Are you looking to work in your field of study? Thinking of internships to get through the doors of corporate world?  Are you wondering how you can get through visa restrictions, if you are an international student?

Then this article will guide you to the right place.

As an international student, it is sometimes hard to find the work placements while studying. This is due to the working restrictions you have on your visa.

I remember very well, after I got my first part time corporate job as an Accounts clerk, I got many other offers from various good organisations. After going through all the selection process, they used to ask me my visa status; there I lost many opportunities just due to work restrictions.

I hated immigration department for a while. That’s a different story now.

I know some of you may have faced or facing the same situation during your study program. Don’t worry?

There are various internship opportunities available to international students to improve skills and knowledge practically.

Internship is a program that helps students to work in a organisation for a short period of time to understand the corporate environment and how their study is implemented in the practical world.

 

Some of the advantages of internships are:

1. Helps you to get experience in your field of study
2. Helps you to gain permanent job after the completion of your internship and degree (depending on your performance and opportunities available)
3. May provide sponsorship opportunities (international students) if you are the right candidate
4. Provides confidence to secure future career opportunities
5. Helps you to understand the corporate work environment while you are studying
6. Exposes you to various areas of the organisation
7. Helps you to obtain great mentor for your career development
8. Great networking opportunity for future career progression

Internships are great way to put your studies into practice. Now-a-days, there are many companies that offer internships or graduate programs

If you are Australian resident or citizen,there are many companies that offer graduate programs or internships. Companies from banking, IT, engineering and Electricity always have graduate programs ready for talented graduates.

My aim is to help international students who have limitation on the work rights. These are the agencies and companies that  offer internships for International students.

 

Australian Internships

This Company provides internships to international students in the field of their study. There are various programs and services offered by this organisation.

 Professional internship program: Non-paid internship offered across Australia in all fields of   study for 6-24 weeks of duration

STEM program: It is designed to graduates from Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics disciplines of study. 12-24 weeks of non-paid internship

Paid Hospitality program: These are paid internship in hospitality sector for 6-12 months in duration

Stipend Internship Program: This is available for students in HR, Marketing and Events for 20-24 weeks. This is paid internship to cover your travel and meal expenses.

Aged and Disability Care Internship program: This internship is within Aged and Disability Care sector. The stipend positions are available for 24 weeks in duration

Working Holiday Internship program: This is designed for those graduates who are on working holiday. This can be paid or unpaid depending on your qualification and experience with a duration of 12-26 weeks.

AI allocates two staff to guide you through the interview process with the hosting organisation for your internship program. These two staff closely monitors your progress and ensures your internship is progressing as defined in the training plan.

There are some charges applicable for providing these services. However, this helps you to get into workplace with right guidance.

 

Grad Connection

Grad Connection is a job portal for new graduates listing all the internships,graduate programs and entry level jobs available within Australia and world wide. This is a very good portal if you have confidence in attending interviews and has good skills in the field of your study.

You can set up free account with Grad Connection to get updates on the job information you wanted.

 

CareerDC

This is another organisation that provides services for fee. As per the website, you have to send your resume to Career DC. Thereafter, discuss your internship requirements with them. Once accepted, fill out an application form and pay the enrolment fee.

Then the company organises an interview with host organisations until you are successfully placed in the internship. Once the internship is finalised, you pay the internship search and placement fee.

 

GTRS

This organisation has competitive internship programs suitable for fresh graduates, international students and recent immigrants to kick start their career in their field of study or experience.

This company claims that they have job ready training available to land a job in less than 60 days.

 

Premium Graduate

Premium graduate is the integrated learning course provider and they offer internships through a structured program.

Their website claims that their 70% of interns were offered ongoing employment after internship and 90% of interns found permanent professional work after the internship. It offers placement services across all capital cities in Australia.

 

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Readygrad

Readygrad is another organisation that offers internship opportunities to international students. Readygrad has partnered with many universities to help students. It also  claims it has about 5,000 host companies that offer jobs as interns.

I read the success stories of students who have already attended on their website; some of them said that they were offered a part time after working as an intern.

It is worth to enquire with Readygrad whether it fits to your needs.

Internships down under

Internships down under provide internship offers to university students, working holiday visa holders and who are looking for work as intern. The internships are offered within various fields ranging from marketing to engineering.

 

Dream internship

This offers you to fill in the form with your details for free and posts to their database for the employers to find you. This organisation also introduces interns to host companies. It also trains students on landing a job with host companies. 

 

It has private employability workshop that costs about $250 but not compulsory. After you fill the form, if any employers likes your profile then you will end up with a job. Otherwise, Dream internship has two programs; 1. Internship program valued at $1500 and 2. Career Development program valued at $1000.

You can choose whichever you want to go with to improve your skills and knowledge to the employer’s preference.

Ribit

 Ribit offers services in a different way and expose you to world of networking. It is a job portal that lists jobs from various companies. Ribit has many startup companies as their host companies. It is a good opportunity for you to be part of a growing company.

You have to sign up for free with them and access their job portal. Once you apply for the role, the website says that you should be prompt in replying to the emails of the recruiters. This has more chances of getting an employment as their clients are quick in employing staff.

One more interesting about Ribit is that has networking events held at various places in Australia. It offers 50% discount to students and this is a great opportunity to meet new start up companies and the young CEOs. You never know, you might end up as Vice President of astart up. So it is a wonderful idea to register yourself and attend events.

 

Grad Australia

This is another exciting job portal for students who are looking for interns. This has jobs offered across the world as interns. This has jobs from top 100 graduate employers of Australia. It is the best opportunity for you to apply and secure internship with a great company.

 

Graduate Opportunities

Graduate Opportunities (GO) provides you with comprehensive information about a wide range of graduate employment opportunities like employers currently seeking graduates, graduate programs, when and how to apply, eligibility requirements and employers contact information. This is one of the good opportunities to understand yourself while studying what employers are looking for and how to prepare yourself. Being pro-active always help to secure a wonderful job. 

 

Bonus tips:

1. If you are recruiting through an agency, ask agency if it is only for internship purposes or any opportunity to extend further.
2. Be proactive in learning new things and understand the environment of the team
3. Try to prove your skills and knowledge within the team you are in. Always try to be a team player.
4. Always look for any temporary opportunities available within the team or other areas of the organisation.
5. Network with other employees and the managers for future career progression.
6. Try to find a good mentor who can help and guide you for your next step in your career. This is a right opportunity for you to secure one.

Conclusion:

From the above, there are free and paid internship programs. You can try yourself for free first and if does not work you have option to go for paid programs. 

All the best in your internship search and let me know if you have tried any of the above and the feedback in the below comments.