Francesca O'Connor :Engineering Institute of Technology

By Brad Lohoar

on March 9th, 2022

EIT student Francesca O’Connor knows the value of education.

Francesca O’Connor lives in Sydney, Australia. She graduated with a 52883WA Advanced Diploma of Applied Electrical Engineering (Electrical Systems) in January 2022, and applied for a Bachelor of Science Electrical Engineering straight away, starting February 2022.

Like many students, Francesca will undertake her next qualification while being employed full-time.

Here’s how she plans to do it.

“I found EIT ran their online courses very well. The scheduled webinars and quick responses from lectures helped me stay motivated.”

Since all the course work was provided clearly, Francesca mentions she was able to apply herself to have a set routine to be able to study, work and live her life.

For her, the academic program fits into her work life.

“Since graduating I have gained permanent employment as an electrical engineer in the rail industry. The course was very relevant to my work, I was employed as an HV electrician. It helped solidify my current skills and develop them into strong engineering skills,” she says.

Engineering education has always been important to her, and before her Advanced Diploma, she completed a Cert III in Electrotechnology and a Cert IV in ESI Power Distribution.

“I enjoy the different challenges that come up each day, no day is the same. I have a really good team of engineers I work with and I enjoy learning from them and developing my electrical understanding more each day,” she adds.

She is also always on the lookout for other females in the field.

According to Francesca, there’s only a handful of female engineers where she works, and she ultimately looks up to them for managing to achieve their individual success in a field that is male-centric.

“I also look up to the electrical technicians in my workplace. They have so much experience and always have a different perspective or solution to a problem,” she says.

EIT gives Recognition of Prior Learning for Advanced Diploma graduates to enter Bachelor of Science degrees, and it’s something that encouraged Francesca to want to continue to complete a Bachelor of Science – Electrical Engineering.

The next intake of students is 25 July – after which she will have a head in many of the first-year modules and units.

Until then, however, she might have some alternative plans.

“I desperately want to go on a holiday. Covid has been very impactful in terms of taking a good break away from work. I am hoping to take a month off and go somewhere hot.”