Business As Usual

Are you tossing up between two different degrees, and not sure which one to go with? Why not do both? Our students talk about the best parts of their double degrees and their career aspirations.

Q. In a short paragraph, tell us why you chose to study a double degree in Commerce and Law?
A. Commerce and law complemented each other well: to understand the law, you need to understand the commercial context in which it operates; to understand commerce, you need to understand the legal foundation upon which society (and therefore commerce) is built.

Q. What do you think potential employers will like about your double degree qualification?
A. The broad set of skills you pick up in the course of two studies, and the flexibility of mind instilled in students of two disciplines.

Q. What would you say if someone asked you why a double degree is a good option?
A. Do it if there are two different degrees you’re interested in, but not merely for the sake of it. Balancing two degrees is hard at the best of times.

Q. What are the best parts of your commerce degree?
A. The diverse range of subjects and the depth of knowledge you can gain in each of them.

Q. What are the best parts of your Law degree?
A. Law forces you to think in a very structured, analytical manner. It’s also interesting to see the way laws develop and change over time to regulate society.

Are you tossing up between two different degrees, and not sure which one to go with? Why not do both? Our students talk about the best parts of their double degrees and their career aspirations.

Q. In a short paragraph, tell us why you chose to study a double degree?
A. I chose a double degree because I wanted to give myself more options of units and majors to help me decide exactly what area I would like to pursue career-wise when I graduate. It also gives me more options in terms of electives and additional minors or majors.

Q. What do you think potential employers will like about your double degree in Marketing and Management qualification?
A. They will like that I have in-depth knowledge in both areas. They will also like that I’ve done a double rather than single degree as it allows me to pick different electives and minors, which in turn has allowed me to do minors in Italian and French.

Q. How does the double degree impact your future career goals?
A. It’s helped me realise what area I’d like to have a career in, and it also lets me learn about to different areas. My double degree has helped me learn about marketing and management in an organisation, which prepares me for when I become a manager in the future.

Are you tossing up between two different degrees, and not sure which one to go with? Why not do both? Our students talk about the best parts of their double degrees and their career aspirations.

Q. Why did you chose to study a double degree?
A. I chose to study a double degree to enhance my employability while pursuing differing interests. On the one hand I liked practical work and the sciences. On the other, I was interested in money and how the global economy worked.

Q. How did you choose to do a Commerce and Engineering double degree and why do you think these areas complement each other?
A. I believe these areas complement each other because in engineering, I would have both the technical skills and the business acumen to lead a project straight away. In the financial world, I have the commercial awareness as well as the problem solving ability to work through any issues or conflicting ideas.

Q. How has your double degree impact your future career goals?
A. My double degree has impacted my future career goals by completely changing my trajectory. Originally I was looking at a career in Engineering, however after studying years of Commerce, I have discovered that a career in the financial world is the best move to fully utilise the skills obtained in both of my degrees.

Q. What are the best parts of your commerce degree?
A. The best parts of my Commerce degree are the real world applications; I can see that what I am learning is being applied every day. Additionally, the flexibility afforded by being able to try multiple disciplines before deciding on a major is invaluable and could save students pursuing the wrong degrees from the get go.

Q. What are the best parts of your other degree?
A. My Engineering degree has been fantastic for group work and problem solving. Working in groups and being a team member is a part of life and my other degree has prepared me well in that regard. In addition, Engineering is heavily based on problem solving and focuses on project based learning; I know these are skills to take with me wherever I end up.

Do you want to learn more about internships and what they involve? Our students talk about their placement experiences, what they’ve learned and how it’s helped them carve out their own career paths.

Q. Where did you do your placement and why?
A. I am currently completing my placement at GM Holden Ltd. at the Head Office in Fisherman’s Bend, Port Melbourne. I chose this company because, to me, Holden has an employer of choice. I felt that the opportunity to work as a HR specialist for 12 months would give me a vast amount of experience and would give me a realistic of what life would be like in the workforce. GM Holden is one of Australia’s largest manufacturing car companies, an icon of Australia and I found it an absolute privilege to call myself a Holden employee.

Q. Can you tell us about the most memorable moment of your placement?
A. The most memorable moment of my placement was when I organised a photo shoot for my HR team as part of a self-initiated engagement activity. This was within the first two months of working at Holden and was a great way to socialise and network with my colleagues in the preparation and completion of the event. The most exciting part was the event being successful and having the whole team engaged and excited, which was the main aim of my activity. Furthermore, this went above and beyond my expectations as we had a team photo enlarged and placed on a canvas within our HR area of the office as memorabilia from the day. This is no d
oubt one of the most memorable and proudest moments of my experience at Holden.

Q. Looking back, if there was one thing you could do differently during your placement, what would it be?
A. I would try to ask more questions, right from the start. Coming into a large-scale organisation is often quite intimidating, especially when you are surrounded with professionals in the field. However, one thing I have learnt is that everyone wants see you succeed and to provide you with as much support as they can. I was initially very timid when I first started at Holden but looking backm now I realise that it’s best to ask as many questions as you can from the get-go because it is only going to help you with your development as early as possible which is an advantage to you as you progress through the rest of the placement.

Q. How has your placement impacted on your career goals?
A. My placement has impacted my career goals in a positive manner. After working at Holden in the HR department I have found my passion for what I want to do once I graduate from uni. HR is definitely for me, and working alongside people and assisting people within an organisation is what I enjoy most. I am a people’s person and I really enjoy interacting with people and helping clients. Holden has helped me find this passion and I am ever so grateful for having the opportunity to complete my placement at GM Holden.

Do you want to learn more about internships and what they involve? Our students talk about their placement experiences, what they’ve learned and how it’s helped them carve out their own career paths.

Q. Where did you do your placement and why?
A. I did my placement At Puma because there was an amazing opportunity to be directly involved with the Oceania HR division in day-to-day activities and on a project of my own.

Q. What was the scariest or most challenging part of your placement at Puma?
A. Being thrown straight into the workplace and knowing that what you do will have an actual result on how other people go about their own work.

Q. Can you tell us about the most memorable moment of your placement, or share an interesting story from your placement?
A. A memorable moment was being invited to the Corporate Box for the West Coast vs. Collingwood AFL match. It was nice attending an outside function and getting to know the people I work with on a more personal level. It was also the best seats I’ve been at in a sporting match.

Q. Looking back, if there was one thing you could do differently during your placement, what would it be?
A. I would focus a lot more on memorising everyone’s name as quickly as possible. Although it is difficult, it makes a big difference if you can address everyone by name when they say hi to you.

Q. How has your placement impacted on your career goals?
A. It has definitely given me a practical understanding of what a career in HR will be like. It has also helped reaffirm that I like HR and want to continue my career in that direction.

Q. What was the key thing you learned from your placement?
A. How to complete tasks and objectives when the work you complete has very real effects on the operations on the business.

Do you want to learn more about internships and what they involve? Our students talk about their placement experiences, what they’ve learned and how it’s helped them carve out their own career paths.

Q. Where did you do your placement?
A. I’ve recently completed a 6-month placement with McDonald’s in the finance department, where I was then offered a 12-month contract as the Assistant Regional Accountant for Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia. I saw the opportunity to incorporate McDonalds, my employer of seven years, to form part of my degree.

Q. What was the scariest or most challenging part of your placement?
A. For the first week it was, remembering everyone’s names. Now it’s worrying that I might make in error in a report. I have learnt to go over my work with a fine comb!

Q. Can you tell us about the most memorable moment of your placement?
A. A memorable moment would be playing speed monopoly with three accountants in my first week. It’s just like monopoly however it is played in 20 minutes and at the end, all players liquidate their assets and whoever has the most at the end wins. Only one extra rule, the dice must be rolling at all times. I had never played monopoly before and was unsure of the rules, so it was pretty daunting having the dice thrown at me before every round. It was even more daunting trying to calculate change and rent owed, fast and on the spot, in front of my superiors. Long story short, I had an absolute blast playing it! I’ll never go back to normal Monopoly!

Q. What was the key thing you learned from your placement at McDonald’s?
A. I learnt to make many notes because everything my colleagues had to say was important. I also learnt to always ask questions and have a positive attitude in everything I do. Last but not least, with Finance, there’s always a more efficient process in reporting.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to study in a different country for a few weeks, or even a semester? Our students tell you a bit about their overseas experiences.

Q. Tell us about your overseas experience.
A. Last year I took the opportunity to travel on a two-week study tour to South Africa and Rwanda. The unit was called “Seeking Justice” and it was about reconciliation and justice in post-Apartheid South Africa and post-genocide Rwanda.

Q. Why did you choose to go on exchange?
A. I went on this study tour because I’d never been to Africa before, and because I thought that it would be a much more powerful way of learning and understanding about history I knew very little about. Having been on a semester exchange in high school and travelled extensively in my GAP year, I knew that going to South Africa and Rwanda would be a new and fascinating experience, even though the content of the course was harrowing and emotionally difficult.

Q. Why did you choose to go to Africa?
A. I had never been to Africa before and I was highly interested in the history of both South Africa and Rwanda.

Q. Tell us about us one quirky activity or memory from your trip.
A. On my birthday in Rwanda, we went to an open-air cinema and watched a short film about a Rwandan man whose business as a bicycle taxi driver was booming, literally. He’d installed a radio on the back of his bike, making him the most popular taxi driver in his town. It was nice to watch a story about hope and happiness in Rwanda, given the country’s traumatic past.

Q. How do you think this experience improves your career outcomes or future goals?
A. I don’t think it will improve my career outcomes – this was a trip I did because I was interested in it, I went on it for personal reasons. Nevertheless, I think the trip possibly helped me to build increased tolerance and resilience, as well as exposing me to new attitudes and cultures.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to study in a different country for a few weeks, or even a semester? Our students tell you a bit about their overseas experiences.

Q. Tell us a bit about your overseas study experience.
A. I studied renaissance history in Monash's Prato campus in Italy for a month and it was probably the best experience of my uni life. I got to see Italy in a way not many people could. This can be best illustrated by the fact that the author of our textbook was there, just telling us his thoughts about things we were seeing with our own eyes. Plus, it made sense to study renaissance in Florence in the city itself!

Q. Tell us about us about a quirky memory from your trip.
A. We all went to see a soccer game one night. Fiorentina vs another team (I don't remember their name) and it was really cool to see a crowd come alive like that. I'm not a fan of soccer usually and even I was drawn in. We were sitting where all the die- hard supporters were sitting and we were exposed to a true soccer match, full of its obscenities and different intensities.

Q. Can you share one interesting memory from your time abroad?
A. We were walking back down to Florence and on the way we found this yellow car. It was the tiniest car I have ever seen, with a capacity of one. It was so small that I was able to hug it with my hands, I still remember that every so often.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to study in a different country for a few weeks, or even a semester? Our students tell you a bit about their overseas experiences.

Q. Tell us a bit about your study abroad experiences.
A. I undertook three international summer schools during my degree, including:

• Warwick International Summer school in 2013 (England)- ‘Global Business Integrative Project’
• Monash University 2013 (Cinque Terre, Italy)- ‘Cultural landscape, environment and sustainability in Italy.
• Warwick Economics Summer school in 2014 (England)- ‘International Development’

Q. Why did you choose to study overseas?
A. I chose to undertake these units as I wanted to gain international exposure and better understand business from an international point of view. These summer schools all related toward my degree and I believe helped me to better understand working within a culturally diverse group. The experiences I gained on these trips were some of my favourite memories from my time at Monash.

Q. Can you share one interesting memory or funny anecdote from your time abroad?
A. A funny memory for me is getting extremely confused with three other Monash students at a train station in Italy whilst trying to navigate us to the Cinque Terre region. Battling jetlag and without any fluent Italian language skills amongst us we got on and off trains for around 2 hours, later finding we were only around half an hour away from our final destination.

Q. How do you think this experience improves your career outcomes or future goals?
A. These experiences have been invaluable for me as it means I have gained international experience and have a better understanding of international business. With my career objective to work for a global organisation that involves operations and decisions making that is internationally dispersed, it is crucial that I am able to show that I can work within diverse teams. Each one of these experiences gave me unique capabilities that can really help to differentiate you from other candidates upon graduation.

This week our students are talking about what life is really like at university. From uni clubs to the biggest difference between high school and university, you’ll learn about all the ins and outs of being a uni student.

Q. What’s the best thing about being a Monash student?
A. The best thing about being a Monash student is the overall student experience. I love the opportunities that are open to me in terms of study, but there is still so much more for me to enjoy. The extra-curricular and social activities available are truly enriching.

Q. How do you balance university and study with other parts of your life?
A. For me this has been a case of trial-and-error. During my studies I have always needed to balance my study, part-time employment, extra-curricular activities, social life and health. It has been extremely important to be organised and develop time-management skills. To do this I’ve needed to recognise that there’s no one way to organise my life. I’ve needed to try different approaches and tactics. Specifically, through trial-and-error I worked out when I could study at my peak so that I could devote the time in my week to this. I could then slot in time for everything else.

Q. Why did you join the Business & Commerce Students Society (BCSS) and the Financial Management Association of Australia (FMAA)?
A. The reasons were twofold. Firstly, I wanted to join for the range of professional development activities on offer. Not only did they provide events for the opportunity to network, but also key skill development workshops which provide the skills to perform well at these events. Secondly, I wanted to join for the social activities. Monash is a big place and it can be difficult to know where to start in making new friends. A student society is a great way to meet like-minded people and participate in some really fun events.

Q. What has been the most important lesson you’ve learnt from your experience?
A. I have learned the importance of networking. Through participating in a number of networking events that these societies host, I’ve learned that having a strong set of connections is extremely important to learn more about a chosen industry and find out more about potential employment.

This week our students are talking about what life is really like at university. From uni clubs to the biggest difference between high school and university, you’ll learn about all the ins and outs of being a uni student.

Q. Why did you join the Monash Actuarial Student Society (MASS)?
A. I joined the MASS committee to work with like-minded peers with a similar drive and passion for actuarial studies.
Since joining MASS as a member, MASS has provided me lots of insight into actuarial studies and the career of an actuary. Events such as inspiration presentations from guest speakers and information sessions are invaluable experiences outside of the classroom that only this community can provide. Hence, having already benefitted so much from MASS, I recognised the importance of the society’s presence, and wished to help promote actuary to prospective students and improve the professional and social lives of its members. I wanted to be able to contribute and offer feedback to further promote MASS and support fellow aspiring actuaries.

Q. What has been the most important lesson you’ve learnt from your experience?
A. Good teamwork and strong leadership is vital for success.

Q. What has been your biggest achievement as part of MASS?
A. Being nominated for Best Administration at the C&S awards night. Winning Club of the Year 2015 at the C&S awards night. Introducing a 2nd major corporate event, our Poker Night.

This week our students are talking about what life is really like at university. From uni clubs to the biggest difference between high school and university, you’ll learn about all the ins and outs of being a uni student.

Q. How do you balance university and study with other parts of your life?
A. The flexibility around subject timetable and schedules provides me with the time to balance working part time at Commonwealth Bank and still have time for extra-curricular activities as part of work/life balance.

Q. What’s the biggest difference between high school and university?
A. The biggest difference between high school and university is the flexibility around the hours, and the self-motivation that is necessary with studies at university.

Q. What advice would you give future students?
A. Involve yourself in the different activities and opportunities that Monash offers, as it makes university so much more enjoyable and it is great to meet so many like-minded students.

The semester may be over, but keep your eye on this blog as we’ll be doing a ‘Business as Usual’ Summer Series!

While our students are taking a very well-deserved break, we’ll take a look at all the exciting parts of university and uni life, including overseas exchange programs, internship stories, the biggest difference between high school and university, and heaps more!

The Clayton campus has so many great services and facilities.

We have a convenience store, post office, pharmacy and dentist, to name a few. We even have our own postcode, so it’s like a mini city! There’s also a great sense of community among everyone on campus.

I love the people at the Caulfield campus. I’ve been introduced to so many like-minded people and have been given the opportunity to interact with talented academics on both personal and professional levels.

I also love all the groups, clubs and societies on offer. As a result of joining groups, I’ve been able to meet new people, making uni feel like a large community.

I love the openness of Peninsula! I love that I can sit outside on a sunny day and have a barbeque with my friends.

The classrooms are amazing – we have whiteboards for walls and extra comfy chairs which make for a really great working environment. However, what I love the most about Peninsula is that you feel like you’re part of a family and not just a number.

I love living by the beach! The Peninsula campus allows me to stay close to the sea without having to live far from uni.

While the business degree is a little bit smaller at Peninsula, the staff and students have created a really great culture that encourages people to want to come to uni. Everyone is very personable and I’ve some made amazing friends.

It may not be as big as the other campus, but it’s great being able to see familiar faces every day when you go to uni. I tend to ask a lot of questions (don’t be afraid to ask questions!), so that staff know me pretty well.

The Berwick campus offers so much, and we’re always looking for more students to join our family!

There are so many things I enjoy about being at Berwick. The lecturers and tutors are so well-informed and really know what they’re talking about. The admin staff are also so friendly.

I love being at a Monash campus that’s slightly smaller than the others.I don’t feel as lost or overwhelmed by the amount of students on campus. I love that you have the “Monash” name and resources but you get to interact personally with your lecturers and tutors.

The best part of university is that it provides you with the flexibility to study at your own pace. As I am a motivated, self-starter, this works really well for me. I was given the opportunity of a 12 month coop program at GM Holden this year and Monash has provided me with time off and even the option to study part-time with a reduced amount of workload in order to support me in gaining valuable industry experience in the “real world.” Therefore balancing university with other parts of my life as well has been very manageable. I am able to socialise with my friends after University hours as well as interact and meet new people during university breaks and contact hours that are flexibly arranged.

The biggest difference between high school and university is the independence. Often in high school you are guided and pushed in the right direction and encouraged and assisted along the way. Needless to say this does not occur at University however, at university it is all up to the individual to chase their dreams. University treats you like an adult in the sense that you have the freedom of choice in what you do. For example, at high school, classes were compulsory to attend or else you would be issued with a severe consequence for being absent. On the other hand, university classes are compulsory, however some students choose whether they attend or not. Although there are no direct consequences involved immediately, this eventually catches up with you as you lack the relevant knowledge prior to exams or assignment preparation. University requires you to be self-driven and a self- starter to properly succeed whereas in high school you are pushed and motivated by your teachers to achieve your best result.