Programmed for success ...

Issue 19 | Autumn/Winter 2007

Report: John Watts
Photography: Melissa Di Ciero and Greg Ford

Sonya Goldenberg, Yohei Niimi and Damian Keeghan.

Sonya Goldenberg laughs and says she had to overcome some initial apprehension about being part of an industry-based learning program in the information technology sector.

In her third year of a Bachelor of Business Information Systems at Monash University, Ms Goldenberg, 19, worked at global information technology and consulting company Accenture in Melbourne last year.

"I was a bit nervous at first starting my placement in such a new environment, and wasn't sure what to expect from my first experience of full-time work," she says.

"But I had good guidance from my supervisors and it was mostly a matter of taking some initiative and starting to get to know my role before I became comfortable."

While at Accenture, Goldenberg was employed as an analyst on a major telecommunications project.

And despite her initial reservations, she is upbeat about the positives of industry-based learning.

"I definitely felt like I was getting the most out of my placement because the team leaders treated me as any other analyst on the project," she says.

When asked about the benefits of IBL compared to more traditional forms of learning, Goldenberg weighs in with positives for the former.

"IBL has been a completely different kind of learning - the hands-on approach of completing real deliverables is a great motivator."

Fellow student Damian Keeghan, 20, also in his third year of a Bachelor of Business Information Systems, agrees with Goldenberg's take on the situation.

Keeghan, who was also placed at Accenture last year, worked as a design analyst and occasional technical adviser.

"There were many challenges, especially transitioning from a 12-hour week at uni to a 40-hour week with Accenture. You were working full-time and you were seen as another employee there.

"Each challenge was overcome by the support of my team members and managers. I was thrown into the deep end from the very start ... and survived because of the help around me, and from the preparation provided to us by the course."

Mr Franco Leonor, who managed Goldenberg and Keeghan's placement at the company, says one of the main challenges faced by the students is being able to "fit in and make a difference among professionals with more experience".

"The flipside to this is the fact that the trainee benefits from a very real and accelerated learning process about employment, and more importantly themselves," he says.

Mr Yohei Niimi, who was Ms Goldenberg's immediate supervisor at Accenture, says as well as benefits to students, there are positives for companies in having IBL trainees who often bring fresh ideas to the workplace.

Mr Ian Martin, lecturer in Business Information Systems at Monash University, who oversees the program, says it has many pluses for students.

Industry partners contribute more than a million dollars per year to fund IBL scholarships and the administration of the program at Monash.

Companies involved include Accenture, ADP Employer Services, AXA, Deloitte, Coles Group, GE Money, IBM, National Australia Bank and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Students receive a scholarship of $36,000 over three years and work full-time for two 22-week placements, one in second year and one in third year. They can apply to join the program before they start the first year of the Bachelor of Business Information Systems and are selected based on interviews with the program's industry partners.

"IBL students have the opportunity to apply and reinforce the education and skills developed at university in a business environment," Martin says. "At the same time the placements extend the students, develop new skills and prepare them for the graduate workforce.

"One hundred per cent of our IBL students are recruited into graduate positions prior to completing their degrees with our industry partners and other leading organisations such as Ernst and Young, Computer Sciences Corporation and ANZ Bank."

Martin says one of the biggest issues for people running the program after almost 20 successful years is not how it functions, but trying to get a correlation between the number and calibre of students presenting and demands of business.

"The challenge, in the current environment of lower enrolments in IT degrees across Australia compared with a few years ago, is to attract enough high performing students to meet the needs of our industry partners and the business IT market generally."