See Where a Power Career Can Take You: The 2027 PowerUP Video Challenge
What does a summer vacation placement in Australia’s power sector actually look like?
For students considering a future in engineering, energy or the broader power sector, it can be difficult to picture what happens beyond the classroom. What kind of projects do undergraduate students get involved in? What does a day in industry look like? What do students learn once they step into a real workplace?
The 2027 PowerUP Video Challenge gives undergraduate students the opportunity to answer those questions in their own words.
Each year, students undertaking vacation placements with API member organisations are invited to create a short video taking viewers behind the scenes of the power sector, sharing what they experienced, what they learned and why the work matters.
For students about to begin a vacation placement, it is also an opportunity to make more of the experience.
Turn your placement into something you can share.
A vacation placement is already an important step in building your career, but reflecting on the experience can help you recognise just how much you have learned.
Creating a Video Challenge entry encourages you to think about your journey into the sector, the projects or experiences that stood out during your placement, and how the experience is influencing what you might want to do next.
It is also a chance to practise communicating technical ideas in a way that other people can understand. That is a valuable skill in any career.
Your final video is only 2–3 minutes long, so the challenge is not about creating a highly polished corporate production. It is about telling an authentic and engaging story about your experience.
Your video could become a useful addition to your professional portfolio, something you can share with future employers, or simply a record of an important early-career experience.
And there are prizes up for grabs too, with People’s Choice and Judges’ Choice awards recognising standout entries.
If you are undertaking a vacation placement with an API member organisation this summer, start thinking about your video early. Speak with your manager about what you may be able to film or discuss, capture experiences as they happen and keep notes about what surprised you or what you learned.
Want some inspiration?
Not on placement yet? You can still get involved
The Video Challenge is just as valuable for students who are still deciding where a career in the power sector could take them.
If you are in high school or your first or second year of university, the 2027 entries give you the opportunity to hear directly from students who are only a few steps ahead of you.
Rather than simply reading a position description or company profile, you can see students talking about real workplaces, projects, teams and experiences.
Watching the entries can help you discover:
• the range of roles and organisations within the power sector
• what undergraduate placements can involve
• how university study connects with real industry projects
• the different pathways students take into engineering and energy careers
• skills that become important once you enter the workplace.
You may also discover an organisation, role or area of the industry you had never considered before.
Watch, explore and vote
When the 2027 entries are released in March, we encourage students, professionals, teachers, families and the broader power sector community to explore the videos and support the students who created them.
The People’s Choice Award gives entrants the chance to build support for their video by sharing it with their networks, while the Judges’ Choice Award recognises videos for their relevance, industry insight, personal reflection, storytelling and presentation.
For younger students, voting is more than choosing a favourite video. It is an easy way to explore different careers and start thinking about what your own pathway into the sector could look like.
The power sector needs people with different interests, skills and perspectives. Sometimes the best way to imagine yourself in an industry is to hear from someone who was recently asking the same questions you are.
Ready to share your experience?
If you are completing a summer vacation placement with an API member organisation, we would love to see where your experience takes you.
2027 Video Challenge submissions close Friday 26 February 2027.
Then, in March, join us to watch the entries, support the students and discover what working in Australia’s power sector can really look like.
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