Business Internship Program

Hi my name is Manmeet Singh and I'm an international student studying Bachelors of Commerce, majoring in Accounting. Talking about my industry experience, I've interned at BlueScope as a central reporting and governance intern.

My name's Brandon McConnell. I'm currently in my fourth year of a Bachelor of Commerce, doing a double major in Finance and Accounting, and at the end of 2021 during summer, I completed a three and a half month virtual internship with a Korean fashion and design company.

So I'm interning with the Central reporting and governance team. So basically we look at the financial statements, do the financial analysis, forecast, and all the sort of accounting stuff you can think of. And it's it's really it's really an eye opener for me because being in university, I never got a chance to look how vast the operations, considering a company like BlueScope that is a multinational in different Countries, how vast it would be and what sort of departments they have and what is the work culture there? What is the corporate culture? So it's been it's been a really great experience.

I think for me one of the highlights would definitely be the ability to sort of work with an overseas company and get a sense of an overseas sort of commercial and a commercial operating environment. Also working in a virtual capacity, I was very, was like good skill that I got to practice with over that time.

That's obviously going to be like the hybrid work environment is definitely more prominent since COVID and it was a great skill to sort of develop. And I had a really good experience with with my buddy in the company that I was paired up with. So we still keep in contact now. And obviously that leads to connections and a lot more networking opportunities down the track for for just advice or potential job opportunities. So yeah, that definitely have to be the highlight.

Firstly, I'd say it's a big one for me that getting to know the industry experts, staying, learning with learning with them, staying with them, but more sort of. I really benefit from the analytical software as they used there.

And um it's just like I had the basic skills as an Accounting intern, but learning those specific softwares has given me I'd say a bit of an edge in terms of being more employable, I'd say. Except that I really benefit from the professional development that they are, that it's being offered during my internship because you have all those change management leadership skills of those sort of meet ups and that are helping me out.

Yeah, it has made me really prepared in terms of going out in the workforce because it's just the fact that I'm really more confident in approaching people now, going up to them telling what I've done and having strong experience in terms of in terms of Accounting specifically and more sort of people skills, interpersonal skills and critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, but also those sort of skills that I developed through the internship.

I'd say all of these will come handy in terms of giving me an edge when I go out for jobs. Yeah, so I think the first and most important one would definitely be the ability to sort of work in that remote environment.

Obviously getting a job out of uni, you might find yourself working in sort of that hybrid model where it's a bit of both, the in-person and online, but yet getting the skill to work remotely would definitely be the most important thing that I took away from the internship. But obviously all the other things that come with it on the side, like being able to communicate over emails, communicate over phone calls, zoom calls, whatever medium is used, just being able to sort of build relationships with people that you work with, whether that be you're manager in more of a formal way or just building friendships and and sort of building that common ground with the people that you work with. I think that translates very well for future job opportunities. And I don't think you quite get that just from studying inside the classroom. So I feel like putting yourself in that position where you're immersed in, in a work environment, it puts you miles ahead of the crowd when you're looking to enter the job market later on. Actually, yes. So this is interesting because I was really inclined to become an auditor, and I've been focusing on that since I was like literally in my high school. But going into the internship and getting to know what real life auditing is and getting to know different aspects of that particular discipline, I felt that that wasn't something for me. And I'm really more into doing accounting, still pursuing accounting, but more sort of using it as a strategic plan or maybe going into higher roles.

I'd say that if anything, the Virtual, virtual internship, And the international internship, sort of reinforced the direction that I wanted to go in. So obviously the company that I went into was actually a fashion and design company, which might seem a bit weird, but I went in as a finance intern and I sort of realised that sort the basics, although there was lots of differences, it was very, very similar at that ground level.

So if anything it reinforced and reaffirmed to me that I've like made the right career path like for my own interests. And yeah, it was great. If you have an internship experience and you're going out there for applying jobs, you're I'd say it's more impressive, you know. And if somebody hires you, if an employer hires you, you they know that you've already been in the workplace, you know those skills, how to be in a workspace, how to have those etiquettes, the basic people skills.

So speaking from my experience with BUS 300 and the virtual internship program, I think one of the most important things to emphasise is that the graduate employment market is so competitive for jobs, particularly in in the business field. For myself in the finance discipline, I noticed that it was very Competitive, and it's programs like these that really allow you to set yourself apart from other graduates that are trying to compete for the a limited number of jobs.

So I think being able to have, you know, this international experience, this ability to demonstrate a remote working capacity or hybrid working capacity is very important, sets you apart from from other graduates. To be honest, I would directly attribute um ah I received a graduate job offer to Deloitte and I would directly attribute the virtual internship program as being one of the key contributors to me getting that role.

Just some of the answers that I was able to provide in the interview, some of the experiences that I already had and was able to provide in in situations put me way ahead of some of the people that I was sort of up against and even talking with the team now getting ready to start with them, obviously there's lots of different cultures, backgrounds, nationalities and just sort of having that experience working with one other group has sort of made me feel a lot more comfortable working with or going to be working with those groups going forward in the future.

This is always good to have corporate experience on you. Even, it's 15 days, it still worth enough, and it gives you a quick introduction of how your anticipated workspace is going to be and the way they let you choose what sort of workspace you want to work in. And if if it doesn't work out, you still have the opportunity to reconsider your job applications and you can plan your future job perspectives according to that experience.

Yeah, so it's quite easy to say, but I think you just need to throw yourself out there. I think as students, we're very fortunate at UOW to have things like the NCP grants and support of programs like BUS 300 that give you, you know, the full support and package to go through and do an internship like this.

And I think when you see things like this come across, whether it's emails or newsletters from the careers office, I think you really just need to take it on board, have a have that 5 minutes just to read through and make the inquiries, even if even if you're not 100% sure.

Just just ask them questions and just to see if that's something that you can see yourself doing because you never know, it might it might end up relating, you know, to the career path or an opportunity later on down the track. But the best advice that I could give is just to take advantage of the significant opportunities that we're given as students here at UOW.