Keen to get a taste of your future career while you’re studying?
At UWA, all courses have opportunities for internships and Work Integrated Learning (WIL), giving you the chance to apply your knowledge in real workplace settings while building your skills and connections.
Hear from one of our students, Sydney Stokes, on her journey at UWA and experience with one of UWA’s partners the Western Force.
Sydney is in her final year of studying a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Business Management and Marketing. When we spoke with Sydney, she shared with us that her favourite aspect of her degree is the “flexibility of unit structures that allows students to shape their degree to areas that interest them within their field."
Sydney also loves her tutorial sessions at UWA, and mentioned that “it's that moment where it all clicks, and you get to have that real social interaction with other people who are also interested in the same areas that you are.”
Over the summer holidays in 2023, Sydney had the opportunity to undertake a work integrated learning placement at the Western Force. Taking on a role which aligned with her studies, she also developed a curiosity for areas she had not considered prior, such as sponsorships and communications.
Sydney gained invaluable experience whilst gaining credits towards her degree at the same time. “Engaging, immersive and exciting,” is how Sydney describes her time spent at the Western Force.
My initial expectation was to have quite a hands-off role completing background tasks, but instead I was quickly brought into discussions of what I wanted to get out of my time at the Western Force and we created an action plan of how I would rotate through different areas of the business.”Sydney Stokes, UWA Bachelor of Business student
Sydney worked across various projects during her time at Western Force, such as researching potential partnership opportunities and working with the team’s data analyst to understand how to better target their marketing efforts.
The types of projects I did really had a flow on effect to each area I moved through, so in a sense a I got to experience how the work I was doing in one area would be used in the next.”
Not only did Sydney intern at the Western Force, but she was offered a paid position too. “One of the biggest highlights working at the Western Force was being able to see how the work I was doing behind the scenes with the team came to life on game days. That to me was an extremely rewarding experience.”
Huw Lock, the Business Development Manager at the Western Force, has expressed how pleased he is with Sydney’s work and other WIL students from UWA. “We decided to take on students from the WIL program with UWA, as we’ve had a really good experience of working with UWA as our major partner in this area. We’ve had some quality interns that have come through the program and added real value to the program that we do here.”
“Ask questions” is Sydney’s main piece of advice for students considering WIL opportunities. “You aren’t expected to know everything, and an internship is a learning experience.”
UWA’s vast industry connections provides students with the opportunity to obtain practical experience and learn in organisations such as the Western Force.
Find out more about UWA's Work Integrated Learning Program, and start building your career pathway today!
