“Hello, this is Nathan from Fenwick. How may I help?”

The first time I had to answer the phone at Fenwick, I was very nervous – it had been only a few weeks since I started my internship with Fenwick and conversing with a client for the first time took more courage than I expected.

Over many years Fenwick has had a proud relationship with Swinburne University and has been a long time sponsor of the Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) program. This means that Fenwick sponsors, on average, two BIT students per year like myself to undertake a twenty-week work placement, bringing benefits to Fenwick, clients, and of course, the students.

Fenwick provides an environment for interns to be nurtured and opportunities for students to learn on the job. At times this can be a bit daunting, however, there are a myriad of support mechanisms that ensure the best outcomes for both students and clients.

So how does this benefit you, the client?

There is no doubt that there must be time dedicated for learning when an intern completes a piece of work, yet this is structured in a way that the clients don’t bear the cost of this process. In the long term, Fenwick provides the platform for interns to become extremely valuable resources. The students pick up the best-practices and traits from industry leading consultants early in in their career and also take ownership of their tasks, enabling the clients to gain the most value possible. I know for myself that this empowering process has allowed me to grow immensely both in my career and in life.

The greatest example of this is our CEO, Greg Galloway, who is an alumni of the Bachelor of Information Technology at Swinburne and stepped into this role in October of 2011. This is very inspiring for me as I enter my final year of University and step out into the workforce. There are many other examples at Fenwick Software of ex-BIT students and students from other similar courses who have established their roots whilst working here and have blossomed as a result.

As I approach the half-way point of my placement I feel as if I have already picked up countless invaluable skills that I can apply to everyday work – and if you’re lucky I might even pick up your phone call in the near future!