My Business Consulting Practicum Experience: Jade Zhuang

Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Advanced Studies student Jade Zhuang shares her experience of the Business Consulting Practicum (BWIL1300) unit. 

Jade Zhuang

Business Consulting Practicum in a nutshell 

 

Business Consulting Practicum is an elective unit offered by the WIL Hub to strengthen students’ consulting skills, allowing you to apply the knowledge gained from your degree to a real-life business project. 

 

In this unit, you are put into a small group to work on a consulting-type project for an industry partner. It is an entirely project-focused unit as you go through the process of a consulting project from brief to final presentation. 

 

Connecting with industry

 

Meeting our industry partners on campus was quite an amazing experience. In week 2, we had a briefing and Q&A session with the client, Fifth Frame. This briefing session helped me understand the difference between boutique firms and big four companies and the Q&A session provided me with insights about the recruitment challenge faced by boutique firms.

 

In week 7, our group presented our initial proposal to four members of Fifth Frame, separately gaining valuable feedback from different perspectives. In week 13, the co-founder of Fifth Frame joined our class to give feedback on our proposals and answered questions about a career in consulting. Afterwards I connected with Fifth Frame members on LinkedIn and introduced myself.

 

Highlights of the unit

 

I gained more opportunities to interact closely with academics in this unit than in any other unit. Working with clients also enabled us to connect with industry professionals and gain valuable insights into our future career. Most importantly, I met many like-minded students, making great memories and friendships. 

Overcoming challenges

The biggest challenge our team faced was how to differentiate our proposal and ultimately bring value to the table.  

 

We initially recommended Fifth Frame should hold a panel discussion at the university to attract and recruit talented international students. Our unit coordinator Dr Steven Hitchcock advised us to think over the benefits boutique firms can provide to students and design our event based around this.

 

Guided by Dr Hitchcock, we conducted persona mapping around the problem statement, recognising international talents’ dilemma in the job market. We were taught to calculate the costs of hiring international talents and benefits of expanding market share by involving them.

Learn more about the Business Consulting Practicum unit.