Both evenings – one for architecture students and another for students of interior design – followed a three-part format, including a portfolio session, followed by a practical interview session and a networking opportunity.

As the first of the two evenings, the architecture industry night, hosted in partnership with the Australian Institute of Architects’ Student Organised Network for Architecture (SONA), was attended by more than fifty current students across five universities, along with SONA and student club representatives, for an evening of discussion, collaboration, and networking.

Woods Bagot associate and Monash sessional tutor Thomas Linschoten led the architecture industry engagement sessions as the champion for the Melbourne studio graduate program.

“As a student, it is hard to know what employers in the architecture industry are looking for,” says Linschoten. “The industry engagement night’s core aim is to provide students with greater transparency around three key areas they need to master to secure job: portfolios, interviews, and networking.”

The second evening, hosted by Woods Bagot interior designer and Monash teaching associate Eleni Bouliopoulos, saw 46 interior design students across Monash, Swinburne and RMIT universities attend the studio to discuss future careers in interior design. “The industry engagement night allows students to gain an insight into the profession that isn’t always accessible within a university framework,” says Bouliopoulos. “The students are provided with professional feedback on their portfolios, allowing them stronger opportunities for their job prospects at W-B and beyond.”

“Sometimes, the realities of working in practice can be quite different to the skills you learn in the university curriculum,” says Linschoten. “The key take-home is to learn what to produce for a folio to improve your chances of being hired, rather than how to succeed academically. This event helps guide and inform students on what to include so that they can have the most successful portfolios for future employment.”

Linschoten adds that hearing from recent graduates helps to humanise the job-seeking process, with personal accounts of interview experiences (successful and otherwise) equipping future practitioners with the tools they need to tackle career opportunities.

“Everyone in this office will have an anecdote about how and why they succeeded or didn’t in interviews, which is invaluable for students going into that situation,” says Linschoten. “It’s an opportunity to have a proper conversation around the interview experience with someone who has been through it before.”

SONA representative Andrew Gregory said the industry engagement night provided a “great opportunity for students to visit a unique studio environment and deepen their professional development alongside industry professionals”.

“Events like these are key to understanding how your work in an academic environment can not only be used to demonstrate your key competencies, but also to convey who you are as a person and what motivates you as a designer,” Gregory says. “The night emphasised the value of narrative around an applicant’s work and personal journey, which is indicative of Woods Bagot’s emphasis on culture.

“The networking session also helped foster connections with industry professionals and the wider student body. It helped students understand that networking is really about meeting people who share common interests, which ultimately helps them align their personal aspirations with practice.”

Third-year Monash spatial design student Harrison Boys said the portfolio evening was an “eye-opener”, providing a “glimpse into what companies actually look for in applicants”.

Boys added it was beneficial to have the opportunity to network with his university contemporaries, engaging with students within the wider architecture and design cohort.

“It also enabled me to see what’s happening at other universities – it was a valuable learning experience,” says Boys.

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