What is HEWSO?
HEWSO is a nationwide experiential learning competition that joins groups of students with a host employer. The aim for students is to learn more about the workplace and increase your employment skills. HEWSO is an initiative of NAGCAS (National Association of Graduate Careers Advisors) and is supported by major national organisations and involves participants from universities around Australia.
Teams are made up primarily of students in their final year of study and these teams work together with a host employer to solve a problem reflecting a real business need. A briefing is provided by the host, after which teams prepare a consultant's report that they present to the host employer.
When is it held?
The Spring Program is an intensive one-week program, held in the mid-semester break in September/October. The Summer Program runs for four weeks from late January, allowing a more extensive coverage of the issue.
Summer 2005 Program
The Summer 2005 HEWSO Program ran from 28 January to 21 February. The business problem posed by the host organisation - Brisbane City Council (BCC) - was "How can we improve Council's image as an Employer of Choice with young people?".
Three QUT teams worked on the problem and presented their findings to a panel of BCC 'judges'. All teams were commended for their professionalism and creativity in their problem-solving.
The winning QUT team was TunnelLogic, who went on to win the Runner-Up Best Presentation Award at the National level with their spin on a new TV show "Who wants to be an employer of choice?". The team was able to collect their award certificates and prize money at the HEWSO Awards ceremony in Canberra.
TunnelLogic
Winning QUT Team
Runner-up – Best Presentation (National)
Hayley Angell
Regan Jones
Michael Lee
Irma Maierhofer
Sarah McCarthy
Patricia Torbey
Visit TunnelLogic's Website
Metrosol
Helen Chapple
Jessica Chen
Bronwyn Jones
Reuben Kearney
Sophia Lowe
Prestigio Creations
Nelson Escobar
Prudence Fan
Tobias Garnsworthy
Belinda Loudon
Alexis Oswald
Miranda Simpson
Kiran Singh
Spring 2004 Program
The Spring 2004 HEWSO Program ran in the mid-semester break. This intensive program allowed students only one week to tackle two problems posed by host organisation - Arnott's Biscuits - relating to business efficiencies.
The five QUT teams also had the opportunity to visit the Arnott's factory at Virginia (and were lucky enough to get 'staff prices' in the well-stocked Arnott's hop on site!). The panel of Arnott's judges were impressed with the level of detail undertaken by the teams, particularly given such a small time frame.
The winning QUT team was Crunch (with the Shapes team a close second). Crunch went on to win the Best Presentation Award at the National level and attended a HEWSO Awards Ceremony in Perth.
Crunch
Winning QUT Team
Best Presentation Winner (National)
David Elson
Lisa Ferarri
Ran Heimann
Simone Hensler
Benignus Logan
Annie Nguyen
Geraldine Thornton
Athena Westwood
Dynamic Vision
Nicholas Adams
Krystil Carter
Prudence Fan
Kristiana Kilvert
Titvichny Siem
Ross Thompson
Shapes
Kirsten Connick
Ekta Dhall
Josephine Glazebrook
James Mourdhuj
Dinesh Palipana
Christopher Payne
Dula Sritharan
Tempting Solutions
Anuj Anand
Alan Gould
Jenny Li
Katherine Potter
BJ Siem
Brodie Vansleve
Jun Hao You
Navigate
Tobias Caldeweyher
Emma Delaforce
Lachlan Faulkner
Mary Nguyen
Cheryl Tang
Hsin Yi Wong
Benny Wu
Summer 2003 Program
The QUT Fusion team involved in the Summer 2003 HEWSO program worked with Brisbane HR Consultancy firm, Trevor Roberts Associates on a problem relating to client perception on rebranding and market position. The team went on to win the overall HEWSO National Award, competing against 17 other universities!
Fusion
National Winner
Greta Chan
Nicholas DiVenuto
Kelly Farlow
Kristiana Kilvert
Emma Kloda
Tracey Nguyen
Penny Sullivan
Visit Team Fusion's Website