My Business Practicum experience: Claudia Wan

Master of Commerce student Claudia Wan shares her experience of the Business Practicum unit BUSS6104.

Claudia Wan

How did you get involved in the Business Practicum?

My interest in this started very early on, from when I first applied for my Master of Commerce degree. My plan was to spend the first three semesters learning about the specifics of finance and business analysis, and in the final semester, I wanted to apply what I had learned in the form of a practical project. The Business Practicum unit was the perfect fit.

What were the highlights of this program?

There were four key highlights of the program for me:

1. It took us through the entire consulting process and gave us real-world experience through interactive exercises in the classroom and projects with industry partners.
2. It is not just a project, but also a life-changing experience. The course began with me creating a self-reflection report, focusing on what type of team member I am and what areas I need to improve and extend myself in. This allowed me to learn much more about myself and reflect on how I collaborate with other people. I believe this reflection will help me not only in my professional life but in my personal life too. 
3. Receiving detailed, comprehensive feedback. The course entails submitting two personal reflection reports, one at the beginning of the project and one at the end. After submitting the first report, we received very thorough feedback from Gaia, the course coordinator, which identified areas of improvement, and were very helpful in writing my second report.
4. Making strong connections with my professor and teammates. You will work in the same team of 4-5 people on a consulting project for a client. During this time, your professor is seen more like a project manager and your teammates like your colleagues, all working together to support you through the project. In this course, you will get an early taste of how to build relationships in the workplace, and you will also build deep connections with your teammates and professors over the course of the unit.

What career skills do you think you developed through the program?

The career skills I believe I developed through the program include:

• Time management skills: this project was carried out whilst taking an additional three units thus, we needed to communicate within our own group to manage the progress of the whole project, which greatly exercised our time management skills.

• Teamwork skills: personality tests were given at the beginning of the course to identify what kind of team member we were, which allowed us to understand our own personalities and those of our teammates. The four-month-long project also helped us to develop our team communication and collaboration skills.

• Self-reflection skills: at the beginning of the course, we were introduced to the scientific method of self-reflection and some of the tools available, such as the 5R principles, and were asked to complete two self-reflection reports. I felt that using the 5R principles enabled me to push myself more deeply to get to the root of the problem and make improvements.

• Problem-solving skills: consulting, broadly speaking, is helping clients solve their problems. The whole course was a good introduction to the consulting tools that could be used to solve a problem.

What would you say to future students considering applying for the Business Practicum?

• Be bold.

• Be creative.

• Be talkative. 

Learn more about the Business Practicum unit.