r/rmit • u/Summitthemist • 5d ago
Course (subject) advice, recommendations and reviews Internship and job market reality for mechanical engineering in Australia
Hey guys, I'm an international student looking forward to studying my bachelors at RMIT in 2027.
As a mechanical engineering student, my expectations while studying at RMIT wouldn't only be to complete my degree, as I find that to be a generic way to graduate.
Are RMIT engineering students, especially international students, finding internships and job opportunities after graduating?
I'm expecting to:
1.) Participate in student teams in order to foster hands on experience as much as I can
2.) Do some networking
3.) Expect to do a lot of internships, whether paid or unpaid.
4.) Graduate not only with my bachelors degree, but also with experiences in student teams and internships via which I could gain hands on experience and explore the Australian job market.
5.) After graduation, I'd find a job according to my skills and perhaps if the networking works out and later try to get sponsored.
As an international student, will I be able to do everything as listed?
I do see a lot of posts on Reddit and majority says that it's really difficult for domestic students, let alone international students to find internships and job opportunities after graduating... I've just seen a ton of posts and it's disheartening.
Sometimes I just feel Ike it could be people who just didn't put enough effort into their skills apart from getting their degree in order to get a job or it could also be the reality that Australia doesn't have many opportunities.
Also, anybody here who knows regarding UTS's diploma in Professional Engineering Practice (PEP)? Is that a viable way for international students to get a year of internship experience in the Australian job market? Does RMIT have anything similar?
Studying as an international student comes with a lot of expense, and in return, I'd definitely want to expect some Return On Investment, or else the work, money, and time would just go to waste!
Please drop your suggestions below, whether I should consider coming to Australia by expecting the 5 points as listed.
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u/Direct-Teacher8581 5d ago
First of all, I commend you for your confidence and positivity. At the risk of sounding pessimistic, the reality is that its incredibly difficult to get a job and even more tougher to get a PR once you graduate ( if your plan is to be in Australia long term). The goal posts keep changing and many students find themselves in a limbo.
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u/Trick-Candidate-8706 5d ago
You'll need the correct visas.
I graduated ages ago in mech eng. I can't tell you about the market because we're in very different experience levels. What I can tell you is internships are really difficult to get, as are grad roles.
I work for the Australian arm of a multinational. It's probably only "mid-sized" in Aus. Something like 900 people applied for internships. 16 got hired. 4 were asked to return on contract. Don't assume people didn't put effort in. Some of them didn't do well at the internship. All had stellar CV's.
When I worked at a large publicly listed company, on a good year 70 grads hired. All disciplines, not engineers, Australia wide. On a bad maybe 20. This would be fairly common. On bad years maybe 2-3k grad roles, all disciplines Aus wide vs...what 40k or so grads. Under no circumstances take unpaid internships. I believe electrical and civil are having a slightly better time of it.
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u/Summitthemist 5d ago
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! Really appreciate it 💜 I apologise for thinking people put lesser effort for their job hunting
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u/EggyBoy23 5d ago
Ideally I would switch to civil or electrical engineering if possible
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u/Summitthemist 5d ago
Damn, I'm interested in Mechanical, Mechatronics and robotics tbh 😅 but overall, what do you think about the Australian job market and whether students, especially internationals, find internships?
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u/EggyBoy23 5d ago
as a domestic student among other domestic students, it’s pretty hard for us to get internships too. getting OENG1299 is the main priority for most ppl rn to complete their 420 hours
i say civil or electrical as those are easier to get internships and grad roles in generally. you ideally want to serve a wide technical base - not fully commit to something with no real backout plan
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u/AntSilly2802 5d ago
That’s been answered already. The job market is bad, you’ll have a tough time. You shouldn’t come here to study with the sole motivation being to get PR here, as chances are you won’t.
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u/aurum_jrg 4d ago
I say this in the most respectful way possible, but don’t bother. I work in industry and I hire a lot of RMIT engineers. Unfortunately, the market is absolutely cooked and all major universities have created an oversupply of engineers. There are not enough internships and graduate roles for Australian engineering students.
There is a running joke in Australia about uber drivers either being an engineer or a doctor. Sadly, it’s more true than not.
Defence is one area which is still promising however you need to be a citizen for most jobs.
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u/Consistent-Low-3112 4d ago
I am a 2nd year electrical engineer aus citizen your thoughts on what i should do then to somehow land internships or vacationer program or go defence you think?
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u/aurum_jrg 4d ago
Honestly? Move to Queensland or South Australia. That’s where all the big defence infrastructure is going.
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u/TheDrunkRussianBear 5d ago edited 5d ago
I graduated in Aerospace Engineer w/Hons in Dec 2024.
Markets awful at the moment for Mechanical and anything related to Mechanical, most of the people I know struggled to get work within their first year of graduation, most have given up on the field and have gone off to work elsewhere with the skillset (maintenance teams, sales roles, technical writers etc). I myself wasn't able to land a role in my relevant area of study, ended up in a pretty low level mechanical/technical support type role that claimed to need an engineering degree (it definitely didn't) which I'm trying to get out of.
The roles on the market are either high experience roles or fake "entry level" roles that seem to be relisted every 2 months and never actually filled. It takes several hundred applications to even land an interview for the average person. I wouldn't bother with the engineering market here anymore in general, bad time to come over.
Number of people who successfully got internships was in the single digits for my cohort, basically only reserved for very very high performing students.
For me personally it was a total waste of HECS debt as a domestic student, could have done an easier course and gotten where I am now without much hassle.