SUMMER OF TECH 2011

We’ve been connecting big-time with the Wellington Engineering community recently, and I thought it’d be a good idea to capture some of the opportunities for students to plug into local Wellington networks & events.  There’s a healthy amount of professional development and industry networking happening already, so SoE students jump on in there!

1. IPENZ

• This website has a huge amount of information for engineers, with an emphasis on Civil/Structural professionals.  Not to mention networking & up-skilling opportunities – check out their event calendar here.  You can become a student member for free.
• The Futureintech initiative has some handy info like a list of scholarships, and lists of employers, too.
• They also have a partnership with a recruitment agency and have job listings on their website here.

2. IET

• Big thanks to an SoT2010 student for putting me in touch with these guys.  IET also run a bunch of events locally which may be a great chance to network with potential employers & building your wider industry contacts. 
• IET also has a reduced membership for students – check it out here.
• There’s also a global discussion forum where you can virtually connect with a much wider industry knowledge centre.

3. ANZAC Engineers

• This site is run by a Wellington-based recruitment agency that do things a bit differently.  Most recruiters work in a reactive way, which means that you as a job-seeker looks through job listings and sends off your CV.  ANZAC Engineers work more like Summer of Tech – you create an online profile, and employers can pro-actively look for you.
• Since you’ve gone to all the trouble of updating your CV for SoT2010, might be worth signing up with ANZAC Engineers, too (its free!)

Events & networking opportunities like this are a great way to get connected and tap into the un-advertised job market.  As we’ve talked about in Bootcamps many times already, often its not WHAT but WHO you know that opens up career pathways.  As much as we’d love to guarantee an internship for everyone, Summer of Tech is not going to be able to find jobs for all students.  Through our bootcamp series, we’re doing our best to help you put your best foot forward to employers, and we reckon the skills you’ll learn and the contacts you make will help you on the way to a successful career (whether you’re one of the successful SoE Interns this summer, or not).

So, the key message here is: the more you can actively network your way into industry, and thus into a job… the better!