Students have ranked CCIWA’s internship program among the top 40 in Australia.

CCIWA ranked 32nd in The Australian Association of Graduate Employers’ ‘Top 40 Intern Programs’, released last week.

It’s CCIWA’s first year participating in the AAGE survey, and Student Placement Programs Manager Rebecca Elder says it’s rewarding to have received such great feedback from students.

CCIWA offers internships within the business to support development of skills in key business functions. Managers are connected to talented university students through the Work Integrated Learning program, a service offered free of charge to other WA businesses by CCIWA and Curtin University.

Simone Grogan is in her final year of her journalism and public relations degree. She joined the CCIWA’s content team at the start of Australia’s COVID-19 crisis as a WIL (Work Integrated Learning) student.

She says she’s been proud to work with the team at a critical time for business.

“Being part of our ‘COVID-19′ website launch was probably the biggest achievement and sense of belonging to an organisation that I have felt in my career so far.”

CCIWA also has a commercial business offering, to develop future workforce skills through vacation and graduate programs with partner businesses.

Dylan van der Kwast was part of a summer vacation program run by CCIWA in partnership with Horizon Power.

He worked in the engineering services team, designing and implementing a database for Horizon Power’s protection equipment.

“Through discussing my area of study and collaborating in the workplace I learnt a great deal of practical knowledge that I would never have gained from just university studies.”

“Being able to work alongside experienced engineers and completing tasks to a high standard that benefited the company gave me a great sense of pride in my work.”

Dylan joined Horizon Power as a causal graduate following his internship.