What is Unpaid Work Experience?
Work experience is a type of on the job training that is not a requirement of your studies. It allows you to enhance your learning in an organisational environment to gain a competitive edge in the job market.
By spending time learning in a workplace, you will discover more about workplace processes and communication, build your interpersonal skills and access a new professional network.
Work experience can be paid (where you become an employee) or it may be an unpaid work experience.
There are some strict conditions around unpaid work experience. These experiences need to be focussed on learning and aligned to your area of study. There are also restrictions on how many days you can engage in unpaid work experience.
For more information please review the Unpaid Work Experience Conditions factsheet.
I’ve been offered unpaid work experience, what do I do now?
- Complete the Unpaid Work Experience Application Form Request (see below).
- After completing the request, the UQ Unpaid Work Experience Form will be emailed to you as a PDF document.
- Complete and sign the PDF form, including host organisation details, and then have the host sign the form.
- Submit the completed form to your School Administration Office except for:
- students studying in the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, email the form to careers@bel.uq.edu.au
- students studying in the Faculty of Science, submit your completed form via the Self Placement submission link on your InPlace dashboard
- students studying in the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology email the form to employability@eait.uq.edu.au
- Your application will then be considered for approval and further advice provided to you.
If approved, you will have access to a range of insurances for the time you are at the place of work. This is often a requirement of organisations offering Unpaid Work Experience.
If you have any other questions, contact your School Administration Office or Faculty Employability/Careers Team and they will be able to assist you further.
Students who are under 18 years of age at time of commencing work experience must contact Student Enrichment and Employability Development and discuss their circumstances.