WORK EXPERIENCE REPORTS
Lila Senior - Australia Wildlife conservancy (AWC)
In the holidays I had the privilege to do work experience within the ecology department at Australia Wildlife conservancy (AWC). I choose this employer as I believe both in their mission to reintroduce locally extinct species and am interested in environmental and conservation sciences. I was hoping to learn more about pathways into conservatory sciences and what a day to day job consists of. I learnt many types of surveying from cameras, to traps and telemetry; as well as taxonomy of Australian mammals and the internal workings of NGO’s like AWC.
The highlight of work experience was seeing two numbats and a wedge tail eagle on the first day when looking for stick nest rats’ nests at the mallee cliffs reserve. It made up for the fact that the mallee cliffs were inaccessible for the rest of my time there due to rain. It was refreshing to see native animals within the mallee cliffs devoid from feral/invasive species. AWC’s important work is helping reintroduce native animals back to regions they have bee driven to extinction. I would heavily recombed student to attend work experience here as everyone was friendly welcoming, and I learnt a lot!
Lexie Croke – West Wimmera Health Service
During the June-July school holidays I had the opportunity to do work experience with the West Wimmera Health Service in Nhill. I chose this workplace so I could experience the field of radiology. During my placement I experienced radiography, nursing, allied health assistant, and dietetics. This experience has helped me figure out my pathway to Sonography. It has also surprisingly given me a keen interest in dietetics. I would recommend work experience in medical imaging as there are many hands on sections and it is a genuinely interesting and rewarding career path to follow.
Angel Wilson – Mildura Base Public Hospital
During my work experience at Mildura Base Public Hospital, I really enjoyed seeing how the entire hospital operates behind the scenes. It was eye-opening to learn that it takes far more than just doctors and nurses to keep things running I gained a real appreciation for all the different support roles and teams working together to care for the community. Overall, it was a fantastic opportunity that gave me a much broader view of healthcare careers.
Evelyn Larsen – Collins Booksellers
For my work experience I was at Collins Booksellers, a place I chose because I go there a lot to buy books. I was hoping to learn more about the space I’d never been in from a worker’s perspective. I enjoyed my placement and the menial tasks. My back hurt after the placement, but aside from that I had no issue. I would recommend this place to other students because of the great environment created by the customer base and employees.
Ava Mathieson – Gol Gol Primary School
Doing my work experience at Gol Gol Public School further encouraged my idea of becoming an LSO before going to university. I loved being a helping hand around classrooms, assisting students with their learning, and I think the kids enjoyed it too, especially when I participated in their games. I gained confidence interacting with children and learned the importance of being flexible and organised. I would highly recommend to any students interested in completing a work experience.
Olivia Dimasi – Mildura Osteo
During the holidays, I completed my work experience placement at Mildura Osteo. I chose an osteopathy clinic because I am interested in becoming an osteopath after I graduate and wanted to learn more about the profession. During the week, I learned about common treatments, the skills required in the profession, and the background work involved in running a clinic. The experience exceeded my expectations, as it was far more interactive and involved a wider range of skills than I had originally thought. Overall, the placement improved my understanding of the career and gave me confidence that osteopathy is the right career path for me.
Jonathan Gervasi – The Mildura Gateway
My work placement was at the Gateway. I chose this workplace in particular because I wanted to do work experience in hospitality, and this restaurant is the only one that offered a kitchen role. I was hoping to learn valuable life skills and develop a strong work ethic and hopefully build a good rapport to help me with employment in the future. Would I recommend work experience to other students? Definitely! This is a great way to gain insight about what the workforce is like and know if that is the industry you want to go into.