Post Graduation Work Experience Program

• About the Program
• Eligibility
• Selection process
• Industry placements
• Feedback from our graduates
• Feedback from our industry partners

About the Program

ITLS offers our students the opportunity to undertake a 12-week full time (minimum 35 hours per week) post graduation work experience placement with one of our industry partners in a transport or logistics and supply chain management related field. This program will increase your employment prospects by giving you real world industry experience. At the end of the program those who perform are provided with an employment reference from the organisation. A weekly stipend of $200 is provided by the organisation who will organise an induction/orientation for the graduate at the beginning of the program and provide ongoing supervision and support throughout the placement. One placement is available per organisation; ITLS will ensure that graduates on placements are able to stay in touch with each other to share their experiences. ITLS also maintains regular contact with our graduates and our industry partners throughout the program.

The post graduation work experience program runs twice per year with 12 week placements starting in January/February (for students completing in Semester 2 or Summer School) and early August (for students completing in Semester 1 or Winter School). Closing dates for applications are in November and July each year.

Eligibility

The program is designed for graduates wishing to gain experience in a transport / logistics and supply chain management related field. All candidates to the program must be prepared to accept a placement with any of the industry partners involved in the program, at the time of application. The program is available to students who have completed ALL the requirements for, and achieved a credit average (65%) in, the Master of Transport Management/Master of Logistics Management or a Master's degree with a major in transport or logistics and supply chain management, at the University of Sydney. Places are awarded on a competitive basis; successful applicants will be those who have an outstanding academic record and excellent communication skills. All graduates must have a valid visa allowing them to work full-time (i.e., 35 hours per week minimum) in Australia for the duration of the program.

Selection process

** Please note that candidates should not tailor their application to any particular placement. Placements are decided on the best match between each candidate's skills and experience and our industry partners' requirements. While a candidate's preference may be taken into account in this matching process, it does not often determine the final placement. ITLS ensures that all placements will be a valuable experience for any logistics/transport graduate and we therefore expect successful candidates to accept the placement offered to them. Please do not apply if you are unwilling to accept this premise of the program. **

The selection process has four stages:

1. Candidates email a written application to ITLS by the advertised due date containing: i) a covering letter describing what benefit they hope to obtain from the program and why they feel they should be selected; ii) a professional resume; and iii) proof of their legal right to work in Australia. Please note that candidates who fail to provide the requested information, or fail to submit their application by the due date, will not be considered.
   Applications should be emailed to r.steel@itls.usyd.edu.au
2. ITLS short lists candidates with reference to their application and academic transcript (which ITLS will obtain) and invites successful candidates to interview at ITLS.
3. Candidates successful at the ITLS interview are short listed by the industry partners and successful candidates invited to interview with selected industry partners.
4. The industry partners indicate to ITLS which candidate(s) they would be willing to offer a placement to and placements are then decided for successful candidates with regard to the preference of the industry partners and, where possible, the candidates' stated preferences. Please note that it may not always be possible to place graduates with their chosen organisation, however, we ensure that all placements will be a valuable experience for any ITLS graduate and therefore we expect each graduate to accept the placement that is offered to them.

Industry placements

Details of current industry placements are listed below. ITLS works continually with our industry partners in transport and logistics and supply chain management to secure quality placements for our graduates. As details are confirmed they will be updated here, so please bookmark this webpage and keep revisiting. Organisations that have previously provided placements in this program include: AWA Ltd, BusNSW, Busways, Hapag-Lloyd, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Shipping Australia Ltd and the Transport Workers Union.

AWA Limited

AWA Limited is an Australian owned company whose core business is Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Home Entertainment technology services. For over 30 years they have supplied field, workshop and logistical services and support to large organisations, ICT vendors, resellers, distributors and outsourcers across Australia. AWA is offering our graduates the opportunity to undertake work experience in one of the following areas: i) Warehousing operations ii) Procurement, planning and distributing of inventories iii) Reverse logistics, researching customer requirements and formulating product improvements; iv). Spare Parts Helpdesk, mapping order and flow and invoice placement.

Booz & Company

Booz & Company - is a leading global management consulting firm, helping the world's top businesses, governments and organisations. With more than 3,300 people in 57 offices around the world, we bring foresight and knowledge, deep functional expertise and a practical approach to building capabilities and delivering real impact. We work closely with our client to create and deliver essential advantage. Booz & Company has strong quantitative and analytic skills and extensive experience in the transportation sector, which spans - aviation, highways, urban transportation, railroads, and maritime operations - and the globe. We consult across all modes of transportation, providing expertise in strategy and policy, operations, organisational design, technology and infrastructure. Our work with government and commercial clients in North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region has given us the global perspective and industry know-how to help transportation companies and regulators meet today's business challenges through strategy-based transformation. Our ability to develop and implement strategic and technological solutions that deliver tangible results sets us apart from the competition.

Booz & Company's transportation staff includes seasoned transit executives; operations and business strategists; design and manufacturing engineers; and safety, reliability, and quality assurance specialists. Our experts in transportation draw on many years of experience in global and local markets throughout the industry. Booz & Company's professionals understand the complex environment and market dynamics in which companies and agencies operate. Working with carriers, shippers, transportation agencies, and other clients, we have developed and implemented strategies for improving every aspect of transportation. Our transportation services include: Supply chain and logistics planning; Transportation strategy, policy and planning; Program management; Organisation and productivity improvements; Economic and financial analyses; Demand forecasting; Engineering and systems integration; Privatisation and contracting strategies; Operations and maintenance; Safety, security and systems assurance; Information technology; Infrastructure and vehicle technology; Technology, development and procurement; and Quality assurance.

Our ongoing work spans all elements of transport from ferries, to rail freight, to road freight, to passenger rail, to ports, and to air. A successful graduate would be highly inquisitive, detail oriented, team focused, and adaptable to a range of data, analysis and presentation settings.

ComfortDelGro Cabcharge Pty Ltd

ComfortDelGro Cabcharge Pty Ltd (CDC) is the largest private bus operator in NSW. Its NSW based subsidiaries Hillsbus, Westbus and Hunter Valley Buses provide passenger transport services to Western Sydney and the Hunter Valley. In 2009, CDC expanded its footprint with the acquisition of the fourth largest bus operator in Victoria increasing CDC to 1,800 employees and a fleet of 1,300 buses establishing CDC as the largest private bus operator in Australia. In 2005, the Westbus Group became part of a joint venture between ComfortDelGro Corporation and Cabcharge Australia. ComfortDelGro is the world's second largest public listed passenger and transport company with a total fleet size of 42,000 vehicles. ComfortDelGro's businesses include bus, taxi, rail, car rental and leasing, in addition to automotive engineering and maintenance services. ComfortDelGro's operations are based in Singapore but they have a significant presence from the United Kingdom to Vietnam, Malaysia and across 14 cities in China. Cabcharge was established in 1976, today the Cabcharge electronic payment system is found in over 96% of Australian taxis, limousines and water taxis. Cabcharge is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and is one of the top 200 companies in Australia.

The successful graduate would be attached to our Planning Department. The Planning Department is the 'think-tank' of the business. It is here that bus routes are designed with the view to optimizing the use of our resources that can be broadly categorized into the drivers, bus fleet and bus depots. CDC is currently going through a very exciting growth phase and the graduate joining us would find himself in the thick of this process. Our Company was awarded around 40% of the 300 Growth Buses that the NSW Government is seeking to deliver over the next 12 months. For CDC, this would entail the establishment of a new bus depot, recruitment of something like 200 staff and the Planning required to transforming 128 buses into successful bus routes serving our customers.

Activities that the graduate will be involved in include:

• Establishing a transport database that may include: Census; journey-to-work; household travel surveys; land-use planning; population density; and population growth projections.
• Reviewing performance of bus routes: Boardings per kilometre; average speed of the service; revenue per kilometre; and dead running.
• Designing a bus network: Basics of designing a bus network.

The graduate would be reporting to our Planning Manager, Mr Stephen Timbrell BEc MTM, who has a breadth and depth of experience in the bus industry. Steve has worked in the private bus industry, with Government owned bus operations (Action Transport and Sydney Buses) as well as the Ministry of Transport, NSW.

Fletcher International Exports

Fletcher International Exports is Australia's largest processor and exporter of sheep and lamb meat. The Dubbo plant moves 75 containers per week of meat, skins, wool, by products and grain. We are also responsible for the movement of up to 8,000 sheep into our Dubbo plant for processing on a weekly basis. Fletchers are involved in the movement of trucks, trains, road-trains and ships, and it would be a great opportunity for the appropriate graduate to gain experience in this range of transport modes all in the one place. We have an on-site holding yard for containers, where they are loaded with our products and then placed on to the back of trucks. They are then taken to our own rail siding where they are loaded onto trains for sending to Sydney to either load onto ships for sending overseas to our customers, or trucking to our Australian customers.

There are many strategic projects that the successful graduate could be involved in. The bulk of their time will be spent in the export department. In the export department there is a marketing department, shipping, documentation, IT, by products and finance department. To ensure the smooth running of these departments we have an annual strategic planning process that is an integral part of our business plan and direction into the future. The successful graduate would be armed with the responsibility of one (or more) of these goals. For example: By-products export register which is an investigation into all of the sheepmeat by-products that are being exported from Australia. The graduate would conduct a gap analysis of our competitors and a feasibility study into packing these items. This would involve investigating new export markets, costing on yields and potential Capex requirements, and return on investment.

** Please note that this placement is in Dubbo in regional NSW. University of Sydney accommodation is available in Dubbo through the School of Rural Health (at a budget price) for the successful candidate for this placement, please see: http://www.dubbo.med.usyd.edu.au/about/accommodation.php The accommodation is with other students and pastoral care will be provided by the School of Rural Health. This is a unique opportunity to gain valuable logistics/transport experience in regional Australia. International students may be interested in the opportunities for migration for those migrants willing to work in regional areas of Australia, see: http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/regional-employment/ However, due to the location, and although it is a great opportunity, graduates will not be required to accept a placement at this organisation**

Forest Coach Lines

Forest Coach Lines is a metropolitan bus operator on the Northern Beaches and North Shore of Sydney. They operate commuter services, dedicated school services and private charter services. The company has been owned and managed by the Royle family since 1930. Forest employ over 100 staff and transports over 5 million passengers every year on their services. Forest has recently redesigned their network of bus routes with the implementation of new services along Strategic Corridors and enhanced services through existing corridors. The project will involve substantial surveying of both users and non-users of Bus services in the network to determine demand drivers. The user survey component will focus on the awareness and usage of alternate ticket types and applicable discount incentives supported by a detailed analysis and review of current ticketing. The non-user survey will be focused on the new routes and the awareness and perceptions of same to develop new ways in which patronage can be built by marketing to new customers that are non users of public transport services in Sydney. The study would best suit those that relate well to others and have very good communication skills.

The Interfleet Group

Interfleet Technology is an international rail consultancy group. Founded in 1994, Interfleet provides services strategic business consulting services and technical support in the areas of rolling stock and railway systems engineering.

International Expertise: Interfleet's business is grounded in the expertise of its people. It has over 600 staff, operating from a network of offices in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States. The diverse skills and experience of our people combine to deliver a comprehensive service.

Global Client Base: Interfleet has a unique global reach, presence and track record, working with governments, regulators and international development agencies as well as private clients such as banks, investors manufacturers and maintainers, constructors, operators and owners.

Unrivalled Expertise: Interfleet's mission is to enhance its clients' business success by applying unrivalled expertise in rail technology and strategic solutions. It aims to lead the industry in its thinking and be a force for continuous improvement. Interfleet empowers its team with the knowledge, tools and confidence to master the challenges of a constantly changing global industry.

Positions Offered

As an ITLS graduate you will be seconded to the Strategic Services Leadership Group. We are targeting two opportunities and will consider applicants for either role depending on skills and experience.

Shadow Operator - Sydney Metro

You will support the Interfleet's Shadow Operator's Business Specification Manager and the Customer Experience Manager conclude analysis of customer requirements for Sydney's new CBD Metro. You will ensure that the Metro's performance is monitored and measured effectively through meaningful KPIs.

Your skills and experience will include:

• strong knowledge of passenger transport
• an ability to predict and model customer behaviour
• familiarity with spreadsheet analysis and modelling

Strategic Services - Interfleet

You will be asked to support the Business Leader, Strategic Services deliver one or more bids for strategic consultancy services in Australia or potentially abroad. You will undertake analysis of each bid opportunity and develop strategies to meet the clients' requirements, developing bid material, analysis and recommendations.

Your skills and experience will include:

• strong knowledge of passenger transport generally and rail particularly
• strategic analysis
• an ability to present findings effectively

PricewaterhouseCoopers

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is the world's largest professional services firm. They provide industry-focused assurance, tax and legal and advisory services for public and private clients in four areas: corporate accountability; risk management; structuring, mergers and acquisitions; and performance and process improvement. PwC has an economics group focused on infrastructure, government and utilities. This PwC Group is offering our graduates the opportunity to undertake work experience in one or more projects on infrastructure economic analysis. Examples of projects include: i) Economic benefit cost analysis to determine preferred options for major infrastructure investments (ports, toll roads, railways); and ii) Analysis of reform options for transport policies to improve customer outcomes, sustainability and value for money. **Please note that PwC runs a separate graduate recruitment program and is not able to offer direct employment to graduates at the end of this work experience program. Read more information on the PwC Economics and Strategy group. (PDF)

Shipping Australia Limited

Shipping Australia Limited (SAL) is a peak shipping industry association representing 41 member shipping agents as well as 38 corporate associate members that supply services to the shipping industry. In terms of our shipping line members they would be involved with over 80% of Australia's container, car and cruise trade and over 50% of our bulk and break bulk trade. The headquarters are in Sydney with State committees supported by part-time secretaries in each of the mainland States. SAL is involved with all types of shipping but is also heavily involved in trade facilitation and logistics on the basis that the efficient movement of cargo will prevent delays to the vessels themselves and as such SAL has been actively involved with ports and connections to and from ports. It is an exciting area for research and one of great importance to the economy of Australia.

The project for the graduate placed with SAL will be to assess the results of a SAL member survey on comparative port costs between Australia and a number of specified overseas ports in relation to ship based charges for all types of vessels split into various cost categories including separating out towage and pilotage costs. The format for that survey is currently being developed but hopefully the results would be available by the end of August. The graduate will also assist SAL in drafting the terms of reference for a major investigation e.g., by the Productivity Commission into reviewing Australia's container productivity in its major capital city ports over the last ten years, and to prepare background data on the current commercial land valuation in ports rather than port zoned land. The graduate would also conduct statistical analysis on operational data from a major container terminal in Port Botany over the last six months and contribute to the discussion of its implications. SAL are happy to take this opportunity to assist the graduate to gain a better appreciation of the maritime industry in Australia and the graduate will attend an introduction to the maritime industry course which is a two day course conducted by Mr Robert Dick.

The Graduate will:

• Be based in Shipping Australia's Sydney office and have full use of all resources available there.
• Where necessary for the project, assist in conducting interviews with member companies of SAL and other parties.
• Research other appropriate sources of information relevant to the study.
• Undertake port visits where required to gather information. Any port visits will be in the company of an SAL manager.
• Be assisted and supervised by SAL managers throughout the progress of the project.
• Attend an in-house course 'Introduction to the Maritime Industry' presented by SAL over two days.
• Be competent with MS Word and Excel.

Transport Workers Union

The Transport Workers Union of Australia (TWU) has been in existence as a trade union for over 120 years. Currently they represent 85,000 members throughout Australia in the transport industry. The union covers men and women working in aviation, oil, waste management, gas, road transport, passenger vehicles and freight logistics. The TWU has been instrumental in designing the nature of the Australian transport industry, from training and industrial relations to being the watchdog on environmental and social issues that impact transport workers and the community. The TWU is offering graduates the opportunity to undertake work experience in the TWU National Office. The role would predominantly be a junior research position where applicants will get a chance to apply their knowledge of the supply chain and supply chain management as well as work closely with people who have been in the transport industry for decades. Those interested in transport policy development, supply chain management and industrial relations would be best suited for the position. Previous applicants of this program have gone on to full time positions at the TWU.

Veolia Environmental Services

Veolia Environmental Services (VES) is a world leader in waste collection and treatment and is the largest waste management company in the world. With more than 105,000 employees throughout the world the company provides waste management services to 80 million people in 32 countries on five continents. Veolia Environmental Services has waste management contracts with 4,000 municipalities, and 801,000 industrial and commercial customers worldwide. In 2008, Veolia collected 46 million tonnes of waste and treated 67 million tonnes of waste in 850 facilities; VES also recovered / recycled 12 million tonnes of this waste for beneficial use. Veolia Environmental Services Australia has recently implemented a propriety logistical electronic based programme, PTS (paperless truck systems) within our fleet of vehicles. To compliment this new system we have developed new positions within the Operational areas of our business, Veolia Logistics Officers (VLO). PTS is complemented by SAP front office software and ultimately revolutionises the way we can operate our business. This system allows live time allocation of work to vehicles along with in - vehicle processing of confirmation for work performed by the operator. The benefits we are seeking to achieve include but are not limited to: direct allocation of service schedules to vehicles; route optimization; live real time vehicle tracking for client services; improved business KPI reporting and review/action; and streamlining of internal administration process for admin billing purposes.

The successful PGWEP graduate would be involved in the direct operational process of the business with alignment of work schedules of the fleet as well as the reporting and review of daily/weekly/monthly KPI reporting. Along with these tasks they would also be involved in the process of route improvement and optimisation. With operations in Sydney, Hunter and the Illawarra Region this is a unique opportunity to work within the world's leading environmental services company. Veolia Environmental Services would also benefit from the program by having a graduate interact with our industry based VLO's and sharing his or her experience in logistics analysis, route optimisation and financially based KPI reporting/ review. VES would be looking for an individual who is self driven to perform and excel as well as having the desire to improve the service we offer our broad range of clients. Opportunities for permanent placement are available within our organisation for the right persons.

Feedback from our graduates

"The program gives you the chance to gain work experience in the transport and logistics field with well-known and international companies. It is a good opportunity to build up a personal network. You can prove yourself and you may even get a permanent employment."
Michael Cohrs MLM
Placement: Hapag Lloyd

"PricewaterhouseCoopers, Australia's leading consultancy firm, is absolutely a fantastic place to kick off my career. The ultimate challenges from wide range of consultancy projects rapidly developed my analytical skills as well as professional business working style. The internship program and in particular the valuable opportunity of PricewaterhouseCoopers (Advisory - Economics) are highly recommended to all ITLS current and future students."
Kendrew Fung MLM/MCom
Placement: PricewaterhouseCoopers | Current position: Contractor, PricewaterhouseCoopers

"This program allows graduates to integrate knowledge and skills learnt from academic studies at ITLS with real work experience in a transport and logistics field."
Ling Hu MLM
Placement: TWU | Current position: Researcher, TWU

"ITLS' Post Graduation Work Experience Program is definitely a rewarding and valuable experience for everyone. It helps us to consolidate our knowledge with the real world. In addition, this program is also providing us a short path to obtain employment opportunities in the transport and logistics industry. I would like to recommend this program to anyone who is willing to dedicate themselves to the transport and logistics industry."
Meng Hua MLM/MCom
Placement: BusNSW | Current position: Research Officer, BusNSW

"It is a good chance for us to get practical working experience in logistics/transportation industry, where we can utilize our abilities and knowledge learnt in the university. It also gives us the chance to know our shortages in the practical world before we start formal employment."
Li Jiana MLM/MIB
Placement: Busways | Current position: Contracts Administrator, Busways

"This program allows me to blend my theoretical knowledge with real world working experience that provides inestimable benefits for my future career development. It is also impossible to resist the temptation of this wonderful opportunity because of three critical reasons: i) a challenge task which allows me to learn new things and build up new abilities; ii) thoughtful supports from friendly colleagues and open-minded bosses; iii) a possible further employment opportunity."
Minyan Jin MLM/MIB
Placement: Shipping Australia Limited

"This program provided me with a platform; prepared me for my transition into a full time job after study. I definitely recommend any of you to try it. You won't regret it!"
Tanya Xiaoya Wu MLM/MIB
Placement: PricewaterhouseCoopers | Current position: Bank of China

"The program gave me a great opportunity to throw myself into a professional environment. What's more, the program gave me the opportunity to think as a participant in the business, not as a student any more."
Yueming Yin MCom/MLM
Placement: AWA Ltd | Current position: Dispatch Team, AWA Ltd

Feedback from our industry partners

"This program gives graduates a chance to apply their studies and theoretical knowledge to the workforce and gain industry experience in their field of study. The program also gives employers an opportunity to have their business operations viewed from another perspective"
Brad Cooper, Busways

"This program offers: i) the opportunity to fulfil a task for which resources might not otherwise be available; ii) assessment of a potential future employee without commitment; iii) practical application of university qualifications in a commercial environment; and iv). low cost means of achieving some or all of the above."
Robert Dick, Shipping Australia Limited

"The quality of candidate ITLS provided resulted in AWA placing the candidate in a logistics position."
John Douglas, AWA Limited

"The Transport Workers Union would like to take this opportunity to thank the ITLS for organising the recent graduate internship programme. The candidate we selected for the internship ended up being a valuable member of our research team and we have subsequently offered her a position at the TWU. The Transport Workers Union is always interested in giving experience and knowledge to those who wish to work in the transport industry and urge other transport companies to do the same. The ITLS programme is a great way to ensure knowledge and skills are passed on to the next generation of transport workers."
Richard Priest, Transport Workers Union