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.

Placement: January to April 2010

For students completing in Semester 2 2009 or Summer School 2010

Placement: August to October 2010

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; iii) a photo; and iv) 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 info@itls.usyd.edu.au
2. ITLS short lists candidates with reference to their application and academic transcript (which ITLS obtains) 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, Booz & Company, BusNSW, Busways, ComfortDelGro Cabcharge Pty Ltd, Fletcher International Exports, Forest Coach Lines, Hapag-Lloyd, Interfleet Technology, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Shipping Australia Ltd, Transport Workers Union and Veolia Environmental Services.

Fletcher International Exports

** 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: 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: www.immi.gov.au/skilled/regional-employment/ **

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, byproducts and grain. We are also responsible for the movement of up to 8,000 sheep per day into our Dubbo plant for processing. Fletchers are involved in the movement of trucks, trains, roadtrains 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.

Hapag-Lloyd

Details of Hapag-Lloyd placement to follow.

Parsons Brinckerhoff

Details of Parsons Brinckerhoff placement to follow.

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 and Policy Team focused on infrastructure, government, utilities and health. 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)

Saha International

Details of Saha International placement to follow.

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 worlds leading environmental services company. Veolia Environmental Services would also benefit from the program by having a graduate interact with our industry based VLOs 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

"This program is the shortest path to your employment. It welcomes all students, especially suited for international students who do not have residency. Also, I obtained terrific experience of real stock flows, third and fourth party logistics from AWA, which is one of the best technology service providers."
Peng Cui MCom/MPacc, Major in Supply Chain and Logistics Management
Placement: AWA Limited | Current position: Junior Inventory Planner, AWA Limited

"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