Business As Usual

Christmas is fast approaching and I am enjoying thoroughly submerging myself in the festivities. The office has also been completely decked the halls and there’s an advent calendar on every desk.

While most organisations are winding down, we are still working very hard to try and meet deadlines and punch out as much work as possible before the Christmas break. Yesterday we had our office Xmas party, which was a great chance to take a break and enjoy some food and frivolities.

We did a Kris Kringle and everyone was spoiled with chocolates, wine, quirky novelties and other assorted giftware – it was a real success! The lunch was catered for and we were even spoiled with a surprise self-serve sundae bar for dessert! Safe to say we all went home very full and very happy.

At university a lot of people will tell how important it is to get good grades (which it definitely is), but it is also really important to get work experience. Apart from looking really good on your resume, it also gives you the opportunity to road-test your degree and make sure the major you picked is right for you.

During my time at Monash I have been lucky enough to participate in one of the many industry based internship programs on offer, which has allowed me to gain valuable workplace experience and achieve credit towards my degree. How good is that?! You can undertake a placement with a whole range of different organisations, so at the start of this year I joined the BusEco Marketing Group, along with another student, for a semester-long placement. I finished at the end of first semester and have really enjoyed keeping in touch with the team and helping them out by participating in activities, photo shoots and events.

The recent announcement of the Monash Business School has got the department working flat and out with the overflow of work, so Val (another of their trusty former interns and previous blog contributor) and I have been called in over summer to help out as casual staff members.

My job will vary a bit, but currently I’m responsible for rounding up all the academic publications on the BusEco website so that I can then transfer them onto the new site, after I complete the CMS training. Sounds pretty interesting, right? Even though it’s mainly copying and pasting, it’s pretty important stuff so I need to keep my wits about me to make sure I don’t miss any crucial publications, confuse authors or muddle up dates. Some might say it’s a bit like a giant referencing assignment!

It’s certainly different to what I would normally being doing on my summer break – and believe me, I am not complaining! What a great pay off for working hard, making a good impression and keeping in contact! You never know where a job opportunity might arise so make sure you keep your eyes open, look for opportunities and always try to put yourself out there while you’re at uni!

As the long awaited summer starts to roll in, I reflect on the year that was and try and distance myself from thoughts of semester one next year (for now). Uni students sometimes have a bad rap because there’s a bit of a misconception that we just sit on the grass all day, philosophising like free-spirited hipsters who never do any real work. But frankly, if you asked any of the students I know to describe our average load of study and commitments, most of us would paint a very different picture.

Personally, this year has been the busiest of my life! I haven’t stopped moving, thinking, writing, creating, dreaming, working, studying, travelling and just generally trying to exist in a high-functioning capacity without imploding.

I think that uni students are incredibly busy these days because we are not willing to compromise - it’s the double-edged sword of being born in generation Y! We are not content doing just one thing and doing it well, we want to do it all – no compromises. We want to be on committees, earn money, travel the world, play sport, go to events, gain experience, create vast networks and the list goes on. No wonder it’s harder than ever to focus on the task at hand! Not to mention the mind-boggling assortment of devices and apps constantly trying to divide our attention.

So I would just like to take this opportunity to say big congratulations to my fellow uni students (and soon-to-be fellow uni students). Whether you’re finishing uni, high school or about to enter VCE –congratulations, we have made it through another year! Keep up the good work and good luck in 2015!

Jules x

Today was Commerce Scholars Day at Monash Caulfield – you might have noticed that Building H was flooded by around 200 eager students from 20 different secondary schools.

The high-flying students were invited to come along and participate in master classes and course information sessions run by the Business and Economics Faculty, giving us a chance to show off our faculty’s amazing resources and impress them with plentiful free food.

The PALs (student ambassadors), Tom (my fellow intern) and I had the chance to avail the students of our tertiary wisdom in the course information sessions, skilfully handling some quirky lines of questioning – such as likening internships to slave labour! (Hahaha, I certainly wouldn’t go that far!)….

Working as an intern is every student’s dream right? I mean, in that great big pool of talented graduates we all want a way to differentiate ourselves, and something like an internship is just the ticket. I am lucky enough to be interning here with the Marketing and Recruitment Group at Monash Caulfield for semester one. Let me tell you that apart from the resume bolstering this has been a great opportunity – not only to learn how to data merge letters, but to learn a lot about myself and meet some great people.

Although this afternoon consisted of the stock-standard intern duties, like preparing and alphabetizing name tags, every day so far has been different. I have also been surprised by the level of responsibility I have been given whilst interning here. It has given me a real insight into life after uni.

My name is Julia (or Jules to all my friends). I'm in the third year of a double degree in Marketing and Management and loving it so far. I'm looking forward to graduating mid-year next year and getting out into the workforce! In my spare time I love to seek out the cafe hot spots around Melbourne in search of the best brunch. I'm also huge fan of the fitness and well-being revolution.