Professional Career Ready Placement

Is there a business or an organisation which you’d like to work for in the future? If so, you can reach out to them and ask if they are interested in hosting you as a placement student.

This option allows you to tailor your placement to fit your career plans and interests. It’s a good idea to start a few months prior to your targeted placement start date, and you’re welcome to run your ideas past the HASS3010 course coordinator. Also, keep in mind that you’re not confined to our local area. Depending on your circumstances, undertaking a placement in Sydney, the Central Coast or the Upper Hunter is entirely possible. If you’re an Online student, you could try to find a placement closer to where you live or complete a virtual placement. Sydney, the Central Coast or the Upper Hunter is entirely possible. You could also try to find a placement closer to where you live or complete a virtual placement.

Once you’ve found your placement host, you must enrol in the course to gain access to our online placement system SONIA, where you need to complete the Placement Registration Form to get your placement approved.

You can also use current and recent (up to 18 months) work experiences to count as (or towards) your placement hours for career-ready placement. You still need to enrol in HASS3010 and pass all course requirements to pass the course.

More information will be available in the Course Outline and on Canvas. If you need assistance developing your application documents visit UON’s Career Service page.

To support our students, we’ve negotiated a range of placement opportunities at businesses and organisations in our region.

Among our current hosts you’ll find the following:

• Maitland Regional Art Gallery
• Puncher & Wattmann (local literary publisher)
• The University Gallery
• Alliance Française de Newcastle
• GLAMx / Special Collections in the University Library
• Newcastle Writers Festival
• Hunter Writers Centre / Lighthouse Arts

Please don’t contact these organisations independently. To apply for one of the roles, you need to enrol in HASS3010 and take part in the preferencing process during the first four weeks of the Semester. More information will be provided via email and on the Course Canvas site.

Log in to SONIA and select up to five placement opportunities in the order of your preference by the end of week 2. During week 3 and 4 the HASS3010 Course Coordinator will liaise with the placement hosts and allocate students to available placements.

The preferencing process requires that you complete a brief application form and upload your CV. Please take extra care with this as your application may be shared with our external placement hosts.

If you want to organise your own placement, you just need to reach out to your ideal placement host and ask them if they’re interested in taking you on as a placement student for the equivalent of four weeks.

Try to indicate why you’ve chosen to contact them and make sure to attach your up-to-date CV. We find that many organisations in our local community are willing to help, however, you may have to contact a number of organisations before you find a placement.

Once you have organised a placement, it’s time to enrol in the course so you can access SONIA and complete the student Placement Agreement Form. If you experience difficulties with SONIA please contact the Professional Experience team.

Students must cover the course cost of HASS3010 (10 units), but placements are usually free of additional expenses.

Should additional costs be involved, students must meet costs incurred for their experience including payment to an external provider, institution or company if applicable.

Students experiencing financial hardship may be able to access Student Placement Grants to meet certain expenses.

Yes. The course handbook for HASS3010 lists specifics. You will need to prepare a professional development plan and after completing the placement, submit a reflective work placement journal and provide a verbal presentation on the work undertaken while on placement.

The placement must provide a genuine workplace experience relevant to your studies, and it’s important that the host is able to provide supervision and support.

If you are unsure about whether a particular placement opportunity is suitable, please contact the HASS3010 course coordinator for clarification at hciss-placement@newcastle.edu.au.

Students can use their current or past work experiences (paid/unpaid) to count as/towards their placement hours if the work experiences are relevant to the student’s specific program and discipline. All requests will be reviewed and require approval; if approved, students still need to complete all HASS3010 course requirements to pass the course.

• Current work can get approved as placement host, so student complete the placement hours as part of their ongoing employment or volunteer work.
• Past work experiences can be used to get placement hours waived or reduced by submitting a waiver request including evidence of the work experiences and sign off from past supervisor (pending approval).