CONTEXT The key purpose of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) is to offer domestic and international students the opportunity to explore and participate in real-life projects offered by industry or community integrating theory with practice. There are a variety of structured activities, for example, internships, field trips, industry guest speakers, and the industry or community projects. These activities are aligned with students' needs in gaining professional experience and enhancing their employability skills, as well as with engineering curriculum requirements. The literature presents numerous papers discussing students' WIL practices and students' expectations; however, it becomes more complex when international students need to be prepared for and made capable of understanding and navigating the cultural nuances and workplace differences. Previous studies (Jackson, 2017; Jackson, Rowbottom, Ferns, & McLaren, 2017; Kaider, Friederika; Suri, Harsh; Read, Wayne; Russell, Leoni; & Marlow, 2020) discussed the relevance of WIL program and the difficulties faced by the international students in Australia. PURPOSE OR GOAL In addition to providing equal opportunity to domestic and international students to gain hands-on skills and job readiness via WIL activities, the industrial experience component is compulsory for accreditation purposes in most engineering courses. This study aims to evaluate international students' experience and challenges faced by them in seeking local industry placements. Naturally, some strategies published previously do not address the COVID-19 situation and its effects on WIL. The pandemic has introduced significant challenges in effectively implementing WIL and industry placements. This paper observes and evaluates the current challenges faced by international students in gaining meaningful experiences. It also seeks to better understand students' perspectives and assess the effectiveness of the mitigation strategies put in place during the pandemic APPROACH OR METHODOLOGY/METHODS Exploratory research is the most suitable method to support the main objectives of this study. Desktop research covers recent journal and conference publications in the field, government statistics, and reports from Engineering Educational institutes. The questionnaire-based on the Likert scale will provide insights of student motivation level with industry placement, job readiness, and knowledge gain of local professional practice. The semi-structured interviews include questions focused on new technical and personal skills gained to enhance students' competitiveness to find a job in the engineering industry under the global pandemic scenario ACTUAL OR ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES It is ongoing research that will be completed in the coming months. Currently, international students require more support to overcome the challenging time due to COVID-19. The anticipated outcomes include the new challenges associated with work integrated learning programs posed by COVID-19 and the effectiveness of various measures in conquering the difficulty. © © Indumathi V, Ana Evangelista, Arti Siddhpura, Yuanyuan Fan and Milind Siddhpura, 2021.
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