Professional Internships – Sydney & Melbourne FAQs
If your question is not answered below then give us a call, alternatively make an appointment to drop by our London office for a chat. There are a range of articles covering different topics, as well as student feedback located on the Student Internship Blog – www.InternOptions.com/blog
Do I need any previous qualifications or experience to be eligible?
Our Professional internship programme in Sydney or Melbourne is designed to get that first bit of really good experience on your CV. So you don’t need any experience already, you just need to either be currently studying or have graduated in the area (or related area) you would like to do your internship
How likely am I to get an internship, is it very competitive?
For each person that applies we will start the internship search new with you. Once we have your application, we take your CV and approach employers that meet the brief you give us and design an internship for you. For this reason you will not be competing against other interns for a position as the position will be designed for you.
Do I need to find my own Accommodation?
Intern Options can help you find accommodation in Sydney before you arrive, this can either be sharing a room with another intern within a house to keep the cost down, or your own room within a shared house, to your own apartment. The majority of accommodation options we provide you include utilities (gas, power, water) and usually broadband internet.
Why can I not get a paid job in Australia?
Even in a good economy it is pretty near impossible to gain a paid job before you arrive in Australia. The main reason for this is the employer will not have met you before they hire you and this makes employers nervous. The reason Intern Options can place into great positions is because our Sydney team can sit down with employers and we have built a reputation with over 1,000 Australian based companies.
How do people normally support themselves? i.e. with a job alongside the placement or is it advised to have money upfront for living costs?
Probably 95% of our students take enough money to cover their living costs with them from home. The internships are full time (37-40 hours per week), as they are designed to give you the best experience over a short period of time. The feedback we have from our interns is that they don’t have enough time to hold down a second job. The ones that do work 4 days per week is that they tend to miss out on the best work as they are not always there. If you wanted to however, you can on the Working Holiday Visa.
What happens if I have already used my Australia Working Holiday Visa?
If you have already used your working holiday visa and you didn’t do 90 days of harvest work during your year, then we would not have a visa to place you on under the Professional Internships programme in Sydney or Melbourne.
Do you have any Internships in Sydney or Melbourne that are paid?
We don’t have any internships under this programme that are paid. We do have a lot of our students who also do the Paid Australia Horticulture Jobs Programme to earn some money and to get a second Australian Working Holiday visa.
If I am not a UK student can I apply?
We have applications from all over the world, but you will need to hold a passport from a country that is eligible for a visa in Australia or New Zealand. For more information on this please see the page Internship – Am I Eligible
How much money would I need to save to do a summer internship?
This is a hard thing to put a number on, as everyone spends money differently. Have a read of the following article which will give you some figures to work with – Sydney & Melbourne Internships – How to Budget
