My Business Practicum experience: Cindy Zhang

Master of Commerce student Cindy Zhang shares her experience on the Business Practicum (BUSS1321/BUSS6104).

What was your Business Practicum experience like?

I undertook the Business Practicum as a unit of study in the Master of Commerce degree. Like other units of study, it is a 13-week experience. However, the Business Practicum is quite practical, based on the real business world.

In the first few weeks, the lecturer gave an introduction to the company we will work with. The manager from the host company also came to our class to provide us with further details and Q&A sessions.

After that, we were divided into several consulting teams to do team projects in every workshop. Throughout the semester, we did research about the company, gathered information, discussed with team members to generate innovative ideas, and asked for clarification from our client and lecturer. At the end of the semester, we were required to submit a professional report and deliver our findings to the panel at the host company.

Cindy Zhang

Where did you work and what did you do?

The project was about addressing some real issues of learning and development (L&D) function in ASG Group. The project was sponsored by ASG Group, an award-winning IT business solutions provider offering a complete digital transformation service to clients.

My role was to work as a member of the consulting team to help ASG with L&D updates, such as designing some local activities to maintain employee retention rate and boost employee morale.

In the ASG offices

What was the biggest challenge?

I think the biggest challenge was to present our ideas in front of the panel at ASG Group Sydney office. The panel consisted of 8 managers from multiple departments. The meeting was quite formal, everyone in the meeting room was listening to our presentation carefully. Following our presentation was a Q&A session. Managers asked us several questions, some of which were out of scope of what I had previously thought about. They also gave us some feedback, such as areas of improvement and good practices.

This meeting was one of the most formal meetings I have had in my life, so I felt quite nervous at the beginning. However, it taught me how to present professionally to convey my ideas and how to behave in front of a lot of people, which I think will be really helpful for my future job-seeking process. It also offered me an invaluable opportunity to network with professionals in the industry.

How did the Business Practicum help your career?

The Business Practicum helped me to apply knowledge I learned in class to real business case analysis. The unit of study coordinator encouraged us to think out of the scope and try to discover connections between our majors and HR practice. I feel grateful that this program has enhanced my problem-solving skills and business report writing capability.

One personal achievement is that I successfully got an HR internship opportunity because of this practicum. When I was being interviewed, I talked about my experience in the Business Practicum, which was quite attractive to the interviewer. I have never thought about doing HR jobs before this program, so it has really opened a new door to my future career paths.


Learn more about the Business Practicum here.