Graduate Profile - Bachelor of International Business

Could you give us a description of what your position involves or will involve?

It is a 12 month program, that offers graduates 3 rotations in different departments, such as marketing, product, finance, legal, HR, and customer service. Over the course of the year, Graduates will be supervised by a manager, who will offer advice to what areas the graduate may be interested in and also any additional help. After the 12 months is up, the Graduate is then offered permanent employment within Westpac, usually in the area that the Graduate was most successful or enjoyed the most.

With your experiences in securing employment what advice would you give to students who are in their first, second, and final year of study?

My advice to first and second year students would be to join the WorkReady program and get industry experience. This allows students to get a greater understanding of the industry that they are going into, and also shows future employers that they are constantly wanting to learn more and improve on university learnt skills. Even getting casual employment would show employers that you are a hard worker and can handle both university and work at the same time. Of course extra curricular activities are a bonus to have on a resume and these are looked upon well by employers. Look at attending all of the Graduate Skill Development seminars as they are a great help in developing skills and make sure to utilise all of the benefits provided by the Careers and Employer Liaison Centre as they can help you put together your CV and give you more information on interviews or applying for jobs when you need it.

For final year students, I recommend that they keep their options open and work really hard at getting all of the graduate application forms in on time. Also, talk to friends and families about what you want to do and in what areas, as they may have some suggestions. Don’t get discouraged by rejection letters as not every job will be suited for your degree or qualifications, but there is no harm in trying and there will always be one that suits you.

What was the application and interview process like?

Firstly, there was an online application form that needed to be completed by a certain date, which was followed with a 30-minute telephone interview. After successfully completing the interview, the next phase was an assessment centre.

The assessment centre went from 9-2pm and there were 8 students there in total. We arrived and there was a brief introduction to all the Hudson evaluators, the Westpac representatives, the assessment centre timetable and this specific method of assessing.

The first part of the centre that I had to complete was a panel interview with one person from Hudsons and one from Westpac. It went for approximately 40 minutes. Next was a timed diagrammatical test that went for 40 minutes. Whilst I was doing these sections other people were doing different sections. Following this, I had a 15-minute break and then with 3 other students we completed individual verbal and numerical tests. Both 30 minutes long.

Then we had a supplied lunch, which all the evaluators were present at, however I don't think that they were watching how we interacted with others. Next, was a group exercise. We were split into 2 groups of 4, and told to discuss a problem, creating an answer that the whole group agreed on. This section was not as hard as I thought it would be, as they were looking more at how we worked in a group, rather than our presentation skills at the end, or how well we analyse a problem. Then there was a question and answer section and the day was over.

As all of the other candidates had been to an assessment centre and I hadn't, I thought that I was definitely on the back foot. However, because I had come to a Drop In at the Careers and Employer Liaison Centre, read through the Assessment Centre and Interview booklets prior to the day and also watched the Assessment Centre video, I was able to get more of an insight into what the day would actually consist of.

As a result I was actually contacted by Westpac and they have offered me a position in their graduate program. I am very pleased and excited and would say that all the preparation I did for that assessment was extremely helpful and necessary.

In your opinion, what factors enabled you to be successful in obtaining employment?

I believe that a large reason why I was offered employment was my experience with customer service. My casual jobs offered me excellent training and experience in this area and I learnt a lot from the opportunities. Also, my good grades showed that I have really valued my time at university, trying to learn and understand as much of my course as possible. I also think that because I was confident in my own abilities and skills this was positively shown to the employers. Without boasting, I was able to prove to them that I am a valuable employee to have, through understanding my own capabilities, but also recognising that I still have a lot to learn.

Do you have any further helpful hints for graduates?

Make sure that when you are applying for jobs or going to interviews, you surround yourself with positive people who believe in you. Most people are nervous going to interviews and it always helps if just before you go, someone says that you will be great, just be yourself and they will love you - it lifts your spirits and usually helps during the interview.