The Business Practicum (BUSS6104) is an elective unit offered by the Work Integrated Learning Hub (WIL Hub), within the Master of Commerce degree. It enables students to apply theoretical knowledge to solve a real-life challenge articulated by a sponsor company.
In this project we had the chance to work as a team with the Trade Commission of the French Embassy - Business France, an organisation responsible for accommodating and accelerating French SMEs international expansion and export to other countries. The project specifically addressed the renewable energy market in Australia, with 20 students working in online and offline project groups to research and analyse a challenge. We were required to identify and evaluate various opportunities across the market to provide the best solution to our client, Business France.
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| Sara Mehrzadi |
How has the Business Practicum helped you?
The Business Practicum has enabled me to apply my theoretical knowledge in different areas, gain valuable experience in client interaction, be familiar with consulting roles and practices, extend my professional network in Australia, up-skill myself in presentation and self-reflection skills, and more importantly, not be afraid of ambiguity, uncertainty and complexity in solving problems.
Moreover, this project helped me improve and gain experience in many critical areas identified as the most wanted skills in graduate roles. These qualities include different areas such as complex problem solving, critical thinking and creativity.
What was the best part about your experience?
The best part about this experience was the opportunity to actively engage with clients and receive ongoing constructive feedback on your progress. In this process, you will learn how to incorporate the client's perspective and ideas in different project stages and how to hold a client centric perspective. The client meetings were the highlight of our workshops, which helped me gain valuable experiences and kept the process exciting throughout the semester.
What advice would you give future students?
The deeper you dive, the more you will learn. There is nothing to stop you to go further in this project but time, so be as thorough as you can. This is the opportunity to go beyond the university's regular learning opportunities as this project can teach you many valuable skills that enable you to address VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) issues in your future/current roles.
During this project, I was required to shift away from my comfort zone and face the project's uncertainties. This has positively affected me in dealing with real-life business issues and taking a step further from my ambiguity avoidance. So don’t be afraid, you might experience different emotions throughout the project but eventually everything will come together and you will be proud of yourself.
Would you recommend enrolling in this program?
If you are unsure or considering consulting roles as one of your career paths options, then this is the course for you. But remember, you need to be ready to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty, as this course is very much of a hands-on project which requires your involvement.
Also, I recommend taking this course in your final semester so you will have the opportunity to apply all of your knowledge to a real-life case and gain valuable experience for your future roles.
Learn more about the Business Practicum.
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