SIWES Logbook
What to Write in Your First Week of SIWES
The first week rarely contains the technical work you expected, and that is normal. Here is how to fill it honestly without leaving pages blank.
The short answer
In your first week of SIWES, record resumption and registration, the safety and conduct briefing, introductions to your supervisor and unit, the tour of the departments, and what you observed about how the organization works. Complete the front pages of the logbook in the same week and ask your supervisor to sign at the required interval.
What to sort out before you resume
A weak first week is usually caused by arriving unprepared rather than by a poor placement. Collect the documents you need before the first morning so that the week produces entries instead of confusion.
Carry your logbook from day one. Students who leave it at home for the first few days end up reconstructing the week from memory, and reconstructed entries are where invented details creep in.
- Your official logbook and the attachment letter from your institution
- Any acceptance or placement letter issued by the organization
- Your student identity card and a means of identification
- A small notebook for rough notes during the day
- The name, designation, and contact of your industry supervisor once assigned
- The reporting time, dress code, and any requirement mentioned during acceptance
Complete the front pages in the first week
Most logbooks open with pages that have nothing to do with daily entries: your personal details, the organization details, the supervisor details, and often a page for the organization profile. These pages are frequently left until the end, and they are also the first thing a coordinator checks.
Fill them in the first week while the information is in front of you. Confirm the exact registered name of the organization, its address, and the correct spelling and designation of your supervisor. Getting these wrong on the front page undermines an otherwise good logbook.
- Your name, matriculation number, department, and institution
- The programme, level, and the approved attachment period
- The full registered name and address of the organization
- The department or unit you were posted to
- The name, designation, and signature space of your industry supervisor
- The name of your institution based supervisor or coordinator if requested
What the first day actually contains
Day one is almost never technical. It is reporting, submitting your letter, waiting, being introduced, and being told where you will sit. All of that is a legitimate entry, and writing it plainly is better than dressing it up.
A truthful resumption day entry
Monday: Reported to the organization at the approved resumption time and submitted my industrial attachment letter at the human resources office. I completed the attachment register, was assigned to the maintenance department, and was introduced to my industry supervisor, who explained the working hours, reporting procedure, and the conduct expected of attachment students.
A complete first week you can adapt
These five entries show the shape of a normal orientation week. Replace every department, procedure, and observation with what you actually encountered at your own placement.
Five orientation week entries
Monday: Reported to the organization, completed registration, and was introduced to my industry supervisor and the staff of the department I was posted to.
Tuesday: Attended a briefing on workplace conduct, working hours, safety requirements, use of organizational property, and the correct procedure for reporting a problem.
Wednesday: Toured the organization and identified the main departments, their responsibilities, and how work passes between them during a normal day.
Thursday: Observed the routine of my assigned unit, including how tasks are received, recorded, carried out, and confirmed as completed.
Friday: Reviewed the week with my supervisor, identified the equipment and records used in the unit, and discussed what I would be involved in during the coming weeks.
What to do when the first week is quiet
Many students spend the first week sitting down with very little assigned to them. This is common, it is not your fault, and it does not have to produce empty pages.
A quiet week still contains information worth recording. Ask questions and write the answers. Ask what the unit does, what equipment it uses, what a normal day looks like, and what the most common problems are. That is genuine industrial knowledge and it belongs in the logbook.
What you must not do is invent activity to fill the space. An entry describing work that never happened is the single fastest way to fail a defense, because the supervisor who signs your logbook knows what the unit was doing that week.
- Record what you observed, even if you took no part in it
- Write down the equipment, documents, or systems you were shown
- Note the structure of the unit and the role of each staff member
- Record safety rules, procedures, and standards you were told about
- Ask your supervisor what you can begin assisting with next week
- Keep the entry short and honest rather than padded
Collect the organization details you will need later
Your final report will need a section on the organization: what it does, when it was established, how it is structured, and where you fit within it. The first week is the right time to gather that, while you are being introduced to everyone anyway.
Ask for the information rather than copying it from a website at the end of the attachment. Copied company history is one of the clearest signs of a report assembled at the last minute.
- What the organization does and who its customers or users are
- The main departments and how they relate to each other
- The specific function of the unit you were posted to
- The equipment, systems, or processes central to the work
- Any organizational chart you are permitted to reproduce
- What information the organization considers confidential
Get the first signature at the right time
Do not wait until the end of the attachment to present your logbook. Ask your supervisor at the end of the first week how often they want to review and sign, then keep to that interval.
The first signature matters more than students realise. It confirms that your entries were written during the placement rather than afterwards, and a logbook signed weekly is far harder to dispute than one signed all at once on the final day.
How to summarise the first week
The weekly summary should state what the week was for and what you took away from it. An orientation week summary is about understanding the organization, not about technical achievement.
Orientation week summary example
Adapt this to the organization and unit you were actually posted to.
During my first week, I completed the attachment registration, was posted to my assigned department, and was introduced to my industry supervisor and the members of the unit. I attended a briefing on conduct and safety requirements, toured the organization to identify the main departments, and observed how work is received and completed within my unit. The week gave me a clear understanding of the structure of the organization, the responsibilities of my department, and the standards I am expected to follow during the attachment.
Close the first week with these checks
Run through this list on the Friday of your first week. It takes a few minutes and it prevents most of the problems that surface at submission.
- 1
Confirm the front pages are complete and correctly spelled.
- 2
Check that each day has an entry, including any day you were sent home.
- 3
Confirm the dates and the week number agree with the calendar.
- 4
Remove anything you cannot explain to your supervisor.
- 5
Write the weekly summary while the week is still fresh.
- 6
Present the logbook for review and signature at the agreed interval.
- 7
Agree with your supervisor on what you will be involved in next week.
Questions students usually ask
What should I write if I did nothing in my first week?
Write what you observed, the briefings you attended, the people and departments you were introduced to, and the equipment or procedures you were shown. A short truthful entry is always better than an invented task or a blank page.
Do I have to write an entry for every day of the first week?
Yes, unless your institution says otherwise. Include days when you were sent home or nothing was assigned, and state plainly what happened and what instruction you were given.
When should my supervisor first sign the logbook?
Ask at the end of the first week. Most supervisors sign weekly. Regular signatures show that entries were written during the placement rather than assembled afterwards.
Should I fill the organization profile page in the first week?
Collect the information in the first week while you are being introduced to the departments. Writing it early prevents the last minute copying from websites that coordinators easily recognise.
Organize your real weekly notes
LogFolio helps turn rough activities into a clearer draft. You check the facts and keep the final report honest.
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