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Finding the best direction

11 May 2017

Meet Ms Yi Ling Ng. She is embarking upon her fourth and final year of a Food and Agribusiness degree and has already figured out her career direction from Directus.

Food and Agribusiness student, Yi Ling Ng

Food and Agribusiness student, Yi Ling Ng

Fourth-year Food and Agribusiness student Yi Ling Ng completed her compulsory internship with food product developer and supplier, Directus.

“Directus is a global company with offices in Hong Kong, USA, New Zealand and Australia. The company supplies finished food products such as olive oil and wine as well as food and beverage ingredients, including purees, flavours and fruit and vegetable concentrates. Directus also provides assistance in developing and creating new food and beverage products,” Yi Ling said.

“My internship with Directus allowed me to explore the different business aspects within the company including marketing, research and sales. I really appreciated the opportunity to work independently on new product development and marketing projects.

“I had three different projects to work on, including developing a cake mix, formulating clean energy drinks, and analysing the market to advertise a microbial brewery testing kit.”

Yi Ling’s internship has helped her determine which aspect of the industry she would like a career in.

“The innovative elements of research in new product development is of great interest to me. The food industry in Australia offers a wide range of career options; however, having lived in Singapore and Hong Kong, I would like to explore the food industry in Asia, and how Australian enterprises can interlink.

“The internship experience has given me the confidence to work effectively and communicate with my fellow professionals in a fast-paced work environment. My internship enabled me to gain confidence in my abilities and translate my academic knowledge from university into industry skills and practical knowledge to solve real work problems and challenges,” she said.

My internship enabled me to gain confidence in my abilities and translate my academic knowledge from university into industry skills and practical knowledge to solve real work problems and challenges.
Yi Ling Ng, Food and Agribusiness student

The icing on the cake mix Yi Ling developed is that she has secured casual work with her host organisation.  

Yi Ling hopes to continue learning new skills at Directus, continue building professional connections and apply the interpersonal and technical skills she acquired during her internship.

Ms Ng hasn’t always had such a clear direction.

“I have always had an interest in, and a passion for quality food, but I was unsure which aspect of the food industry I was really interested in. I started an engineering degree at a different institution and found that it wasn’t for me, so at the end of my first year, I came across Food and Agribusiness and I have never looked back on that decision to change courses,” she said.

Yi Ling learnt a lot about herself during her internship that she can apply to personal and professional situations.

“I’ve learnt through this experience that I will try to face every task with a positive attitude, always challenge myself and make use of every learning opportunity.”

The next challenge ahead for Yi Ling is her research project.

“I’m tackling an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) project on improving the value chain of the rice industry in Cambodia. This project is a pretty perfect match for my aspirations and I’m really looking forward to going to Cambodia to meet with rice farmers and establish some baseline data later this year,” Ms Ng said.

Visit Snapchat to check out Yi Ling's work in Cambodia.