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Rachel - UTS Business School  0:00  
Okay, good evening, everyone. Thank you so much for joining this evening where we will be talking about the Bachelor of Accounting or BAcc here at UTS Business School.

Firstly, I'd like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation upon whose ancestral lands our City Campus now stands. I would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for this land. I'm also conscious that we're zooming in from many different locations tonight. So I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land in which you're currently on at the moment too

Before we get started, I just wanted to let you know that the session will be recorded. So by taking part today, you are consenting to that recording being made available.

We won't be using names or anything like that in Q&A, so there will still be anonymity. But that recording will be will be made and shared as well.

Now, my name is Rachel and I work in the Marketing team here at UTS Business School. And we're also joined this evening by Bachelor of Accounting Director, Michelle Cook. We've also got BAcc first year students Mohanisha and Christian, second year student, Georgia, and Lauren, who graduated from BAcc in 2017. And is now a senior consultant at EY.

In the background, we've also got Samantha from UTS Business School, and Carin, who works with Michelle in the Bachelor of Accounting, and they'll be helping answer some questions that you've got that come through.

So just on that, if you do have any questions, you'll notice in your Zoom control panel, there's a little Q&A box, just pop your questions in there. If you see any questions that have already been asked that you really want the answer to, you can upvote them as well. And that will pop them to the top. And we'll know those are the most in demand questions that you want answered.

So tonight, we're going to be covering what exactly is the Bachelor of Accounting, what the course structure is, how it works. We'll be talking about our sponsors, internships, how they work, when you do them, what kind of stuff you'll be doing, the career options available, the application process, and again, any questions that you've got, we are more than happy to answer that.

Okay, so Michelle, thank you so much for joining us this evening. One of the questions we get asked so many times is what exactly is the Bachelor of Accounting? How is it different to the Bachelor of Business? Would you be able to touch on that for us? It would be my pleasure. So the Bachelor of Accounting is actually a Bachelor of Business. And the only requisite is that you must have one major in Accounting. But when I say is the Bachelor of Accounting is like a Bachelor of Business with a whole lot of glitter.

Michelle Cook  3:13  
What I mean by that is there's so many add ons that come with a Bachelor of Accounting, and we will be touching on many of those one being, you know, that you have

so much work integrated learning, in your two internships, you have the ability to be with a small cohort, which is amazing. And I know we're going to go much deeper into that. There are so many opportunities the BAcc gives you including a scholarship, of course, which is a big differentiator. So you, over the three years you receive about $51,000, so not all at once; it is over three years.

And people often ask me, you know, why was this program created? And the reason it was created actually 32 years ago, would you believe was to paraphrase this, so it was very stilted, but it's to attract and develop high performing students to create future business leaders. And with that, we're asking you to use accounting as a foundation. So why accounting? Well, a couple of fun facts first about accounting. Do you know it's the second oldest profession in the world?

The FBI employ more accountants than agents. Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, guess what he was? An accountant. And an accountant invented bubblegum.

I mean, doesn't that attract you to accounting? Look at this dizzy heights you can get to, but quite seriously. accounting is actually the doctor of business. It looks the symptoms that go wrong. It gives solutions to what can be fixed and it is a degree or profession

that's transferable internationally. The only place you can practice accounting, according to the International Accounting Standards is in North Korea. So that's a pretty big, you know, pool that you can go into. And not only that, I think you become a trusted adviser within business. So when we later, I'll tell you some of the roles that accountants have been playing, especially the alumni for BAcc, I think you'll be quite astounded.

I also say that another silly analogy, but it's the truth. I don't know if you know about a Swiss Army knife. But that has different applications right across as you open it up. And accounting is that role in business. So you can move from accounting to marketing, you can move from accounting to human resources, you can move from accounting to any other sector of business, but you can't go the other way. And research has shown that in doing accounting, you are more likely to get an executive position as a CFO or CEO. So what we're trying to do is to assist you through BAcc to become the best professional self you possibly can be. So while the UTS Business School is also amazing. We just piggyback off that to add, as I said, a little bit more glitter.

Rachel - UTS Business School  6:18  
Definitely, definitely glittery. That's fantastic. I mean, I think, for me, when I was in high school, especially I was very much caught up in the stereotype of Oh, accounting is people that are chained to their desks with calculators, which is very much not the case. Georgia, when you were in high school, and you were tossing out which degree to do, did you have a certain idea of what accounting was? And has that changed now that you're in your second year?

Georgia - BAcc Student  6:49  
Yes, definitely. So to be honest, when I first looked at the Bachelor of Accounting or heard of the Bachelor of Accounting, I thought it would be very black and white, working straight out of a textbook working all day without leaving my desk and plugging numbers straight into a calculator. But I have to admit, this is probably my fault for searching up Accounting on the internet and finding that every single photo that came up was all the calculator. So I definitely took that as my initial perception of Accounting. But from the very first accounting subject that I took last year, in first year, because I'm a second year now, it definitely got rid of all those preconceptions, and made me realize how diversified and important accounting actually really is, like Michelle mentioned, you can progress in the workforce with an accounting based degree into many different many different factors and many different, I guess, levels, but you can't go from those levels up to accounting and accounting profession. So then that accounting actually provides you with an essential basis to branch out into other things business related in the future. And to my surprise, there are also many different types of accounting, which I didn't realize coming into the degree such as financial and management accounting. As such, despite my original perceptions of accounting being very dull and boring, as many of you probably are thinking, I believe it has been and will also definitely will be the most important subject whilst I take at uni to enhance and enable future career progression. So if any of you are guilty into falling into the boring accountant trap, this is definitely not the case. And I think from a first hand opinion, from a second year student, that being myself, I can assure you that accounting is definitely one of the most valued degrees in a very demand driven profession.

Lauren - BAcc Alumni  8:40  
Fantastic, excellent. And Lauren, obviously, you're a few years out and you've had some really cool roles. Obviously, you're at EY at the moment you worked for Louis Vuitton for a little while as well. Um, you know, obviously you're not chained to your desk with a with a calculator or anything like that. Um, do you have anything to add to what Georgia said from a from an alumni perspective? Yeah, no, definitely I dont think I could last a day if if it meant being chained to my desk. So you would probably all on the call, be very pleased to hear as someone I think I've been now working in accounting, if I count my BAcc experience for six years. And to be honest, every day has been so different from the last I think that my accounting qualifications have really given me breadth of, of different experiences. I've looked at, you know, a merger and acquisition, reporting to a board for one of the big four Australian banks to report on that merger, as well as looking at project management, operating models, audit and other considerations that have all been built off my foundation of accounting knowledge. And I think what I'd like to stress is that as an accountant, you're able to translate the information of the business so that informed decisions can be made and

And to Michelle's point about, you know, a lot of CEOs and CFOs and more senior leadership come from an accounting background, it's because there's nothing like it that can actually tell you the facts tell you a story just by looking at numbers and the way things are being processed. And that looks to a lot of past transactions, we'll also look at the future of the business. And this course, is not, it's not only great because of that, there are so many extra add ons that we're going to touch on too tonight. So as a base, from a career perspective, your development is next to none, it is amazing. And it will give you the skills to actually be able to go into a business and understand what they're doing. And as an EY employee, that's a lot of my work is frontline professional services. So it looks at going out to banks and going out to big corporate players and giving them advice or judging what they're doing with their numbers in their books. So it's a pretty cool thing when you can do that very early on in your career, and give meaningful insight. And that's all because of BAcc and also my CA qualification in accounting.

Rachel - UTS Business School  11:07  
Fantastic. Excellent. And Michelle, it is a very competitive course as well. We do expect a lot from our BAcc's. What are you looking for from our current students? Nice people,

Michelle Cook  11:23  
is one of the most important things. So what we try and develop is the students themselves, and we're expecting; we have high standards. And we make no apologies for that. Because what we're trying to do is develop you to be your best self.

How do we get the best out of you academically? How do we develop you professionally? How do we develop you as a human that will go back into society, in a very trusted profession, and continue to develop our our communities Really? So one of the big things in BAcc is we ask you to give back.

How can you use your skills and your opportunities to help give back to community and therefore give back to yourself? So it's not just academics; it's also really developing the human being that you are.

Rachel - UTS Business School  12:18  
Excellent.

Christian - BAcc Student  12:19  
And just just to touch on academics, briefly, um Christian, how do you find the workload? I know you're involved in some student societies, so you know, you've got you've got the Bachelor of Accounting, you've got those social commitments, you know, you've got a personal life as well. How do you do that juggle? Well, I think what the Bachelor of Accounting definitely focuses on from the start is obviously, time management and workload, I think, on orientation day, the first lesson I learned was on time is late. And so just those fundamental lessons that you learn straight from the start, and especially during the fast track period, where you are definitely thrown into the deep end early, they really help your time management skills. I don't think if if it wasn't for fast track period, I wouldn't be able to manage what I do so effectively. So I think, especially with, say your academic studies, it's important to have those social release as well to balance it out. It may seem like a lot of work. But when you're when you make an effort to not only just focus on academics, but like what Michelle was saying, Be a good person and definitely branch out into uni life. It's definitely a good release, and a lot easier to manage all the things that come your way.

Rachel - UTS Business School  13:37  
Excellent, fantastic. And Mohanisha, have you got any tips or tricks for managing workload, especially when assessments and exams are piling up? I think my best friend really through the whole of BAcc has been my diary. So, you know, always penciling in

Mohanisha - BAcc Student  13:58  
any events or assessments and just making sure that I'm staying consistent with my studying. So when it does come near that assessment period, I'm not, you know, scrambling to try and learn the content. But I think another really good thing that I found joining BAcc is that, since it's such a close knit group, we're able to rely on each other. So say any of us ever have any issues with a topic or a subject, we're all completely down to, you know, have a conversation or try help each other learn the content. So I found that really, really useful. Yeah. Excellent. Yeah. It's not like at some high schools where people are vying to be like, first in maths or first in economics, like it's a lot more collegiate and as you said, everyone kind of pitches in and helps as well. Um, so, um, in terms of the actual degree, as you said, Michelle, it's not just solely Accounting;

Michelle Cook  15:00  
It's business to plus glitter, glitter sprinkles, or however you beautifully put it. Can you talk us through how the course is structured? Certainly well um, because it's an intensive course. And we have to fit into two internships, we have a very, we have a different structure in some ways, we start early. And I think Christian mentioned our fast track. And fast track, we so we start in early January, we do some of the gorgeus camp. So that's all nice. But people do subjects quickly in an intensive block mode. So we do two subjects for the first years in six weeks. And then they go into the general Business School within their first session. So while do you do BAcc only subjects in the where as you begin, which is lovely, because you really get to know each other, you then go in with general cohort, and you do core subjects. So our belief at UTS is that you need to have an overall span, doing all core subjects, meaning the basic business subjects that are needed. As he said, You do have to do one, the main most people can do two majors, and there's so many different variations which you can go through. But a major is just more subjects in a certain area. And after that UTS allows you to have the flexibility of choosing from a myriad of subjects to try and enhance your personal self. When I talk about this, I always say you're here to really I say putting on your best and you're fabulous. So really explore the interests that you have in learning. Grasp those Do you know, we have; Well, pre COVID Not at the moment, we've had people go on exchange and go and do electives. And some of them did like electives in yoga, and Mandarin. And just amazing stuff. And I want to really emphasize is that you should always develop your learning, you should be like an expansive person. So the core subjects are there to give you a taste, because you don't know what you don't know, really, you do the Accounting major. And then from there, you can choose what your interests are. And I think the next slide sort of shows that, where you can see there's a myriad of ways that you can extend your learning. And the things you can do are just quite incredible at university, because we don't have one set curriculum. At school, you can explore so many different avenues. So, as I said, we start with fast track.

The only thing we ask you to do is a major in Accounting for the reasons outlined.

Rachel - UTS Business School  17:54  
Fantastic, thanks, Michelle.

Georgia - BAcc Student  17:57  
Georgia, you're obviously in your second year. So you've decided what you wanted to do. I know sometimes, especially for Year 12 students that are tuning in sometimes terminology like majors and sub majors and electives it can get a little bit overwhelming. So can you just talk us through what you've decided to specialize in and how you've decided to tailor your degree? Yeah, not a problem at all. I think before I get into that, I probably want to clarify a few key definitions because it's particularly important for the year 12, who probably don't understand what a major submajor or elective is. So to put it simply, a major is basically a major area of focus for university studies. And this consists of 36 units, which is around eight subjects that are interrelated to one another. So as Michelle mentioned on within the Bachelor of Accounting, you do have to take place in a compulsory major in Accounting. So following the same principle, this will consist of eight subjects that are all accounting related and will be linked to one another.

Finally, the last piece of terminology is an elective. So an elective is simply a one unit one units worth of study or subject that you can take, which can be chosen from a large list of potential subjects. as Michelle mentioned, you can take place in yoga, Chinese languages, innovation, health, mathematics, the list goes on. So it's Bacc's great in the sense that you can tailor the rest of your degree regarding some majors and electives to suit your personal interests and preferences. So going back to the question that Rachel outlined, currently being a second year student, I have started my

So um

compulsory majored in Accounting. So I'm currently taking around three accounting subjects to do with that major. But alongside that, I'm also taking place in a sub major. So my sub major that I decided to specialize in was finance. So I'm currently taking two finance subjects, which means that next semester, when next semester, when I go and take additional subjects, I will complete my sub major, my finance sub major by taking another two finance subjects. So, so far in terms of my submajor in finance, I'm really enjoying it, it's definitely all the practical stuff that you can apply out in the workforce, which is something that I really, really enjoy. But also, in terms of tailoring it and pairing it with the Accounting major, it provides you with that practical aspect, as well as they're nicely intertwined, which I really enjoy, because you can apply one subject to another, which is fabulous, that I think, in general, the subjects that I'm enjoying most are the accounting subjects, because I believe that will be the most important when I come out of university, and they'll help me expand and develop myself personally, as well as like personal growth as well as in my future career progression. Excellent, fantastic. And Christian, you're obviously first year, so you're not as far into the course, as Georgia is obviously. But do you have a rough idea of what you want to do?

Rachel - UTS Business School  21:15  
Excellent, fantastic. And Christian, you're obviously first year, so you're not as far into the course, as charter is obviously. But do you have a rough idea of what you want to do?

Christian - BAcc Student  21:28  
So I'm not exactly Obviously, I'm just getting into my final exams are coming up soon. But I feel as though because there's such a wide variety of subjects, I would obviously choose probably a traditional subject, I was thinking, consulting, and then go into more of a non traditional subject, like a language, obviously, either Chinese, which I did in high school, or Italian, maybe.

Rachel - UTS Business School  21:54  
Excellent. And I think, you know, kind of the the point you're making, as well as that you still don't know, and that's totally fine, you're not locked into a particular you know, you've got to do finance, or you've got to do management or anything like that you can essentially try before you buy with the core subjects and see what you're interested in, which is, which is fantastic.

Lauren - BAcc Alumni  22:17  
And Lauren, how did you choose to configure your degree? You did business law, from memory, is that right? Yes, good memory I did. So I selected business law because I wanted to do something a little bit different to traditional business. Because you know, obviously had the accounting major that gave me really good financial acumen and the ability to understand the financing side of business, but I wanted to really learn more about you know, another, another path or another part of business which is which is law, and I was able to do subjects that, you know, if I did want to pursue something when you know, further study in that particular area, I was able to so I was happy to, to use though like to use that degree, the major and also have that feed into, you know, the work that I do do as an accountant, because that is a lot of the stuff I need to do is based off laws and regulations. So it was a really good and fitting complementary choice to my accounting major.

Fantastic, interesting, just one thing I want to clarify, because I know we do get a lot of questions about this, doing the business law major does not mean that you can become a lawyer, that's correct. You can use subjects to help you get to so you can credit the subjects you do in the business or major, then later do a law degree. So you're kind of add a year study, but you won't get a degree in Law unless you do that.

Rachel - UTS Business School  23:46  
Excellent. Fantastic. Thank you. Now, obviously, uni life extends way beyond the classroom. And the social component is so so important.

There's lots of talk about the kind of BAcc family and the close knit nature of the cohort. I know we've spoken a bit about this previously. But Michelle, are you able to elaborate a little bit more on what exactly that means? I'm what it involves? Absolutely. It's something I'm really passionate about.

Michelle Cook  24:19  
When I say to people, that you won't know how close you've become, I don't think people really believe me. They walk in and first I didn't see Lauren shaking her head, but it is a truth. And I think part of it is when you do work hard together, but you also play hard together, which is fantastic. And I really support that because you're young, you should have fun. It's not all about you know, getting marks and it doesn't make you a whole person. So we do many activities, including as I was saying prior, we go on camps together at the beginning of the year, which helped us get to know each other. consolidate

our relationships with each other. And we've got a BAcc ball which the students have organized on Saturday, sorry, I don't know what I'm wearing yet, but I'll get there. We do. They form study groups, they, they go out with each other. And that's a really important component to build your best self. You also have to make friendships and these friendships last a lifetime. It's quite amazing. And I'm sure Lauren can attest to that as well. So you come in, and you're encouraged to get to know one another. You do so many things together. But part of those things aren't just academic, they are definitely going out having a great time, and really learning to explore all that the university has to offer.

Rachel - UTS Business School  25:47  
Fantastic and Mohanisha, do you want to weigh in from a first year perspective? Did you know anyone from your high school coming in? Like how long did it kind of take for you to settle into the whole kind of BAcc family.

Mohanisha - BAcc Student  26:01  
Unfortunately, I didn't know anyone who came from my school or even who was doing this. So it was a bit scared on my first day. But I think camp because it's just within the first few days of starting, that was a really, really good opportunity to make friends. And that's where probably most of our friendships were formed. But I think just the main thing, we're all sort of like minded students, we have the same interest, the same passion, passion. So

that's like one of the biggest reasons why we were able to form friendships so quickly and so easily. And everyone's just super open to being friends and, you know, just supporting each other.

Lauren - BAcc Alumni  26:45  
Excellent. And Lauren, you're a few years out, obviously. Um, do you still keep in touch with people you went through the course with? Like, how is how is that kept up? Oh, this is my favorite question. Every time I get it, so happy to answer it all the time. And hopefullu I don't sound like too much of a broken record for anyone that has heard this question. But I honestly can't stress enough how close you become with your BAcc cohort. I think it sounds so in a way like to me when I heard about it when I was in Year 12 I didn't actually wasn't really attracted to that part of the course, because I didn't not that I didn't believe it. But I don't think I just fully appreciated it or understand how important it is and how close the friendships I would make are. So I would say in the last month, I've seen probably at least 60% of the BAcc and I'm three is out of my degree. So either spoken to seen probably gonna see some on Saturday, and likely, you know, before that as well. So I've got to respond to a few messages from them right now. So it's, it is a very close connection that you get with the BAcc's and it's also amazing because you're going through your careers at the same time. And because everyone is so ambitious, and you know, motivated, they really for me at least have inspired me so much and have really I think put me in on the on the right path in terms of you know, how to handle particular situations, and just getting different educated and, you know, really informed perspectives on certain life situations, which is actually something that is super, super valuable in in a professional setting, as a professional, you really need that trust and that feedback and that relationship with people that you kind of know, are your go-tos. And it becomes I hope it's going to become even more relevant and important as I've continued to progress. But yeah, I love love them very much. And I remember being told on my first day that I'd go to their weddings, none of them are yet to be married. But I think I see that happening now, which I didn't believe again at the time when I had.

Rachel - UTS Business School  28:53  
Excellent, thanks, Lauren.

Now, obviously, we wouldn't have BAcc if it weren't for our sponsors.

Michelle Cook  29:10  
apart from that, how do our students engage with sponsors? Like what's that relationship like? They are so lucky. It's quite amazing. You know, saying to them, the first years' actually that they have guest lectures every Thursday at the moment, and some of the top executives come to speak to them. So not even six months out of school, and then meeting CFOs of companies and some of those companies CFOs the people who work with them might have never even met them. So it's a huge, huge professional step. Every event we have sponsor organizations and students are asked not to speak to each other. They can do that at the pub, if they're over 18.

use their professional network to then join them on LinkedIn. Because a network is essential. And not only is the network really with, just to harking back to a point I was thinking, it's not only the network that they create as professionals with industry to all our different events for a standalone career expos, our welcome ceremony, which we've just had last Thursday night, they also have a network with each other.

That is their first professional network. And to assist them, we have a buddy program. So that buddy program is we get we have called We've Got Your BAcc (your back).

And with that, we also encourage them to go into sponsor organizations, to alumni, and create other professional mentors. So the ability to go and reach and to have your brand, so widely known at such a young age is quite exceptional.

Rachel - UTS Business School  31:04  
Excellent, fantastic. And Christian, how have you found that as a first year, because obviously, it can be quite a big deal going from year 12. To all of a sudden having these really big names in industry with insane titles coming and speaking to you in such a small group setting? How have you found that

Christian - BAcc Student  31:25  
I think it's important to remember to remember that they are human at the end of the day, like all these people throughout their careers at one point, were in the same shoes that we were. And once you get through that first handshake, you realize that they aren't as intimidating as they may seem, when you realize that these guys have so much experience and knowledge that you can learn off. I remember, I think we had a Stockland CFO come in. And this was my first introduction of a sponsor to our cohort. And I was obviously very nervous. But as soon as I introduced myself, we got to talking about the industry and about, you know, personal lives as well. And you realize that

at the end of the day, it's a symbiotic relationship. And you both have so much to learn from each other. And so I think just getting those daunting thoughts out of your head, it makes these networking events so much more fruitful.

Rachel - UTS Business School  32:20  
Excellent. And Mohanisha. What about you how you found that aspect of the course so far?

Mohanisha - BAcc Student  32:27  
I firstly, say it's, like Christian said, it's su, It's surreal, you know, you're meeting CFOs, and CEOs, and it's just casual. But

as also Michelle said, network is essential. So these relationships that you're forming with it within your group, but also with all of these higher ups you'll carry through your professional career. So you know, if ever you're in between jobs, or that sort of things, you can always rely back on your BAcc network to,

you know, help get you places, but also with recommendations and all of that. But, again, as Christian said, they're only humans sponsors and they absolutely love talking. So if you spike up a conversation, maybe you know, it could be about sport or anything. maybe ask them how their career like the career progression has been like, they're more than happy to inform you about it and just get to know you.

Rachel - UTS Business School  33:27  
Excellent, fantastic.

So obviously, internships are a huge part of the course. So you do one in your first year in the second session, and you do one again in your third year in the first session.

Michelle Cook  33:56  
And then in third year, obviously, they've got a little bit more experience under the belt. How do they differ? How did they get allocated, extended internships, internships, so as you were saying, Rachel, first you have an internship from July through to December, that's their six months, third years, have an internship from January through to July. And our sponsor organization's are passionate about developing our young talent. It's part of their social responsibility. And it's something that they love to give back to. I mean, amazingly, I think sponsors have put in nearly $50 million into this program over its inception. So that's putting your money where your mouth is. And part of their commitment is to give our students the development that they need in their internships. So everyone is always quite anxious because you are six months out of school when you go into your first internship, but remembering that the sponsors have really accounted for this. They're there to help you work. So you're not going to go in

be expected to do the greatest strategy development, you're there to learn to work. And that's really important. How do you go from nine to five or more every day? How do you deal with different people, different age groups, you know, just a diversity of people that you might end to have got; when you think you've come from high school, and then you're going into the corporate world. So it's teaching corporate skills. So what we do is, if we look right across our sponsor range, we're so lucky to have different sectors. So it might be banking, it could be big four. And what you do is you try and decide which sector you might be interested in based on guest lectures. And I always preface this with knowing that you don't know what you don't know. So,

but every internship comes in at sort of entry level. And with that, we have discussions, and then I'll try and place everyone, I'll be honest not everyone gets their first choice. But when you look at the range of sponsors we have, it's absolutely amazing. There's some of the top global companies in the world. After that, we also do our workshops, we do professional etiquette workshops, ah we train you on how to manage your managers. So there's lots we do around internship, so that we just don't push you into the workforce. And leave you alone. And with that, we also have an app that we use. So students will regularly put their feedback in as will, their supervisors, I have a dashboard. And I contact every student once a month, during that time, and we discuss your progression and the progression over the six months. So you'll always know that BAcc is here to support you.

In the third year, they will do the same, but they will have to go to a different industry sector. And that well really, I think, helps differentiate BAcc from say cadetships, because they do have the ability to go to two different sectors rather than working continuously in one, because there's such a breadth in accounting. And it's amazing before you try and enter even thinking about your grad roles. So what that sector actually looks like in real life, and whether it suits you. So it's an amazing program. And then they come out in the end with one year of work experience, which most university students are likely to get six weeks. And then that experience in itself counts towards one day, their professional designation, which is quite a leg up, I think. Yeah, absolutely. And Georgia, you've obviously your second year. So you've done your first internship.

Georgia - BAcc Student  37:53  
How was that? How did you find it, jumping into the corporate world, less than a year out of your 12. It was an amazing experience. And it's such a privilege, especially I was only 18, when I completed my first six months full time internship, like imagine going out of school and being able to do that I'm pretty sure people still in their third fourth year of their degrees, maybe even studying a double degree may have not even stepped foot in an office before and to gain business exposure so early on in your degree is amazing. If I was to quickly reflect on my experiences, I interned at Coca Cola Amatil at their head office at the end of last year, as Michelle mentioned, the second session of the first year for your first internship, in my role was very ad hoc. So I had no day that was ever the same. I walk into the office, one day there'd be monthly consolidations to prepare one day there'd be budgets to prepare, it was extremely good in that sense, as it opened up my eyes to all the different aspects of the company, as well as there was also a lot of responsibility in terms of my role. So

one of the main long term projects that I worked on was preparing the end of year financial pack, which was then distributed to the general public. So it was amazing to work on that because I felt like there was a degree of responsibility associated to my role. So I had to put in all my effort, as well as I was able to gain a lot of experience out of this through being exposed to the different types of annual reports and financial statements, helping prepare notes, as well as working with people that were very high up within Coca Cola Amatil.

In terms of the financial pack, I was able to help automate the process, which was definitely one of my key successes, working at Coca Cola Amatil and I will take never take that for granted any single day. And I feel like that's definitely something I got out of it. But as Michelle briefly mentioned, I also learnt that you shouldn't know everything going into your first internship as you evolve as you immerse yourself within the company and as you interact with those companies, so

I actually found that it's okay to make mistakes I'm sure many people have. And I can agree, I personally made a mistake as well. But that is what enables you to grow. And on a deeper level. Speaking about my experiences at Coca Cola Amatil, I also gained a deeper understanding on how large companies such as CCA, as well, as I'm sure many other second years in my can agree to this on, including how the systems and procedures at such large companies operate, as well as how to be adaptable in any situation that may arise, especially when working in such a large and diversified team.

All the intern companies are very aware that you are first here, you're ever going to have somewhat a little experience or no experience at all. So I think in that sense, personally, I had no experience so, it was a step out of the comfort zone for me. They're very accepting though. And they'll give you as much time as you need to help you progress. So in that sense, it is amazing, especially with the BAcc sponsor companies, they know that your first year they know that you're coming from you've had experience in the sense that you've got those leadership qualities, your hard working and you're dedicated, so they're willing to spend as much time as you need. But I think that's probably the main benefit of the internships. And all in all, I had a great experience and everyone in my cohort has not stopped talking about how enjoyable their internships were especially talking to them. Because coming from a fast moving consumer goods industry that being CCA, and hearing people's experiences within the banking industries, audit, property, it's great to hear how enjoyable each and every single one of them are within BAcc.

Rachel - UTS Business School  41:59  
Excellent. And I think that's such an important point you've made as well, like, on the one hand, they're very aware that you are in your first year, but then equally, they're still getting you involved in these fantastic projects. It's it's not like some people's opinion of an internship where they think oh, all I'll be doing is making coffees and photocopying, you got exposed to some really fantastic projects that is just fantastic on your resume as well.

Lauren, how did you find the process? You know, you've obviously completed the degree. So you did two internships.

Lauren - BAcc Alumni  42:36  
Who did you intern for? And what was it like graduating with that one year of full time work experience? Yes. So I interned at Ernst & Young or EY in my first year, and then currently with now, and then my, in my third year I interned with Westpac. So basically, my role was quite varied. And both roles were very different. But essentially, in a nutshell, it was about reviewing in an audit perspective. So looking at finance, numbers, accounting, and then, you know, giving feedback to the client on whether they've done it correctly in a nutshell audit is all about verifying the integrity of financial statements, which then informs market. So you do have a very important roles in order to, to make sure that the financials are correct, and accurate. And you know, doing this, obviously, I was a first year uni student, so I was absolutely guided and mentored correctly. And given the opportunity to ask as many questions as I needed and to be really well supervise so that I could develop and grow but also add value to my team. And yeah, it'd be a big highlight for me and a big call out to say that you don't go in and not add any value, you absolutely have your own tasks and set assignments. But they are given to you in a very measured way. So what I mean by that is that they're given to you in a way that is is very much digestible, and will put you in good stead for future experiences and opportunities. So you learn basic things like how to just manage and present and maintain yourself, which is a really critical skill in the workplace. And it gives you the opportunity to really polish as a professional before you have to commit to a grad role. So you get to, you get to actually try things and you get to test it, and also to see people walking the floors and how they present themselves. And I mean personally, it was very inspiring to me because I got to work with some amazing business leaders and and you know, to this day, I still very much either a mentor or

people I look up to so I remember I think only a few weeks ago, I had a coffee with one of the EY partners that came out to me on my first year guest lecture. So he's a very strong advocate for the program. So it's just been great to maintain those connections and to learn things that I just I just only really learned from

Doing and not from learning and studying, I think that there is a lot to be said to your work experience and to be behind a computer and behind a client or if you're in a back/ front office, whatever. But yeah, to feel to feel kind of part of a team and to do things instead of just learning about, you know, your debit and credit in the traditional learning University sense.

Unknown Speaker  45:23  
And then just lastly, on expectations about internships, yeah, I can't agree more. The expectation for me was just to have a good attitude. And that was what I had anyway. And I expected that of myself. And that's what you should absolutely expect yourself to just go in with an open mind. And, and the ability to ask the right questions and to think things through. And at the end of the day, you're there to enjoy your time as well. And your team are also there to enjoy having you in the team. So there's so many different opportunities for networking, that's whether it be through team events, or through actual like work. But yeah, so many highlights came out of it I remeber having Icebergs lunch, which is really cool. My firm. Also, during my first year, hired out all of Madam Tussads. And so we had a big event there where we got to go with all that we had dinner and you know, see all the wax figures in the museum. So you just do so, so much. And it's things that I still think is quite amazing. Looking back on that experience, and then how it's also taught me and prepared me for for my grad role.

Rachel - UTS Business School  46:30  
Excellent. Thanks, Lauren. And that is a perfect segue into careers. So you've, you've shared so much really, really valuable knowledge about your career journey since graduating and the kind of work you do. Michelle, do you want to touch on a little bit more about what some of the actual roles are that that students will graduate with? Because obviously, as you were saying before, they're not just going to come out with accountants stamped on their head. So

Michelle Cook  47:02  
would you be able to touch on a couple of the other roles and career paths that they can expect? Absolutely. Well, did I say the world is your oyster, you have this amazing international degree, you will start at first sort of, obviously an apprenticeship within your grad role. But what you can do from there is amazing. So what I did quickly this afternoon was I went onto the Bachelor I searched Bachelor of Accounting on LinkedIn. And I thought I'd just give you a little list, but actually, it's a it's actually a huge list. So I won't read it all out. But uh, where people are. So we have the head of ads for Google, California, Global Head of logistics, in oil, the Macquarie group, we have the senior partner for Boston Consulting, London, Senior Partner and Managing Director for Boston Consulting Chicago, we have the founder of Chebbo's Burgers, which is just an inbound guy, he has a million followers, by the way, try his burgers, amazing. We have the CEO of Mercedes Benz Saudi Arabia, the CFO of Mirvac, the CFO of West Tigers Rugby League, the Head of Finance, for Westpac, Director of Strategic Planning at the Aboriginal Housing Office, the Finance Director for The Iconic, the CEO, JP where the Director of HSBC, the CFO of AMP, the CFO of SMA, the CFO of GPT, Directors of PwC,EY, and Deloitte and the list goes on. So, and that is really, truly there's just a few you can see.

And it's that they've got them actually pushed into these other roles. So as a grad, you will be starting in an accounting role. But where you take that role is totally up to you.

And I think even looking at things like where it will take you like literally where it will take you for some of those roles. They're all over. Really. It really Yeah. You know, I've heard yourself and other accounting academics say that accounting is the language of business and totally, that's, you know, actually where our alumni are is a testament to that. And a third of our alumni are overseas, which is quite a large number. And what we've also done to help people in their careers is I've established chapters across the world. So we have a chapter in New York, a BAcc chapter in London, BAcc chapter in the South Pacific. We have chapter actually in California, because so many are in Silicon Valley, starting having amazing startups. And that means that if you do go to any of these countries in the US or in Europe as well, besides London, then you already have a network of people that are BAcc's who are willing to help you with your careers overseas.

Rachel - UTS Business School  49:57  
Excellent, fantastic. Now

Obviously, we've heard all about how fantastic The courses are all of the Graduate opportunities. But how exactly do you get in? How do you apply? And that's something that has is really dominating in the Q&A at the moment that okay on those specifics in a minute, but Michelle, can you just outline what the students actually need to do if they're interested in the course, Apply!

Michelle Cook  50:25  
I know that sounds silly. But you know, I always say an opportunity comes and I'm sure Christian can tell you an amazing story about how he just applied, ah didn't think he was going to get in. So Christian I hope you don't mind me telling your story. But he was actually supposed to be playing handball, and it was raining. And he went into the BAcc presentation, and from there applied, and now he's one of our first year student leaders. So take the opportunity, the first thing you need to do is fill out an online application form, which is open at the moment, and closes on the 21st of May.

This is a second application that you can if you if you're too busy. Now, if you're too stressed with the HSC, we totally understand, you can also apply and that is that closes on the 15th of October. So what we're looking for in that online application, we're not trying to trick you, we're not trying to give you you know, dot point 2.5 of the syllabus. What we're saying is, write down who you are. What are the things you've done? Show me your passion for business, your interest in accounting? Let me know more about you. What are some of the things that you've done outside of school? What are some of the accomplishments you have in school? Are you are you able to communicate well?

Are you a people person? Because I think one of the major things we need as professionals is the ability to communicate well. So the whole process looks at all of this and looks at you.

What have you done? What are your leadership skills? What's your extracurricular? What are some of the accomplishments that you're really proud of write them all down. And then tell me about your interest in accounting. From there we cull those applications and we offer you; ah hopefully, an interview. So we do more than interview. And once again, it's not there to be terrible. We do a group assessment. And that's just looking at how you work with people. How do you problem solve? What are some of the innovative solutions that you could create in a set amount of time? And then the second one is, you actually have an interview with two other people.

And they will just ask you questions about how you're going, from there, we offer conditional offers, which means that it will be based then on ATAR. So ATAR isn't the most important thing.

ATAR just comes right at the end, to see who who might get in the most important thing for us is that interview, and also that group assessment. So as I said, have give yourself that opportunity.

Interviews will be in November. So interviews run from just looking here to make sure from the 8th to the 12th of November. So you will book a time in and then you will come in for your session. We have beautiful BAcc's to support you. We have amazing food, we try and make the most relaxed atmosphere we possibly can. So we can really see your fabulous. What I say is apply, give yourself an opportunity because no doesn't hurt. And I think I've said it for years, but it's so true. It's like wanting to win lotto and they're not putting getting a ticket. So put that application in. And we really look forward to reading them.

Rachel - UTS Business School  53:55  
Excellent. Thanks, Michelle. Now one of the top questions that's come in has been around subjects. So do we have any prerequisites? Do students need to have done economics or business? Or is there a particular level of maths they need to do? No. All questions do you know, actually, I found this in the archives of my draw. People who mentioned it, it's an old calculator.

Michelle Cook  54:18  
If you can use this calculator and push the buttons, that's all the math you need for accounting. It's about problem solving. It's about how your mind works. Yeah, it's about analysis and critical analysis. So no we don't have any subjects that you need to do. But some of them might inform you maybe you might be doing business studies or economics. And that might inform you that you might have an interest in this area. But other than that, we have no absolute absolute no subject criteria.

Rachel - UTS Business School  54:49  
Excellent. Fantastic. Now, I'm just conscious that were we're rapidly approaching 7pm. So I'll I want to leave some time for questions because we've had

Great Ones come through. But Mohanisha. Briefly, do you want to tell us a little

Mohanisha - BAcc Student  55:10  
Yeah, so I found the actual application was quite straightforward. You know, you just fill in your

what I found was that there was really quite a relaxed environment, you know, there wasn't too much pressure. Really, I feel like what they want to see is your personality, and how you are yourself. So

I thought a really big thing was, you know, I didn't come in trying to pretend like I was someone or you know, act like someone, I wasn't just I came in being my true self. And just being completely honest, know that.

Rachel - UTS Business School  55:59  
Excellent, fantastic. And it's really good advice as well. We're looking for your authentic self when we're looking at the applications. Um, another question that's coming around the application process. Michelle is someone who is concerned that work experience is an important requirement. This particular student has chosen to prioritize sport and academics. Are they disadvantaged if they don't have that work experience component? Not at all? Not at all. So we, as we said, we look at the whole you, it's quite obvious that if you have been so busy in other things, that you mightn't have the opportunity to have any other sort of work experience itself, you might even have had a short stint through school. But

Michelle Cook  56:45  
so no, the answer is no, you don't have to have work experience to be eligible.

Rachel - UTS Business School  56:51  
Excellent, fantastic. Now, obviously, ATAR is drilled into you when you're in year 12, that ATAR is, you know, really, really important. But I know you've touched on this a little bit. But

as there's no set ATAR in the Bachelor of Accounting,

you know, is it based off report results as well,

Michelle Cook  57:17  
you know, is there a different ATAR requirement for each applicant? How does that how does ATAR factor in? So what happens is, we give, we might give a certain amount of conditional offers. And just to clarify conditional offers, so if you get a oh my gosh, I love them, love them. In your interview, if you get oh my gosh, I love the blah blah, or in your group, you get an A, an A for each section, those people who get A A's are given a conditional offer. So how many offers Can we give - as many sponsor spots as we have. So then, so we might give 40 conditional offers, and then we'll take the top ATARs. So but yeah, so if that's that's where ATAR comes in. It's the last objective measure, but that there is no range to it. Because it changes every year

So just do your best.

Rachel - UTS Business School  58:15  
Absolutely. And you've also kind of preempted the next question, which was how many students are chosen? They've also asked how many students apply? And honestly, there's, it's, it's huge. It's a highly competitive course. And as you said, the number of places are dictated by the number of sponsor organizations. So that was 27 this year, I believe? It was 27 this year - correct. Fantastic. Excellent. We've also had quite a few questions come in about combined degrees. So again, really short answer. Can you combine the Bachelor of Accounting with anything. Unfortunately, because of internships, etc? No, we can't. So that's a no. Excellent and if, if any of the students tuning in tonight do have their heart set on a combined degree, as Michelle said, Bachelor of Accounting in terms of course content, it's very, very similar to the Bachelor of Business with a Major in Accounting. So if that's something you want to do, you can do that. Or if you wanted to do economics or management, they've also got combined degree options available as well.

This person's heard of some business students doing internships in, you know, top banks working something from like 5am to 10pm. Is this the kind of workload that we expect our BAcc's in the internships? No, it is not. And I think that's why it's quite lucky that we do have

Michelle Cook  1:00:00  
BAcc. So I mean, if something happened, and you know, they were asked to work ridiculous hours, then I would step in.

Yeah. And I think also, as we were saying, and I think everyone touched on, it's usually your first internship, and people know that. So I think there's this horrible perception. I was saying to my first day, the other day, that the corporate world is like, Suits. You,

You're actually not allowed to behave that way. So, no, it's not. But I will preface that by saying that BAcc is an intense course. And and because they do do two full time internships, and their subjects, if there is more work than say, just going and doing a quick six week internship in your summer holidays, but because you have each other it's not onerous, and definitely achievable.

Rachel - UTS Business School  1:00:56  
Absolutely. And something you touched on as well jumps into the next question. So saying that, you know, you regularly touch in with our, with our BAcc students when they're interning or even when they're studying just normally? Yes. So this question is about the depth of the mentoring process at at UTS. Michelle, could you touch on this briefly, and then Christian, I might get you to talk to your experience with mentoring as well.

Michelle Cook  1:01:24  
Well, they are trying to contact students regularly. So I think that's very lucky, in that they're not set adrift. So I try to keep a finger on the pulse to make sure that everyone's Okay, we're very, very committed to people's mental health. So in a high achieving program, I think it's very important to touch base continuously. We also provide experiences, as we're saying, we have the 'We've Got Your BAcc', where first years and second years do mentor well second year's mentor the first years and help them along as well. Because there's some times you might want to talk to another student and not to me. We have the students elected leaders, who will also facilitate, you know, regular conversations with myself, Carin and also the cohort. And then within mentoring, we really encourage you to reach out to the alumni, if you want more professional mentoring, so that you can really start to really understand yourself, and gain that kind of growth. I hope that answers the question.

Rachel - UTS Business School  1:02:34  
I think so Christian, do you want to add anything about what it's been like from a student perspective?

Christian - BAcc Student  1:02:39  
Yeah, definitely. I mean, obviously, it was such a high workload sometimes and you know, getting a bit nervous, maybe going into internships, you won't always feel the best. I know, I definitely haven't always felt the best at times, but having not only Michelle and Carin always there with support, I see them every week, they have a one on one meeting with you almost every month, and also having second years and third years, and even alumni who've gone through all those processes, and have definitely had maybe the same thought process of times that you have is definitely advantageous. And it definitely gives you a sense of comfort that you wouldn't have with a lot of other degrees where you're sitting in uni by yourself, you know, not having that support network that you have with you. And if you even want professional mentoring I work with um I'm in UTS startups building right now, I've been working all day on a startup, I definitely have the alumni and students to help me and to really connect with at almost any time. So yeah, it's definitely advantageous.

Rachel - UTS Business School  1:03:45  
Excellent, fantastic. So I am conscious that we've, we've gone over time. You know, thank you so much, all of you for sharing your experiences, we could keep going for another two hours if we could. But just really briefly, before we wrap up, you've all given us some fantastic advice, that I'm sure everyone attending will will take on board. But if there was just one tip that you would like to pass on to students considering applying, what would that be? and Lauren, we might start with you.

Lauren - BAcc Alumni  1:04:19  
Sure, I would say that big. Be conscious that your learning journey's probably never going to end and have that mindset when you come into uni regardless of whether you do BAcc or not BAcc. So yeah, if you do get the opportunity to come in and to do out this course, then you will constantly be learning and have that energy and that drive to learn it. And I think you'll you'll see amazing things happen.

Rachel - UTS Business School  1:04:46  
Fantastic and Georgia. Yeah,

Georgia - BAcc Student  1:04:49  
I think this really only requires one sentence and that is every opportunity you don't take is a missed opportunity. So why not apply? That's kind of like my moral that went through the whole of high school / year 12. Through applying to BAcc and I'm sure many of the; many of you also apply to many other things. But also now, any opportunity you don't take is something that you can't get back so you may as well apply and go through the process, get experience from the process and learn about yourself through the process similarly, than not take it at all.

Rachel - UTS Business School  1:05:22  
So yeah. Fantastic. And Christian.

Christian - BAcc Student  1:05:30  
I just say take every opportunity that comes your way. Simple as that.

Rachel - UTS Business School  1:05:35  
Excellent, and Mohanisha, I know it's always hard going last after everyone's given their tips, but what would your advice be?

Mohanisha - BAcc Student  1:05:41  
I think, as I kind of said before, just be yourself, you know, if you're yourself and you're not, you know, putting something on, then you're open to growth and everything like that, you know, for yourself.

Rachel - UTS Business School  1:05:56  
Excellent. Fantastic. Well, thank you everyone so so much for attending and to our students, and Lauren, as well. Thank you so much for joining us and sharing your experiences. It's, it's so valuable hearing from from you guys as well and how you found the course. For everyone tuning in again, thank you for attending. We'll be getting in touch over the next couple of days, we'll be sending you links to apply; additional resources as well that will help you in choosing your decision / making your decision. If you do have additional questions, you can send us an email in the meantime, to coop. ed@uts.edu.au and that will go through to Carin who Thank you Carin so much for in a frenzy has been managing all the questions in the back end we've we've had over 30 come through. And everyone as well we've got our Open Day on the last Saturday of August which is fantastic that will be a face to face Open Day. More details of that will be available online in the coming months but that's a fantastic opportunity to come on site we'll have Bachelor of Accounting representatives; we'll have academics as well who can talk you through our other programs, the Bachelor of Business, Bachelor of Management, Bachelor of Economics, as well as other faculties if you are interested in combined degrees. So that's a fantastic opportunity as well. To those of you who are looking to apply for May rounds again, that's the 21st of May that you need to get your applications in all the very best of luck. And again, please any questions you have, don't hesitate to get in touch. Thank you so much and have a lovely night. Thanks for hosting Rachel. Have a nice night everybody. Good luck with your HSC everyone.