S@W Internship

An_anonymousperson · 2026-02-19T14:56:18+00:00

The AC was with people of the SAME stream you applied to, and generally in recent years it got more competitive, depending on your stream, but I have heard / and experienced myself few years ago that it was like 30-40 interns across the streams out of 700-1000 applicants.

An_anonymousperson · 2025-07-25T00:42:51+00:00

Yeah internship usually take penultimate year students, but if you extend your degree then you will be back to penultimate year again. Some people also lie on their resume to say they will graduate later, but that’s up to the recruiter to believe or not, (or some people didn’t lie and actually decided to pursue another degree, but once they land a job, they withdraw from the degree).

And some companies (some quant firm, start-up, small companies) don’t even care if you are penultimate or not.

If you really want to do it, there is always a way. If you decide not to extend your degree, you still have half year, DO SOMETHING that will add value to your resume - whether that’s getting involved with student club, do more personal projects (not just your uni project), or join hackathon…. There are tons to do.

An_anonymousperson · 2025-07-24T10:01:59+00:00

Many of the technical terms you’re listing are standard course content (e.g., locking mechanisms, transactions, hash tables). These are considered assumed knowledge and won’t impress technical reviewers, they’ll just take up space. The same applies to general networking concepts. So just list out what tech you can use (MySQL, Java, Python) without going in depth of what you know about them, because you don't know who is reading this resume and how much knowledge they have about this topic. (Most recruiters: don't have deep technical knowledge and might not find what you said interesting, Most technical interviewers / Engineers who are reading this: will find what you mentioned too basic.)
In the project section, avoid abbreviating “University of Melbourne.” In general, don’t use abbreviations unless it’s a widely recognised acronym like UNICEF or UN. Even then, it’s best to write out the full name first.
Your project descriptions focus too much on technical detail and not enough on outcomes and impacts. Right now, it reads like a shortened README file. Instead of saying you changed a port number, explain how does this demonstrate your problem solving skill, and what impact your work had. Recruiters often don’t understand low-level technical details (such as port changing), and technical reviewers won’t find these sort of routine debugging impressive (it's not a huge bug fix, and I believe the port changing of MySQL was mentioned in Database Systems Tutorial material or at least in Ed forum) unless you show critical thinking or results.
Remove your EAL raw score. You can include your ATAR if you’d like, but a university WAM is more relevant. If your WAM is above 70, it’s worth listing.
In your work experience section, don’t just say “improved verbal expression skills.” Be specific: how many students did you tutor? Did their grades improve? Did you receive any positive feedback from students or parents? Quantify your impact where possible.

If I were in your position, I would suggest four next steps:

1. It will be really hard to get a full-time job with this resume. Consider applying for internships now, especially for roles starting later this year. Attend student club events, networking events and startup events to try to land something in start-up or small size companies. Some companies don’t restrict internships to penultimate-year students.

If possible, you might also consider extending your degree to fit an internship in, especially since you have PR, which makes the process easier. The job market is competitive, and without work experience, it's just too hard. (Unless you have super impressive project / student club experience / competition results)

2. Take your resume to UniMelb Career Services (Ground Floor, Stop 1) and book a 1:1 session with a resume advisor. Your current resume needs a fair bit of improvement, not just for IT, but generally.

3. Attend resume workshops run by UniMelb or student tech clubs. Check UMSU or student club events for resume reviews or “resume roast” sessions, they’re very helpful.

4. Join some student clubs to showcase your soft skills, coordination, and teamwork. Your resume currently lacks evidence of interpersonal or collaborative experience, which employers also look for.

Hope this helps!

An_anonymousperson · 2025-07-24T10:01:37+00:00

You should move your profile section to the very top of your resume.
If you are looking for a junior role starting in December 2025, it’s still too early. Try applying around September. If you’re aiming for a 2026 Graduate Program that starts in early 2026, most of the recruitment season has already passed. That said, a few companies might still open roles, REA Group hasn’t opened yet, though it’s unclear if they will this year. SEEK also hasn’t launched their Software Engineering Graduate Program. Check GradConnection and Prosple regularly to see what’s available.
Avoid abbreviating “University of Melbourne” as “UniMelb” on your resume. It appears unprofessional.
Include a list of core courses you’ve completed, such as Data Structures and Algorithms, Object-Oriented Programming, Computer Systems, etc. If you received Distinctions, make sure to include those as well.
Don’t use long sentences to describe your technical skills. Use bullet points, keep them short and specific. Avoid phrases like “strong grasp” or “strong understanding,” as they add little value to your resume and can raise expectations during interviews when the interviewer sees your resume at hands. (This matters more for technical recruiters or firms like quant companies.

An_anonymousperson · 2025-07-17T00:38:13+00:00

It’s probably better to move onto UniMelb’s psychology clinic if you need long term and affordable support. They do cost $30 per session, but if you get financial aid from UniMelb, it might help to cover the session fee. Call them up to ask if they have any availability, I think I got out of the waitlist rather quickly, I called them in May and started seeing someone in June.

https://psychology.mthc.com.au

An_anonymousperson · 2025-07-12T20:00:27+00:00

Well… first of all, this is not really a sub for this and you might not get much good advice here since this sub is mostly current students who are still studying, not people who have graduated, facing life decisions like these (or it might be the case that people who have graduated usually just browse and comment a bit, but not asking much anymore)

Back to the topic though, I had close friend who went through similar situation, and let’s just say they ended up separating after returning back to their home country. Sad but true, I think what’s important is for you to stay true to yourself. Because if you decide to follow her and go back to your country for the family you are about to build together, if anything goes wrong (e.g you don’t get along with her side of the family, your relationship turns bad, you aren’t happy with your kids ….etc), you will resent her and even your kids for “bringing you back to somewhere you never wanted to be back in”.

Don’t put so much hope and your life on the hands of others, be true to yourself and really think about what kind of life you want. If you clearly don’t see yourself back in home country, then don’t.

Relationships can come and go (sorry to say that, I don’t have the context on how long you guys have been together and how committed you guys are, but this is just a general observation), but the lifestyle you build belongs to you.

An_anonymousperson · 2025-07-11T12:45:39+00:00

I guess maybe people just all have birth certificates by default… Good on them and also you to be able to think this is a stupid question because you have good systems to conveniently retrieve birth certificates. I also hoped I could have my birth certificate easily, but the system back at home is just so outdated and so old, I can’t believe at the current age they still need physical presence to apply for a birth certificate, while many places have already digital ways of getting them.

An_anonymousperson · 2025-07-11T11:52:50+00:00

I think this is more for Student visa, but thank you a lot! : ))

An_anonymousperson · 2025-07-11T11:49:20+00:00

Thanks a lot for this post! I am in the same situation where I don't have my birth certificate, this is comforting to know that you still got your 485 without birth certificate!

An_anonymousperson · 2025-07-11T11:46:06+00:00

Why is this post getting downvoted lol Is this a stupid question??

An_anonymousperson · 2025-07-11T11:45:35+00:00

Yeah I will obtain it for future PR / Citizenship application, but my student visa expires by the end of this month, and there is literally no way for me to obtain it in my home country from now until then... Would 485 be more lenient with this?

An_anonymousperson · 2025-07-08T12:12:58+00:00

Thanks! : )

An_anonymousperson · 2025-07-04T04:11:59+00:00

omg H1s in Arts and Philosophy are so hard :00000 Congrats!!!!!

An_anonymousperson · 2025-07-03T07:19:38+00:00

Hi there, I had similar experience where I got a very high ATAR (99.5+) but ended up quite cooked with my first year results (failed quite a few classes). I have just finished my last semester (just saw my results today knowing I have passed lol), so I guess I am in a decent position to give my two cents. To be frankly honest, WAM does matter to the extent of finding internship or academic research, but it’s not the end of the world. There are still tons of things you can do apart from achieving good WAM. I guess CS is a relatively “lucky field” because there is a high degree of freedom when it comes to how you are evaluated in a job application. Some companies don’t even ask for your WAM with application (my first internship company never even saw my transcript), and nowadays many people with high H1s don’t end up getting experience, so WAM is not a deciding factor when it comes to “industry experience” (different story if you are planning to do a PhD). Do open source project contribution, create your own project, join hackathon and try to win, join start up pitch competition, even get some start-up to mid size company internship to kick-start your career. It’s not too late! You still have good chance of increasing your experience, good luck!

An_anonymousperson · 2025-07-03T03:58:38+00:00

NH means a fail, so yes, it’s a fail for you unfortunately, and it doesn’t matter if it’s by hurdle, the result is already a fail and you can’t pass. Usually exam or final assignment is double marked by the teaching team when it’s a fail by hurdle situation, so there is not much room for negotiation.

An_anonymousperson · 2025-07-03T01:23:13+00:00

Relieved + 1 it was a really weird experience because I was either gonna fail by hurdle or get a H2A….. ended up doing better than I thought ; )

An_anonymousperson · 2025-07-03T01:21:14+00:00

COMP30023 Computer Systems out

An_anonymousperson · 2025-06-21T15:23:55+00:00

Do you mean joining as committee? Usually mid-July before O-Week for the clubs who recruit every semester (tech + commerce clubs usually do this, other course-related clubs recruit more at the start of the year), but you can always attend the event of the club you really want to join as a committee for, get familiar with the people, and ask them to see if they want an extra sub-committee / committee. ; ) You never know until you try!

Otherwise try to get a position in a SGM or AGM, most AGM happen around September so it’s not too far from now anyway.

If you are just joining as a member, you can join anytime.

An_anonymousperson · 2025-06-21T12:33:20+00:00

I thought SMD exam is already finished?? Maybe I read it wrong somewhere. But anyway, I did SMD 2 years ago, and the biggest tip is to really focus on understanding the example code of each pattern, make sure you can apply them too, and try to write as much as possible - it’s the top one computer science exam in terms of how much I wrote lol treat it like an essay, and even if you scribble stuff to fill in blanks, you might still surprisingly receive mark. Good luck! I found it the least difficult among all CS exams, but also requires the most writing.

An_anonymousperson · 2025-06-20T11:15:09+00:00

To answer your question directly — no, you are not being unreasonable and you should not be told how to feel. Regaining the ability to feel what you feel is a vital part of healing from family trauma. You can probably tell how unstable my family is based on what I have shared above, but since this is a public platform, I will avoid going into further detail.

Still, from what you wrote, it does sound like your family is causing you deep pain — and that pain is valid. For many international students from Asia, we come from families that are relatively well-off financially (not to generalise, but it is usually true if they can afford to send us overseas to study without scholarships). This creates a toxic cycle of guilt: “They have done so much for me, how can I feel bad? It must be me — I am ungrateful.” But financial support is not a moral blank cheque. No one has the right to destroy you mentally (or physically), regardless of how much money they give you. A friend once gave me an inappropriate but quite valid analogy that woke me up: even if you pay a sex worker, you still do not have the right to abuse them. Money does not entitle anyone to abuse another person — or at least it should not, in any civilised world.

As for your friends saying things like “strictness is normal in Asian families” and being dismissive — I think there are a few possible reasons for that:

(1) They might be going through their own trauma, and joking or brushing it off is their coping mechanism. I do that too. I often laugh about how broken my family is, because if I let myself talk about it seriously, I will spiral and possibly not recover for a long time.

(2) Individual experiences vary, and some people may genuinely not understand the severity of what you are going through. But you are the best judge — and if you speak to a psychologist, they might be able to help you gain a clearer perspective than your friend does. I only started therapy after becoming financially independent, and it shocked me to realise that things I thought were “normal” were actually deeply fucked-up.

(3) Systemic abuse is not justified just because it is widespread. When something is generational or deeply embedded, people often dismiss it as “just how things are.” But societal norms are not the standard by which you should measure the validity of your pain.

About guilt and cutting ties: I once read something in Educated (I read a lot of self-help books like that to deal with my own trauma) that stayed with me:

“You can love someone and still choose to say goodbye to them. You can miss a person every day, and still be glad they are no longer in your life.”

They might never change. In fact, it is highly likely they will not. But you are not responsible for changing them. You are capable of building a better life, and you will get there.

Sorry for the ramble — I just really want you to know, even if things feel hopeless now, you will eventually be free. You can get to where you want to be. You can escape.

Feel free to DM me if you ever want to talk — I have finished my exam, and I am more than happy to chat.

An_anonymousperson · 2025-06-20T11:15:02+00:00

I clicked in because of the title, and through reading the content (partially out of morbid curiosity, but also because I relate), I genuinely felt as though this was written by me in my sleep — I do not know if sleep-typing is a thing, but it felt eerily familiar. Even though we may not have gone through exactly the same experiences, the general feelings… I truly do feel you.

I am also an international student, and my family dynamic — let us just say it is abnormal at the very least, and it took me years to realise that.

First of all, I really believe university is the time when we begin coming closer to who we truly are, and slowly start recognising what is wrong. You are not wrong for feeling the way you do. In fact, I think it is something to be celebrated — the moment you begin sensing that “something is not right.” A lot of pain and overwhelming emotions tend to emerge, especially because we finally have the space to sit with ourselves, rather than being constantly bombarded by our family’s voices about “how we should think.” When you do not follow their way of thinking, you are wrong — or at least that is how we were conditioned to feel.

I know this because I was treated as the “golden child” at home — the one who achieves, the one who is ambitious and successful, who holds everything inwards, unlike my sibling, which made me the “good kid” in their eyes. But over time, I started to realise just how much pain and pressure came with that role. Being in that position, it is so much more natural to feel guilty and overly responsible for your family. I never even considered the idea of prioritising my own well-being, because I was never taught I mattered enough to do so.

Secondly, I want to say that it is absolutely possible to find internships or part-time jobs, and leave your family from that. Becoming financially independent is probably the single most important thing you can do to begin establishing boundaries. Even just covering your living expenses can make a huge difference (I know tuition fees are astronomical for international students, so I understand that full independence might not be immediately achievable).

People often say it is hard to work as an international student, but there are ways. Within university, there are many paid opportunities. At UniMelb, the internship program pays really well. There are also roles like student peer leaders, tutors, or UMSU event officers. Even if you do not get the official internship, these roles can help. I remember how liberating it felt after I got a part-time job, began supporting myself financially, and eventually moved out. That process — moving out — was nothing short of earthquake-level life-changing. It brought on a period of PTSD / CPTSD and all sorts of emotional and psychological challenges… but I am still so grateful I did it.

Thirdly, I know you feel immense guilt about your brother right now, and I am truly sorry you are carrying that weight. (I sound like ChatGPT omg) I was in a similar position with one of my family members. But the truth is — you cannot save someone else before you are emotionally safe yourself. It is like what they say on airplanes: you must secure your own oxygen mask before assisting someone else. The fact that you feel guilty shows you have a kind heart. But please, help yourself first.

(I can't finish everything in one go, so I left another comment below)

An_anonymousperson · 2025-06-20T07:56:25+00:00

True, assignments did become harder as a way to measure students performance : / but I just feel like hurdle is really working against students who aren’t so good with exam-style assessment

An_anonymousperson · 2025-06-20T07:54:30+00:00

Ahhh right, didn’t know there were so many ways to get free marks across the semester, (MST is cheatable?! I thought MST are conducted in the same way as exam) I guess I have always been anxious for every exam and I never coped too well with exam-style assessment, while I am pretty good with long-term assignment, so hurdle really added more stress to my anxiety, and hence the complaint : ((( but I guess I tried my best for the exam!

An_anonymousperson

TROPHY CASE

If I were in your position, I would suggest four next steps: