Professional Internship Experience
(COMM5022)
Develop your professional capabilities, apply your academic knowledge and gain valuable workplace experience through an internship.
Professional Internship Experience provides an opportunity to apply your academic knowledge in a real workplace, strengthen your professional capabilities and gain practical experience aligned with your career goals.
The course combines a professional placement with academic workshops designed to support your professional development. Through goal setting, structured reflection and workplace learning, you'll gain a deeper understanding of your professional strengths, identify areas for improvement and build capabilities that will support your future career.
You'll complete a minimum of 120 hours with an approved host organisation, either through a professional placement or a defined project role.
There are two ways to complete your internship:
UNSW-sourced internships: Apply for opportunities advertised through myCareer Manager with organisations seeking UNSW Business School students.
Self-sourced internships: Find your own internship and register it with Career Accelerator for approval.
Employers actively seek graduates with industry experience, making the Professional Internship Experience invaluable, whatever your next career steps are. Whether in Australia or overseas, internships help you stand out in a competitive job market.
Why choose Professional Internship Experience?
Gain valuable experience while earning academic credit towards your degree
Strengthen professional capabilities through practical experience and structured reflection
Build confidence in your professional strengths and prepare for your future career
Course highlights
Gain practical experience: Complete at least 120 hours with an approved host organisation, applying your academic knowledge in a professional setting.
Develop professional capabilities: Strengthen your communication, problem-solving and other workplace skills through practical experience.
Understand the workplace: Gain insight into organisational culture, professional expectations and how businesses operate.
Reflect on your development: Participate in academic workshops that support professional goal setting, reflection and connecting workplace experience with academic learning.
Prepare for your future career: Identify your professional strengths, recognise areas for further development and build confidence in navigating workplace challenges.
My internship with Circana was a transformative journey filled with challenges, learnings, and growth. I worked on key projects like developing a proposal for change management and diving deep into CPG client insights, refining my skills in data visualisation, storytelling, and analysis.
I learned the value of attention to detail and the importance of stepping out of my comfort zone. The lessons I’ve learned, especially in data-driven insights and strategic thinking, will stay with me as I navigate the next steps in my career. I am excited for what the future holds!
Yash Ojha
Master of Commerce (Extension) | Term 3 2024
Choose your experience
UNSW-sourced placement
Career Accelerator sources internship exclusively for the Professional Internship Experience. You'll find these opportunities on the myCareer Manager job board.
Explore internships from start-ups to large corporations across various industries and apply for roles that interest you.
New openings are posted regularly, so create a job alert to stay up to date with the latest opportunities.
Self-sourced placement
If you've secured your dream internship, you can register it to participate in this course.
To be eligible for course credit, self-sourced internships need to:
- be relevant to your degree
- align with the academic term dates
- offer a minimum of 120 hours of work during the term.
- How to apply
- Course essentials
How to apply
To enrol in this course, you must first secure an internship. You can either self-source one externally or browse the myCareer Manager job board and apply for positions that interest you.
UNSW-Sourced Placement
Did you find & accept your internship offer through myCareer Manager?
- Check your UNSW email and follow the instructions provided with next steps.
- After completing these steps you will be enrolled in the course by Career Accelerator
Self-Sourced Placement
Did you find and accept your internship offer externally?
- Log in to myCareer Manager.
- Select Search then Work Integrated Learning (WIL) List.
- Click on Self-Sourced Internships. Complete and submit your application.
- Wait for your application to be reviewed.
- If your internship is approved, you will be enrolled into the course by Career Accelerator.
Apply now
Submit your application through myCareer Manager.
If you would like assistance and advice with your internship application and writing your resume, you can book a one-to-one coaching session with a Career Accelerator career coach.
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Term Student Submission Deadline UNSW Term Teaching Dates* Internship Date Requirements
(Latest start date and earliest end date)
Summer 2027 13 December 2026 4 January 2027 - 5 February 2027 Start by 8 January 2027 and finish no earlier than 1 February 2027 Term 1 2027 14 February 2027 15 February 2027 - 23 April 2027 Start by 26 February 2027 and finish no earlier than 12 April 2027 Term 2 2027 30 May 2027 31 May 2027 - 6 August 2027 Start by 11 June 2027 and finish no earlier than 26 July 2027 Term 3 2027 12 September 2027 13 September 2027 - 19 November 2027
Start by 24 September 2027 and finish no earlier than 8 November 2027 *Important:
Unpaid internships cannot start or finish outside of the UNSW Term Teaching dates. Paid internships do not have this restriction.
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For students who require a visa to study at UNSW; please be aware if you complete your Professional Internship Experience placement outside of Australia it does not count as an in-person course and some student visas require you to take a minimum number of in-person courses each term. Please consider your visa requirements before applying.
If you have questions or are unsure about how this might affect your visa to study in Australia, please see student visa information for international students.
If you plan to do a placement outside of Australia, please complete the travel approval process outlined below.
Travel approval process
- Read through the pre-departure tutorial web page.
- Enrol in the pre-departure tutorial Moodle using your zID.
- Enrolment key: UNSW_NCP2021
- Complete the following modules:
- Introduction
- In Person Learning Abroad
- Preparing to Go Abroad
- While Abroad
- After Learning Abroad
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Search for roles on myCareer Manager.
Each internship is unique, so it's important to find the right fit. Tailor your resume, cover letter, and other documents to each role to boost your chances of landing the position.
Book a one-to-one coaching session with a Career Accelerator career coach for advice on your applications.
Accepting offers
Successful candidates will be notified at their UNSW email address and have 2 business days to accept the offer via myCareer Manager. Offers that aren’t accepted by the deadline, will automatically go to the next placed candidate.
Once you’ve accepted your internship, you’ll be directed to apply for the course.
If you’re interviewing for other positions, it’s good practice to inform other organisations you’re no longer available.
Declining offers
If you choose to decline an offer, contact the organisation directly via email to thank them for the opportunity.
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6 units of credit
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Summer Term, Term 1, Term 2, Term 3
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- Be a postgraduate student.
- Be enrolled at UNSW Business School.
- Have completed 24 units of credit by the commencement of the course.
- Have room in your degree for this course.
- Be in good academic standing.
- Have completed Career Accelerator: Essentials.
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This course is WAM neutral.
This course is graded on a Satisfactory (SY)/Unsatisfactory (FL) basis. Please refer to the course outline for detailed assessment information.
The jobs board for this course made applying for a role incredibly easy, letting me connect with UNSW approved companies in just a few clicks. It took out the stress of sending out random applications and made the whole process so much smoother.
Yash Ojha
Master of Commerce (Extension) | Term 2 2024
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