The student, the Clayton School of IT admin area responsible for recording student course completion details will be notified if the student has successfully completed a vacation employment component. Note that a student may complete the 12 weeks of full-time vacation employment in one block or in 2 blocks.

If a student is completing the requirements in 2 blocks, it is important to include the details of the satisfactory completion of the 1^st block of employment along with the second and final documentation. The student must keep a copy of the report for their records and the original will be kept at Monash.

Please remember that the course status is deemed “incomplete” and the student is not eligible to graduate with the BSE Qualification until all the academic requirements of the 4 year degree program have been met as well the vacation employment requirements are met to the level prescribed above.

Submission of the Report

Reports must be submitted to the vacation employment supervisor in the Clayton School of IT admin office at Clayton campus. Students must submit their reports at least 12 weeks prior to the date of graduation ceremony to ensure that they are assessed in time for including these student names in the graduation list.

Please include a stamped, self-addressed A4 size envelope so we can return your report to you.

And, a separate Checklist sheet to be included for the admin officer to tick off before accepting the spiral bound documentation from the student:

Spiral bound documentation
Cover sheet
Employer’s certificate completed
Stamped, self-addressed envelope