Business students secure employment through the Industry Placement Program

The Industry Placement Program connects students with industry partners in Australia and abroad who provide a 10-week internship over the course of a semester or 6 weeks internationally during semester breaks.

Through the program, students gain quality industry experience and the opportunity to learn from the best in the field while earning credit towards their Business School degree.

Hear how the real-world experience and networks built through the Industry Placement Program resulted in offers of employment for four Business School students.

Supporting the Enterprise Risk team at Macquarie Group 

I worked in the Enterprise Risk team in the Risk Management Group at Macquarie, supporting tasks to uplift key operational risk management frameworks and working with key stakeholders within the business. After my 10-week placement, I was fortunate that I was offered a part-time contract to continue to work in the team.

The Industry Placement Program offered valuable work experience and helped me expand my professional network, creating a great foundation for my future career. I learnt about the importance of diversity in the workplace and how beneficial differing perspectives and backgrounds are when solving problems.

Leading a cross-functional team at Reckitt 

I was placed with Reckitt, a Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company whose brand portfolio includes Nurofen, Gaviscon and Dettol. I joined their Health business unit as a Marketing Intern for the Gaviscon brand, leading the online roll-out of their new digital assets across the key Gaviscon pillars, including a New Product Development (NPD).

I coordinated the roll-out across the Gaviscon website, Chemist Warehouse online and Amazon, and worked closely with the cross-functional team to ensure all content was compliant with local legal and regulatory standards. I was also given the opportunity to work with local and global teams to migrate the Gaviscon website to improve user functionality. 

During my experience at Reckitt, I learnt an abundance of technical skills, such as utilising new software platforms to review marketing assets, and equally I developed my ability to lead a cross-functional team which required strong time-management and communication skills. 

Following this, I was offered to continue my time at Reckitt as a Marketing Executive working on the Nurofen brand, supporting Consumer and Healthcare Professional (HCP) marketing in groceries and pharmacies across Australia. 

The Industry Placement Program is a fantastic way to learn more about an industry beyond the classroom. Not only did I gain knowledge about how a multinational business operates, but I was also given the opportunity to strengthen my soft skills in challenging situations. I did this by always taking initiative, contributing my ideas and thoughts, and asking questions, so that I was constantly learning and applying critical thinking to my work. 

Working with senior consultants at Retail Doctor Group 

I was placed as a Strategy Analyst Intern at Retail Doctor Group, where I assisted senior consultants with consumer insights and strategy projects for clients and supported implementation plans. I was working on multiple consulting projects in the food and homeware industry, in which the work I was doing would normally be completed by consultants and analysts.

As I developed my skills and helped deliver projects to the expectations set by the senior consultants, I was offered a position in the company. 

Working on consumer insights projects allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of how marketing strategies are improved with big data. Working at Retail Doctor Group with experts of varying levels of seniority allowed me to develop my presentation and communication skills and working on a variety of projects allowed me to improve my analytical and critical thinking skills.

The Industry Placement Program not only allows you to gain invaluable skills but also gives you an idea of what you want to pursue in your future career. I would encourage all Commerce students to apply for the unit and get the most out of it.

Building transferable skills at Morrow Sodali 

As an intern for the Marketing team at Morrow Sodali, I was involved in several marketing projects including their quarterly publication, merger and acquisition LinkedIn campaigns, and an internal marketing campaign. I assisted in designing templates for future proposals and built client-facing emails and newsletters, having the privilege to partake in most of these projects from its initiation stage to completion. 

The program enabled me to learn many transferable skills including communication and leadership as well as technical skills like using Salesforce and Pardot, which are Marketing software used by many companies. It allowed me to utilise all the knowledge learned whilst at university and provided me with insight into the marketing industry. 

In this program, I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone to capitalise on the opportunity. As a result of this, my self-confidence developed, allowing me to create a positive reputation of myself which was evidently demonstrated when the firm offered me a part-time position after my placement.

My advice to Business students is to apply for the program and step outside of your comfort zone to make the most of this opportunity. It has opened my eyes to the wider world and taught me many invaluable skills, which are transferrable across jobs.