Work Placements (Information for Employers)

We welcome partnerships with industry and engineering companies to offer work placement opportunities to our engineering students.

Work placements are a compulsory component for the Bachelor of Engineering with Honours degree and provide valuable experience to both the student and the work place supervisor as a mentor.

The student should ideally be assigned to a project, participate in the application of engineering, and receive appropriate training needed to complete assigned tasks. A work placement must last for a minimum of 400 hours and normally takes place between November and February. Students are typically paid anywhere from minimum wage and higher, and are very enthusiastic about their work placement opportunities.

Benefits of hosting a Waikato Engineering student

• Your student will be carefully selected with the help of our Work Integrated Learning Team.
• The opportunity to work with enthusiastic students who are keen to work and learn.
• It will give you the chance to preview potential future employees.
• Develop a close association with the University of Waikato staff and resources.
• Receive a technical report on your business on the work completed by the placement student.
• Embrace the opportunity to contribute to New Zealand’s future by training and guiding the next generation of engineers.

What's next?

If you are interested in hosting a student, our Work-Integrated Learning Team will meet with you to gain a thorough understanding of your company culture, skill requirements for the placement, and answer any questions you may have.

We will assist you with the recruitment process to ensure we place a student who is well suited to your company. You, as the employer, have the final say regarding any work placement offer, and you will organise contracts, start dates, agreed pay and projects.

Throughout the recruitment process and during the work placement, our Work-Integrated Learning Team is here to help and ensure everything runs successfully.

Contact us for more information: hecs-wil@waikato.ac.nz