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Remember to reflect
Reflection is a continuous process and a skill professional engineers apply for continuous improvement in workplaces.
The Professional Practice Program will introduce you to many experiences. Some of which will be outside of your routine or comfort zone such as networking or presenting at a meeting during your placement or internship. Each experience or event attended is a source for learning and one where you can construct knowledge, acquire skills, build confidence and enhance values by engaging in a direct experiences.
Reflective thinking and keeping a journal will help you give meaning to the experience and keep it fresh when you look back. What you did. How you did this. What was the result on yourself or on the people around you? These are all important reflective questions you can ask yourself after a PPP experience.
As a guide your reflections should include both the positives and negatives of what you might experience and learn about yourself, others or of situations. The reflections of your internship or placement experiences are powerful and transformational and they will most certainly inform your career experiences and job interviews you attend in the future.
We recommend you start keeping reflections on all your activities, including in-industry experiences and retain them in your ePortfolio folder. Once you have completed the full 450 hours of your Professional Practice Program you will be required to complete a 1500 word reflection detailing your professional practice experience and how you have attained the Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competencies.
Remember to:
- Keep a reflective journal of all PPP activities for your final report and PPP Certificate
- Remember to look at your reflective journal when answering position criteria in job applications and when you prepare for job interviews. You may be also to use an experience as an example when answering a behavioural or situational question from a prospective employer.
If you are new to reflective thinking, here are some resources to help you get started on your reflections.
UniSA READING: Moving from descriptive to reflective writing
UniSA VIDEO:
University of Hull VIDEO: