Work Integrated Learning (WIL) integrates academic theory with meaningful workplace practice within a
curriculum, to help students build their employability.
Participating in a course that includes WIL improves graduate employability by increasing work readiness and
competitiveness. Engaging in WIL activities provides students with an opportunity to put theoretical learning
into practice
You may have picked up from that definition that WIL isn’t limited to industry placements and actually
includes a myriad of different activities that may fall under a course — these can all be utilised as a form
of industry work experience and can be invaluable in preparing you for the workplace. The definition also
includes the caveat that it must be part of your curriculum, meaning that you get academic credit for doing
it, which is win-win for a student really — what more could you want from work experience? WIL is inherently
different from work experience though, because of that caveat, as work experience typically doesn’t give you
academic credit. In some cases, WIL is compulsory for finishing your degree, but that’s not always the case.
This site aims to outline how and why WIL is valuable to you as a student, but also makes it clear that it’s
up to you to get the most out of your WIL experience!
If you’ve got any concerns specific to your own WIL experience, talk to your relevant academic faculty, as
they will have plenty of resources to help you. You can also use the Placement Management System available
through on my.UQ. (The University of Queenland, 2020)
So maybe you’ve just come across this by accident after falling down a rabbit hole on the Internet, it happens. If that’s the case, you may have not even heard about WIL before, which means you probably haven’t done it as part of your degree — yet! Remember though, that WIL isn’t limited to Industry Placements like Work Experience, WIL can be any number of the following: industry placements; industry projects; work simulations; field experience; entrepreneurship/enterprise; and even reflection on current employment! (The University of Queenland, 2020)
Above all else, WIL is a learning experience, so you get out of it what you put into it. WIL can really impact
upon the learning experience, as it’s an opportunity to apply your classroom learning to a professional
environment. If you really apply yourself to a WIL experience, it can be incredibly valuable in starting a
career path. Whether you’re doing an industry placement or a simulation, you will undoubtedly see the value
such an experience.
The best part about all of this though, is that the whole WIL experience is an opportunity to learn about
industry with training wheels applied — WIL is designed to be a test drive experience before you start racing!
(The University of Queenland, 2020)
