Partnership is central to the work of the schools.
So the school is a partnership,
it's a partnership between the faculties of economics, arts and law.
But also it's raison d'etre to do good public policy work
through our partnerships with
external organisations whether they be
industry partners, government partners, partners in the not-for-profit sector.
Well I think they're going to get access to some
of the people who really have an influence
on the public policy world.
The Scholars at the University aren't just sitting away 
in their offices writing books, 
they're actually engaged in big projects
working with Government, working with those actors
in the non profit sector and also in private industry,
to look at these big public policy challenges.
So they really understand what it takes to make things change
and what it takes to make things happen in the public policy world.
You're free to source your own internship
If you have pre existing contacts with an organisation
and would for like us to set it up formally as
an internship through the University.
That's something that the internship co-ordinator
can work with you on.
Or you can look through the database of
existing internship opportunities.
I see a number of University of Melbourne students
and Graduates come through with us.
They work on a range of events and publications 
and I find that you know, everyone who's coming
has excellent academic background in this area,
they understand international issues. 
But what they often have to learn is how 
to turn that into real results in a workplace. 
We have some that are part of the student's studies here
so they might do a semester of subject which is an internship.
And they can come through our organisation.
I was able to secure voluntary internship there
through my connections at Melbourne University really,
and did some volunteer work there for about four months
and then managed to get myself onto the payroll with
some research assistance.
And then a real job came up and I was able
to kind of tailor my application quite specifically
to what I knew the organisation needed for that job,
and I think having that inside knowledge was really key
in bumping my name up that list.
Obviously having an understanding of the field
of International Affairs is vital.
But at a certain point everyone assumes you have that.
So what makes you stand out is
having the work skills, the analytical rigour,
the ability to turn ideas into practical results.
That is what you have to learn at some point.
So I encourage a lot of students and graduates
to come out and have a real experience in the workplace,
to try and grow those skills as well as their
core academic skills.
It's a great opportunity, I think a lot of students
have found it very valuable.
Not only because it gives you hands on exposure,
but it's also your opportunity to network
and think down the line about your future job
and some of them have actually gone back
to the organisations where they've interned
and picked up a job.
So we see partnership as central to what we do
whether that's with external organisations
or be helping us with funding our research,
providing opportunities for our students through internships
and also we would see partnerships with other 
Universities as being really central to developing
the profile of the school nationally and internationally.
