NSChE FUNAI CHAPTER PRESENTS


SIWES GUIDE

Compiled by
Nofisat

Basic Things to Know About Siwes

▪ First, here are some *basic things to know about SIWES*

▪ 📍SIWES stands for the Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme. It is a

training program for university and polytechnic students in Nigeria.

▪ 📍Founded in 1973 and headquartered in Jos, Plateau state, the scheme

aims to bridge the gap between the classroom and the workplace

▪ 📍It allows students to gain practical experience in their chosen fields.

Students are placed in companies that align with their field of study

▪ 📍Students spend a period of time, typically 3 to 6 months, working in an

organization in their field of study.

▪ 📍The SIWES program is organized by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) in

collaboration with universities and polytechnics.

Continuation....

▪ 📍Students are assigned a supervisor from the ITF and a mentor from the organization.

▪ 📍During their placement, students are expected to complete tasks and projects assigned by
their supervisor and mentor.

▪ 📍Upon completion of the program, students submit a report and are evaluated based on
their performance.

▪ 📍The program was initially implemented in federal universities and polytechnics, but it has
since been expanded to include state-owned institutions as well.

▪ 📍According to the ITF, over 250,000 students participate in the SIWES program each year.

▪ 📍The program has been credited with improving the quality of graduates and making them
more employable.

Important Questions

▪ This leads us to a very important question:

▪ 📍 Where can I intern?

▪ 📍 What is the role of an IT student in a company.

▪ I know that many of us might have asked this question over and
again.

Importance of SIWES Program

▪ First, it helps to bridge the gap between the classroom and the
workplace, allowing students to apply their theoretical knowledge in
a practical setting.

▪ Secondly, it can provide students with an opportunity to network

and make professional connections.

▪ Thirdly, an IT can allow students to gain valuable work experience

and build their resume.

▪ Finally, it can help students to gain clarity on their career goals and
determine whether or not a particular field is the right fit for them.

Continuation...

▪ Also, the importance can further be categorized into three parts:

students, organizational, and national level.

▪ 🚀 *For students* , the program provides valuable work experience

that can help them stand out in the job market and improve their
skills.

▪ 🚀 *For organizations* , the program helps to identify and develop

talent, and it allows them to assess potential employees before
hiring them.

▪ 🚀 *On a national level* , the program helps to reduce youth

unemployment and contributes to the development of the Nigerian
economy.

Where to Intern?

▪ 🎯 *List of companies where a chemical engineering student

can intern.* Chemical engineers can intern with a variety of
companies and industries, including:

▪ 📍 Oil and gas companies.📍 Pharmaceutical and biotechnology

companies.📍 Food and beverage companies.📍 Environmental
engineering and consulting firms.📍 Chemical manufacturing
companies.📍 Water treatment and wastewater treatment
facilities.📍 Renewable energy companies.📍 Bioprocessing and
biomanufacturing companies.

Continuation

▪ The key to getting a good I.T placement is to find an internship that

aligns with your specific interests and career goals. Many
companies offer paid internships, housing or other benefits while
some offer none at all.

▪ Some big companies like oil and gas, food and beverages even
offer free meals every afternoon with free transportation

▪ 🎯You know you’re in the right company when you can jump
through various departments of the company and learn things
relevant to your field.

DONT’s

▪ As an internship student, do not do the following ❌❌❌

▪ 📍 Do not be afraid to go to other departments to learn. It does not matter

whether you’re posted there or not.

▪ 📍 Do not fail to carry a jotter and pen around

▪ 📍 Do not fail to ask your industry based supervisor questions and learn and
much as you can

▪ 📍 Do not fail to do your personal research and expand your knowledge on

anything taught (make google your friend during this period. Never rely only
on what you were taught during the day)

▪ 📍 Do not fail to use any opportunity to shine. You never know which
company may want to retain you.

ROLES OF AN IT STUDENT

▪ The roles of an IT student can differ depending on the

organization and specific position one occupies.

▪ But the overall role (aim) of an IT student is to take back as

much knowledge about the company as he/she can carry
(especially their activities relating to your discipline). Whatever
you do, do not lose sight of this important role.
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Continuation...

▪ 🚀 Assisting with day-to-day tasks, such as repairing, servicing,

filing, data entry, or answering phones.

▪ 🚀 Assisting with projects or special events, such as market

research or community outreach.

▪ 🚀 Attending meetings and taking notes.

▪ 🚀 Shadowing other employees to learn about the company's

culture and operations.

▪ 🚀 Networking and building relationships with other professionals.

▪ 🚀 Completing assigned projects or tasks.

 
CORRECT WAY TO FILL YOUR LOG BOOK

▪ While there is no right or wrong time to start filling your log book, it is recommended to fill
your log book daily or weekly.

▪ 📍 Daily: This is a systematic way of filling the logbook each day. One advantage of this
method is that the events of the day are still fresh in your memory and so you will not run the
risk of forgetting. Also, this method is highly effective because you will not pile up the tedious
work for yourself after a long time.

▪ 📍Weekly: Another way to fill your log book effectively is to get a jotter and be writing down
all the daily activities in it. Then transfer to your log book at the end of the week. This method
is also effective because it will help you to eliminate mistakes.

▪ 🚀 The lazy man’s type: This is leaving your entire log book unfilled until a week or so to the
end of the training and then employ the dying minute type of rush to maul it over.

▪ This method is not at any point recommended but if you must practice it (which I don’t
advise), at least religiously record each days activity in a jotter.

IMPORTANCE OF A LOG BOOK

We must all remember that the logbook carries a huge part of the marks
allotted for the course.

Asides your defence and IT report, your logbook is another thing that can boost
your grade.

Therefore when you do it right, you get your full marks but if you do it like an
amateur, you cheat yourself and risk a low grade.

The good news is that to fill the log book is not rocket science if you understand
how to handle these three sections: The writing section, the drawing section
and the technical section. I call them The WDT sections

SECTIONS OF A LOG BOOK

▪ *The writing section:*

▪ For this section, you must fill at least 5 out of six months work to have a good report.

▪ That means that if your IT report has 23 or 24 weeks worth of space, you should at least fill a 20 weeks worth of space before you
submit.

▪ Also remember that in filling your logbook, you can spice up your language to make it interesting to read. This will make your
supervisor well disposed to your work.

▪ You can use the following sentences to begin your report.

▪ Today I did....

▪ On this day, I......

▪ For today’s training, I learnt/did...

▪ Today, I was taught...Etc.

▪ P. S – Some people do only one or two specific types of work in their IT. Use different sentences and words to report it so that it
will vary.

Sections of a Log Book

Writing Section Drawing Section


Drawing Section

▪ There is a space provided for drawing of equipments you encountered during the week. You can
draw one or several equipment depending on what you want.

▪ 📍In the writing section, label all your drawings appropriately. If you draw a test tube, write the name
under it. If you draw an air dryer, write down the name.

▪ 📍Don’t ever assume that the object drawn is a popular image and needs no labelling. For any
image you fail to label, you lose a mark.

▪ 📍When you draw a complex equipment/machine, label all the basic parts alongside.

▪ 📍When you draw more than one image on the same page, write all their names under them.

▪ 📍When you draw a process, draw it using a block diagram and write the name of the process

▪ 📍 Don’t draw an image except in the space provided for it.

▪ 📍Make all images neat and readable. If you can’t draw, do your best or ask your friend to help


Drawing Section
📍When you have nothing to draw, don’t leave
the drawing space empty, you will lose mark.

Instead, it is allowed to write elaborately about a

process you encountered or any other thing that
might be of interest.

Check the attached image 👆🏾


Drawing Section....
It is also allowed to draw and
Use block diagram for explain if you find the need
processes. for it.


Minor Technical
Section
📍 Fill all the preliminary pages before your WEEK ONE. Don’t skip any especially
the company organogram (if attached)

📍 Write your dates correctly. Skipping a lot of dates may cause you to lose some
marks.

📍Ensure your supervisor signs and stamps your w ork for each week. Some
company’s use seal instead of stamp and that’s ok too

📍Be tidy about your w ork

📍 Ensure you take the logbook back along w ith your form 8 back to SIWES branch
office to sign and stamp for you at the end of your IT (Without this particular one, all
your hard w ork is zero)


Continuation...
📍Make sure your industry based supervisor
comment and signs after each week’s work.

An industry based supervisor is anybody that is

anybody the company places over you for the
duration of your IT.

Note – Most industry based supervisors make

glowing remarks about their interns as a bad
remark is detrimental to the students grade.

Mistakes to Avoid

▪ *Some common mistakes IT students make you should avoid.*

▪ 📍 Waiting till the end of their training to start writing their log book.

▪ 📍 Not signing their log book at the ITF branch office before coming
back to school.

▪ 📍 Not filling their log books appropriately with dates, diagrams, and
signatures

▪ 📍Getting a placement at companies that has very little or nothing to

do with their field.

SECTION 2

▪ Highlighted areas are:

▪ 📍 Developing an outstanding PowerPoint presentation

▪ 📍 How to defend your IT like a pro

▪ 📍 When to start writing your report

▪ 📍 The technicalities of writing a good report.

▪ 📍 Q&A session

Continuation.....

▪ Most students ask, please when is the right time to start writing my IT report
and how do I start?

▪ Now this is a very good question to begin with.

▪ For university students, your IT ranges for a period of six (6) months while
that of polytechnic students range for one (1) year.

▪ One of the keys to write a good report is to start on time to go about it.
Don’t wait until you are done with your I.T to begin. You can start in your
third or fourth month in the company when you’ve gotten a hang of things.

▪ Stop procrastinating please, Start already!

▪ When you start early, you have enough time to write everything you want to.

Continuation.....

▪ The truth is, immediately your six months is over, your school will begin to rush
you to come back, resume a new semester and defend. Woe betide you if your
department loves to defend early and you’re not done, you’re on your own.

▪ *Most students start late to write their I. T report because of the following
reasons:*

▪ 🎃 They don’t know how to start or where to begin from

▪ 🎃 They don’t have a departmental template or guideline to follow

▪ 🎃They are scared of writing only to discover they’ve written rubbish later

▪ 🎃 They are too busy enjoying their I. T freedom to bother starting

▪ 🎃 They think they will have enough time later to do it.



IT SUPERVISION

▪ Please note that immediately or before you return to school,

your department will assign a supervisor to you. That supervisor
becomes the final say when it comes to your defense report. So
in your best interest, be on good terms with him/her.

▪ Your department may assign one supervisor over the entire

class or divide you in groups and appoint different supervisors
over each group. Whichever the case is, learn to work with your
supervisor, impress him/her that you know what you’re doing
and you’re halfway there.


REQUIREMENTS OF A GOOD IT REPORT

🎃 *To start on time:* This is to help you do a good job without submitting a work full of errors

🎃 *Departmental I. T template or guideline:* Each department has a unique way of writing their
own I. T report. A departmental guideline helps you to know what you are really doing. It helps
you to see how you can structure your work into chapters and what each chapter should
contain.P. S - Where there is no ready made guideline, you can ask any of your senior
colleagues that is serious with academics to help you with softcopy of his/her I. T report. From
there you'll see how to arrange your work.

🎃 *Your Log book:* Your log book plays an important part in your I. T defense report. Don't write
a defense report that is outside of things you do in your log book. For example you cannot state
throughout your log book that you worked at a Pharmaceutical company while your defense
report is speaking about oil and gas activities.Your supervisor and lecturers are specialists at
picking out these inconsistencies. For those that like to copy, be warned now oo.

🎃 *A good supervisor:* Most times, you really can't help when you fall under extremist
supervisors. Either way, if you're confident enough, they'll have no other option than to give you
your flowers

TECHNICALITIES OF A GOOD
REPORT
▪ (a) Format:

▪ An IT report is a technical report. Like all technical reports, it follow s a ▪ LIST OF TABLES
unique format.

▪ The report is usually divided into 4 chapters (unless your department has
a different number) and follow s the follow ing format in this strict order: ▪ LIST OF FIGURES

▪ TITLE PAGE
▪ LIIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, SYMBOLS AND MEANING
▪ DECLARATION

▪ ABSTRACT
▪ CERTIFICATION

▪ CHAPTER ONE
▪ DEDICATION

▪ CHAPTER TWO
▪ ACKNOWLEDGMENT

▪ CHAPTER THREE
▪ TABLE OF CONTENTS

▪ CHAPTER FOUR

▪ REFERENCES

BREAKDOWN

▪ 🎯 Chapter one is *INTRODUCTION* and it includes: Introduction to SIWES, it’s aims and
objectives.

▪ An introduction to your internship company, location, mission and vision statement, company
organogram.

▪ 🎯In Chapter two, you may be asked to give an *OVERVIEW OF THE COMPANY* . This may
include the various departments of the company and what they do. Then your own department and
everything under it including processes, machines and equipment.

▪ 🎯 Chapter Three should be a summary of *MY ACTIVITIES IN THE COMPANY*

▪ Describe the work you did during the internship, the things you learnt, including any projects or
tasks you completed. You can include steps taken to accomplish them. This will be in form of a
summary, you may choose to summarize them week by week. Your log book comes in handy here.

▪ 🎯 Chapter Four is *CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS*

▪ 🎯Then *REFERENCES*. Use APA style or Harvard style of referencing.


NOTES

▪ 📍Note 1: The contents of chapter two and three may differ from
school to school and department to department. But in general,
they are divided against your activities in your department,
processes encountered, machineries used for each process.

▪ 📍 Note 2: Chapters two and three is where the bulk of your

experience concentrates, therefore a departmental guideline is
needed to help you with its structure or at least a former I.T defence
work so you don’t make mistakes.

▪ 📍Note 3: In writing about the process you encountered in the

company, the machines, equipment, uses and functions etc, google
should be your friend. Write comprehensively on any process or
machine.

Continuation....

▪ (b) Important things to take note of when writing your report:

▪ 📍 From Title page to Abstract are known as preliminary pages and are
numbered using Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv ...)

▪ 📍 From Chapter One to Reference are numbered using English numbers

(1,2,3,4...)

▪ 📍Your abstract is an executive summary of your work. It should not exceed

250 words (unless your supervisor says it is OK to exceed). Never ever add
a paragraph in an abstract.

▪ 📍 For any reference you put in your Reference list, it must have an in-text
citation.

▪ 📍 All page numbering must be in the middle of the bottom margin (not up)

Continuation...

▪ *Rules for Images and Table in your I. T report*

▪ 📍 Label images according to order of appearance. Use the word *Figure* to title images. Eg;

▪ Figure 1: Company organogram

▪ Figure 2: ......

▪ Figure 3: ...... Etc

▪ 📍 All images must be titled below the image (not above)

▪ 📍 If you attach a table, use the word *Table* to number it according to order of appearance. E.g;

▪ Table 1: Pressure drop in CO2 tank after 12 hrs

▪ Table 2: ......

▪ Table 3: ......

▪ 📍 If you attach a table, write the title above it (not below)


MORE RULES

▪ 📍 All graph works attached should have proper explanations.

▪ 📍 Use APA or Harvard style of referencing. If you don’t know, you can learn

▪ 📍 Use Times new roman, font size 12 and 1.5 line spacing (Otherwise
stated by your department)

▪ 📍 Insert enough images, diagrams, data and graphs where necessary into
your work to show what you’re writing.

▪ 📍 It is not necessary to attach a picture of you doing work at the company

unless required by your supervisor

▪ 📍 Write in concise and clear terms.


DEVELOPING AN OUTSTANDING
POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
▪ Here are some general rules to make a good PowerPoint slides:

▪ 📍 Your powerpoint must be between 10 slides maximum. (Some

departments will say 15 slides maximum)

▪ 📍 Add more diagram than words.

▪ 📍 Add tables and graphs were necessary

▪ 📍 Label all your pictures appropriately below them.

▪ 📍Do not add page numbers (it is not necessary)

▪ 📍 Points should be made using bullets

▪ 📍 Keep your points brief and simple. Don’t write too many words.

Continuation....
▪ Your PowerPoint slide must contain the following on separate
slides:

▪ 📍First page should be the title page. This should contain the name
of your school, name of your department, your name, department,
reg no, and company you interned.

▪ 📍 Next page is the Outline page – This is like a table of contents

where you list every major heading in your slide

▪ 📍 Then the Introduction page – This is just a few words about

SIWES, their aims and objectives, and then about your I.T company
in general.

Continuation...

▪ 📍 Next page should be your activities in the company, the

processes you witnessed, the machines/equipments involved. If
you want to talk about – say for example – three processes, then
add them in different slides.

▪ 📍 After all these comes your conclusion and recommendation (if

any)

▪ 📍 Then references. Add only the references you cited in your slide.

▪ 📍 Lastly is the THANK YOU page. This contains nothing except a

huge THANK YOU written on it.
HOW TO
 DEFEND WITH ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE

▪ (1) Overcoming stage fright: I know that a lot of us has stage

fright. I wouldn’t blame us, this is probably the first major time we
will come in the presence of people to talk about things in a
professional manner. Stage fright is a thing, you’re not alone bro.
But to overcome stage fright you must do the following:
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MORE TIPS...

▪ 📍 Understand that everybody in that room are people you’re acquainted with. These are your friends and lectures that
you’ve been with for many years and laughed with.

▪ 📍 If you stutter, then talking calmly will help you. Even of you don’t stutter, take slow breathes and talk calmly. Don’t
rush yourself by yourself

▪ 📍 Make your presentation friendly, put on a smile to show you’re not nervous, be courteous, make light jokes if you
find need for it. It’s a presentation bro, not a death sentence

▪ 📍 Observe what others who went in before you did, how they greeted and where they were corrected. You might
want to improve on those.

▪ 📍 Before the presentation day, find time to go through your I. T report and know every detail off heart. You did the
work right? So it should be familiar with you.

▪ 📍 Never ever add what you did not do in your presentation slides to impress people. Please I’m begging you don’t,
🙏🏾 it won’t go well for you unless your father is Abraham and Jesus is your brother.

▪ 📍 Prepare your presentation slides on time so you can have some of your senior colleagues, lecturers or your
supervisor go through it.
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MORE TIPS

▪ 📍 Whatever you do, don’t break down crying during the presentation please. If you do, nobody will pity you, you’re gone, otilor.

▪ 📍 Have a bottle of water of water with you if you have anxiety attacks. A sip from time to time will calm you down

▪ 📍 Attempt all questions thrown at you. Don’t just say Sir/Ma I don’t know.

▪ 📍 Understand that you’re the teacher and they’re the student even though it may not seem so to you. Don’t avoid their eyes, look
them eyeball to eyeball straight and you’ll find out that some will start avoiding your glare. If you can beat them in the ey eball
game, your confidence level will increase. 💃🏾

▪ 📍 Know which page comes next in your slide so you can be like “...in page 7 you will see where I explained so and so and if you
go back to page 4, you will see the graph of this and this” Such things impresses them bro, I tell you, and they’ll have no other
option than yo give you your flowers.

▪ 📍 You may want to take some samples of your company’s product into your defence hall with you. This is not compulsory though.
Make sure to leave it with them if they’re edible or if it is something they can use like perfumes or detergents.

▪ P. S – Don’t go about spending your money unnecessarily if you can’t afford your company products. You will still make your A
without it

▪ 📍 Finally, it will help you to know what they know before you enter for defense.

MORE TIPS...
▪ (2) Knowing what they know:

▪ Knowing what your lecturers know is a sure way to beat them at

their own game. It makes you know where and where to
concentrate your strength and what and what to do to get a few
marks by the side.

▪ (a) Student – supervisor relationship:

▪ 📍 Being on good terms with your supervisor will help you a lot
because he has a lot of say in computing your scores.

▪ (b) I. T grading:

▪ 📍 Understanding how they grade your entire I. T experience

gives you a huge bonus. It makes you know what carries more
marks than what.

Continuation...

▪ Now, these are the things they grade you for during your presentation:

▪ ~ Appearance

▪ ~ Fluency

▪ ~ Ability to answer questions correctly

▪ ~ Quality of ppt slide

▪ ~ Quality of ppt presentation

▪ **ppt means PowerPoint

▪ Additional things they grade include:

▪ ~ I. T log book

▪ ~ I. T Report.

Appearance

▪ (i) Appearance

▪ *For men:*

▪ In your appearance, you’ll get your full marks if you:

▪ 1. Wear a suit

▪ 2. Wear a tie

▪ 3. Wear a dressing shoe (not canvas)

▪ 4. Wear a stockings

▪ 5. Have a responsible haircut

▪ Note: Native attires are also allowed like senator wears. Wear shoe not slippers.

▪ In event you do not have a suit, then dress as officially as you can. Avoid caps of any kind.

Appearance

▪ *For women:*

▪ ~ Suits are preferred but if you don’t have one, then dress responsibly.

▪ ~ No show backs or crop tops (the only thing that you’re showing today is
your brain please)

▪ ~ Heels or flats are ok. But no slippers please. Even if it is Italian slippers.

▪ ~ Put on well ironed clothes. In fact let the lines be visible if they must 😂

▪ ~ Don’t kill yourself with makeup that when you enter the room your
lecturers will no longer recognise you. Its a presentation not a masquerade
event.

Fluency

▪ (ii) Fluency

▪ This is the ability to communicate in a clear flawless English. Don’t use

spoilers such as: erm erm; sebi you understand; you know... Etc

▪ We don’t understand anything, we don’t know anything, tell us.

▪ If you use these spoilers, then your mark for fluency will reduce. The worst
is to break down crying. That scope don cast, be warned oo.

▪ Remember, about 4 – 5 lecturers will be given a score sheet to grade you

as you present. The average will be taken afterwards. Make sure you
impress them.

Continuation....

▪ (iii) Ability to respond to questions correctly:

▪ This shows your lecturers whether or not you really understand

what you talked about. Expect all manner of questions. But it should
mostly be from what you just defended.

▪ Some lecturers may want to take you off scope though and head
towards related things you should know but might not have done in
your company, if they do, attempt the ones you can answer
correctly and for the ones you can’t answer, politely tell them that
that the question is not within what you did in your department.

▪ Just don’t say “Ma, I don’t know.” It’s fatal.


Continuation....

▪ (iv) Quality of ppt slide:

▪ The quality of your ppt slide will be rated. That is why you should
be thorough with it. Eliminate all typo errors before then and
make sure you formated it according to instructions. Don’t
exceed the maximum number of slides allowed by your
department and let your ppt be order and have more pictures
than words.

▪ We have explained how to create a good ppt slide before.

Adhere to the rules and you’re good to go.

More Tips...

▪ (v) Quality of presentation:

▪ This is the column they rate your entire presentation. If your

presentation is good, you’ll get a high score here, if it isn’t, you’ll
get a not-so-good score.

▪ Remember, this is just for defence. Your IT log book and IT

report will be graded as well but we’ve already talked about how
to put in the best in them.
 Overall, do a good work in your I.T, learn the things you’re
supposed to, write a good report like we’ve been taught and apply
the tips we’ve learnt to defend like a pro.


BEST OF LUCK!