Creating authentic learning experiences that prepare students for their future work in an ever-changing workforce represents a key challenge in higher education. One key way to enable the integration of learning and work is to foster students' capacity for critical reflection and reflexive thinking. This paper seeks to contribute to knowledge of how to foster the integration of learning and work and presents a case-study of a work integrated learning curriculum intervention within the discipline of project management. We explore how to authentically integrate learning and work by creating learning for students that deepens and broadens their critical understandings of their future profession and role as professional practitioners. We apply thematic analysis to students' reflective journals to explore their shifting perceptions of professional practice, and discuss how these findings may be applied to more authentically foster students' preparation for professional practice. [Papers included in this "Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education" ("APJCE") Special Issue stem from selected manuscripts from the 2014 Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN) Conference Proceedings.]