COURSEWORK
Get ready for your experience of an Australian workplace with 32 weeks of workplace skills building
Course Composition
The 32 week coursework component of the Professional Year is broken up into eight topics. Each topic is delivered over four weeks:
- Two weeks of classroom sessions
- One week of internship preparation (interviews, CV writing and digital portfolio development)
- One week filled with workplace simulated activities.
Professional Year job preparation topics
- Australian workplace culture – Designed to provide both an overview and insight to the expectations of appropriate, safe working behaviours in the Australian context. Combines practical skill development through activity and professional knowledge to demonstrate competence to a level of understanding and applying safe work practices.
- Working with diversity/Making a presentation – This combines the practical skills development required for professional presentations. The trainer will show you industry models to ensure a successful presentation every time. Integrated to this module is the subject of diversity and how to approach the many people who create the Australian workplace.
- Customer service and research skills – This topic allows you to take a deep dive on the industry of your choice to understand the winning strategies, understand the drivers of customer service in that industry and be equipped to make an outstanding impression for employment success.
- Networking skills – It provides a practical, professional outcome for any emerging professional, with the topic creating opportunity to leverage industry exposure. A wide range of individual techniques are explored, both digital and personal, so that the emerging professional can pick and choose the ones that fit their natural style.
- Business meetings – We help you hone meeting skills in a safe environment with constructive and immediate feedback regarding professional practice and expectations. This will ensure that you can use the suite of tools appropriately and with confidence is vital to deliver respectful, professional practice and drive outcomes.
- Workplace relationships – Aside from having specific professional knowledge and skills of your industry, being able to work effectively with people is vital to the success of a professional. The workshop includes a review of common personality insights and recognition of observable behaviours to quickly assist with building trust.
- Innovation skills – Innovation is not something that just happens, it is a refined skill that is practiced. Learning the skills to apply is shared in this topic and with practice and application the emerging professional will be able to stay abreast of, challenge and cultivate new innovative ideas.
- Employability skills^ – Taking each of the components from the program, this topic is now ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the emerging professional own toolkit, skills and connections to build a successful employment and career platform upon.
^Employability skills is 2 weeks only.
Your coursework is competency-based requiring you to complete assessments. We use a range of assessments including:
- Demonstration/Presentation
- Case Study – Fault Finding
- Written Test – Quiz/Short Answer
- Report/Workplace Document/Research
Program enhancements for Professional Year program participants
Simulated workplace training
The simulated workplace requires you to attend class dressed appropriately for the workplace. Business attire is compulsory during these sessions. Your trainer will become your workplace manager where you will complete work related activities that utilise educational technology tools. These tools include video conferencing, infographics, video editing software, google apps, screencast development and blog creation tools.
These activities are designed to build your employability skills (e.g. communication, problem solving, teamwork and digital literacy skills) required in a contemporary Australian work environment.
Throughout your internship preparation and workplace simulation component, you will develop a digital portfolio of practical projects, showcasing your office skills from your work related activities. Build your digital brand by choosing your best projects to show future employers on your very own, personalised website.
Access to LinkedIn’s online training platform – LinkedIn Learning
For the duration of your enrolment, all Professional Year participants are granted unlimited access to LinkedIn’s online training platform LinkedIn Learning. Time will be allocated during internship preparation or simulated workplace sessions to access LinkedIn Learning.
LinkedIn Learning will give you access to various learning programs to build skills in:
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Project
- AutoCAD
- MYOB and
- Quicken
With more than 5,000 high quality software, creative, and business skills courses available; we encourage you to complete as many of them as possible to post your completion certificates on LinkedIn and continue your professional development outside of the classroom.
Exclusive resources for Professional Year in Engineering
Students completing a Professional Year in Engineering can take their capabilities to the next level and build their Australian network with the largest professional engineering body in Australia.
- Complimentary Engineers Australia Membership, activated a few months after enrolling in the PYP.
- Access to fantastic resources with EA On Demand training platform and content. The site includes high quality courses on topics ranging from technical skills, career development and becoming a chartered engineer. It also includes YEA (Young Engineers Australia) CPD Series which consists of webinar recordings that are relevant to graduate engineers. Webinars and content are available for students to watch at their own convenience.
- Access to the mandatory Starting in the Australian Engineering Workplace EEA Online training course to help students master the core workplace skills needed to be a valuable contributor to a team and transition from student to professional working engineer.
Bring your own device
With an increased use of educational tools throughout the ACAP Professional Year coursework, enrolled participants will need to bring their own device (BYOD e.g. laptops, tablets) during training sessions in order to fulfil work-simulated activities.
Minimum requirement:
- Operating System: Windows 8 Home Edition or later
- Processor: Intel Core i3 / AMD 2.0 Ghz or better
- RAM: Minimum 4 GB, recommended 8GB
- Hard Drive: 128GB SSD (256GB SSD recommended if not using Cloud storage)
- Display: 13 inch full HD (1920 x 1080) with a built-in webcam
- WiFi: 802.1x compliant
- USB Headsets with microphone
- Device must be fully charged
After 14 years delivering quality education to more than 15,000 graduates, the Professional Year Program (PYP) is closing nationally. We will no longer be accepting applications for the PYP at any of our campus around Australia. ACAP will be supporting all current students enrolled in the PYP to complete their studies. For more information please contact [email protected].