7th March, 2019
University students granted an insider experience with leading corporates are more employable and more confident in their work, writes Anusha Ahluwalia.
As a student of Commerce and Law majoring in Accounting and Supply Chain Management, the opportunity to gather real-world experiences with relevant businesses is invaluable to Kiwi students.
While university is often centred around theory and academics, an increasing focus is being given to practical, hands-on learning and MYOB has been particularly helpful in engaging with New Zealand’s institutions in order to offer a platform that facilitates these experiences.
Now in my fourth year, and as President of Beta Alpha Psi (BAP)’s Auckland Chapter, I’ve been lucky to have had several such learning experiences with MYOB – both as a student and club executive – building up to the recent MYOB INCITE 2019 event.
Last year, I and other members of BAP attended a tour of MYOB’s offices, which reaffirmed the exciting and empowering environment I’d heard about. From the refreshing office layout (including pool tables), to heart chats with MYOB grads, I built a strong connection with the company and its people.
This connection was further enhanced when MYOB got involved in the BAP x Deloitte Pink Ribbon Breakfast. MYOB’s Jo Tozer flew in to Auckland to be a part of the ‘Pink, Power and Passion for Tech’ guest panel, featuring some of New Zealand’s most prominent women in tech. She discussed MYOB’s efforts with diversity and inclusion, involvement in Male Champions of Change and MYOB’s Special Report on Women in Tech.
The Pink Ribbon Breakfast sparked an important conversation surrounding diversity and inclusion among attendees and seeing MYOB’s commitment towards these issues was heartwarming.
I have also been lucky enough to represent BAP at MYOB’s 2018 Christmas celebration, which gave me the opportunity to interact with MYOB’s key stakeholders, including staff and business partners.
READ: How education-corporate partnerships aid students in the transition to work
Complementary experiences that offered on-the-job learning have further enhanced by my familiarity with MYOB and its employees. They’ve also helped me realise the extent of opportunities available in the workplace.
For example, I was lucky enough to undertake a 15-month internship where I was using MYOB AccountRight extensively for client work. During this time, I became familiar with several major aspects of the software and its function, generating reports and statements for analysis.
Given a rudimentary working knowledge of the software, I found this internship that little bit easier when getting up to speed, and the fact that I had existing relationships with MYOB staff who were available to offer support made the experience not only smoother, but more enjoyable than I could possibly imagine it would have been otherwise.
And in going through this process I’ve come to understand just how much students tend to be influenced by the firms and brands most visible to them (in the form of university endorsements, word of mouth and so on). As a result, an accounting student is often led to believe their career should start at one of the ‘Big Four’ and, if it doesn’t, they remain significantly disadvantaged.
While the big firms can be a great start for many, what isn’t often discussed is that every individual will find their ideal job fit in potentially different working environments, different career pathways and different jobs within those pathways.
And that’s why, when I saw an advertisement for this year’s MYOB INCITE event on the BAP Facebook page, I leapt at the chance to be involved.
For the third year in a row, accounting students were invited to join MYOB INCITE to get an intimate view of Australia and New Zealand’s leading online accounting software provider.
This is the first instalment of a two-part series describing Anusha’s experience in the lead up to, and during, MYOB INCITE 2019. You can now read the second part here.