What do you get up to in your day-to-day role?
I am working in the finance department, specifically covering various areas of accounting. Over the course of my two years of graduate experience, I will have worked across the business performance management team, financial accounting team, tax team, and revenue management team. Currently, I am in my second rotation in financial accounting. The day-to-day is always different depending on the time of year and the deliverables. At the moment I am working through some of our subsidiary company statutory accounts which entail compiling all of the financial data for the year into reports to be distributed to our board and shareholders. In addition to this, I also have my own ‘month end deliverables which involve reconciliations and posting journals and accruals.
In my previous rotation, I was working in the Business Performance Management team, and I helped in the creation of our budgets and regulatory reporting as well as some other month-end deliverables reporting monthly financial results.
My job involves a lot of Excel use each day, most of which you will learn on the job (you realise uni only scratches the surface of Excel!) and other various accounting systems such as SAP and Board. I’m not always in front of my computer either, there are a lot of opportunities to socialise with colleagues during your workday. I am in our Women In Power networking group program called ‘Coffee Roulette’ where I am matched with someone else in the business once a fortnight and we organise to go grab a coffee and talk about our careers and personal lives. There are also various morning teas and other events throughout the year to encourage networking with peers, plus a lot of opportunities to go on training days or site trips to learn more about the business.
What's your background?
I grew up in the western suburbs of Melbourne and would be the first in my immediate family to study at university. I had so many ideas of what I wanted to be when I finished school, so much so, I would constantly change my mind. I went from wanting to do fashion design, law, forensic science, and teaching the list just went on! I didn’t have an older sibling or family member who had gone through high school who could guide me with subject selection and I was overwhelmed by the thought of my decision to study subjects in year 10 could determine the rest of my working life!
I graduated from high school in 2010 and was accepted to study arts at La Trobe. I lasted one year before I figured out it wasn’t for me and decided to drop out and pursue full-time work so I could travel. I ended up doing 3 months in the USA on a solo trip in 2011.
I decided to have another go at uni when I came back home and thought I would pursue culinary management. I studied for 2 years before deciding it wasn’t what I wanted to pursue, but it ended up being a beneficial endeavour as I realised I loved all the business and finance subjects I had studied there. I ended up going on to study and graduate with a Bachelor of Business at RMIT majoring in entrepreneurship and economics. Throughout my studies, I worked part-time in hospitality in various roles and managed to still fit in a bit of travel in between. Upon graduating I began working full-time as a restaurant and cellar door supervisor at a winery, with a dream to eventually open my own restaurant one day. After the covid lockdowns however, my love for hospitality started to dwindle and I decided that a change is what I needed.
I landed in the position I’m in now by going back to study for a more specialised degree (Master of Accounting) as I was struggling to find a corporate role with just my bachelor’s degree. I am still studying for my master's as I work as a graduate and my managers are really flexible with giving me the time off I need for exam times. I also spent a lot of my spare time while I was hunting for a role, doing the free online courses offered by LinkedIn to gain some extra skills that would help me in my job search.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
As my role here is heavily accounting based, I think it would be quite difficult to do this job without a background in accounting. If it is something you really want to pursue, I think that my story is evidence enough that it is never too late to return to study and change careers.
Although there is a technical skill needed to complete my role, I think it’s incredibly important to also develop your soft skills as company culture, communication and attitude are also important aspects of any role.
What do you love most about your job?
It sounds super nerdy, but I love all the math and problem-solving I get to do on any given day. I also have an affinity for a spreadsheet, so I always feel a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when building my own models. My colleagues are also such a great group of people, always willing to help me with work related things as well as provide a good chat and laugh. And I’m not going to lie, the free lunches and social events throughout the year also help!
So far, what has been the highlight of the graduate program? Was your graduate role as you expected it to be? Did anything take you by surprise?
The highlight of my graduate program so far has been the way I have been welcomed into the team and treated as any other team member. You sometimes hear of some horror stories of graduates being overworked, given tasks that no one wants to do or just being generally bossed around, and I can honestly say I’ve never once been treated like that or felt that way in my time here. I obviously don’t have the experience of my peers; however, everyone has been so helpful and welcoming and has gone above and beyond to ensure that I am comfortable and that I’m able to do my job successfully. My experience in my graduate role has been better than I could have ever expected, and I’ve been surprised by just how much I have learnt while I’ve been here, both about myself as well as the technical parts of the role.
Everyone is keen on maintaining work/life balance, with that in mind what is the longest day you have put in and have you worked weekends at all?
The work/life balance here is great. A typical day for me is usually 8.45 am - 5.00 pm in the office with about an hour for lunch. I think the latest I have ever worked back was 6.00 pm when we had a time-sensitive deadline. There are also flexible work arrangements in place, so I am able to work from home for a day or two if I wish. I actually enjoy coming into the office for the social aspect and I find I’m more productive in the office so I only really work from home when I have appointments to go to, or I just need a break from the commute. I am still studying for my master's online and need to usually devote one night after work as well as an entire day on the weekend to get through my coursework and assignments, and I still find that between that, work and my home commitments (renting by myself) I can still enjoy time out with friends and family and have time for a little bit of fun.
Do you have any advice for potential graduates applying?
If I could have a do-over, I wish I had done an internship whilst at uni before graduating to make the job search a little easier. I think it would have also given me more of a taste of what to expect in a corporate 9-5 role. In saying that though, it's obviously not necessary to successfully get a graduate role.
My advice when applying for graduate roles is to just keep an open mind and apply for the roles that sound like you! Even if you don’t tick every box on the listing criteria, apply anyways, the worst that can happen is not getting the job, the best is having a role that you absolutely love.
Even if you think you don’t think you have relevant experience for the role, most part-time jobs that you would have done during your studies will have some transferrable experience or skills. There is no doubt that you would have done some problem-solving, communicating with customers and other stakeholders, working in a team with a common goal etc. Instead of relying on your studies alone, try to use some of this practical experience in your interviews or application as it is what a lot of employers are looking for.