I finished my Bachelors in Business Administration from Kolkata in 2016. Studying business was driven by the fact that I come from a business family and I hope I might, someday, have my own venture. I was always keen to have a global exposure. Because the businesses of tomorrow would need to be global in perspective and outlook if they were to thrive or succeed and not simply survive. Studying abroad was an option I wanted to pursue after completing my under-graduate studies.
Selecting a University for a perfect course structure along with the right combination of practical exposure was a tough job. I dropped the option of U.K. Because of the lack of practical exposure embedded in the course and not having independent options to intern or work off-campus. I also felt that apart from a handful of British universities, such as, Oxford, Cambridge, Kings College and LSE, the rest of the institutes had little to offer by way of global and quality learning.I also dropped the option for Canada, since the course structure was not very satisfying. I couldn’t see any strong engagement of Canadian Universities with any Indian Industries.
Australia as a study destination caught my immediate attention because of its global setting,its ever-growing strong engagement with India. Also Government’s support to international students to work part-time and internship to gain professional experience attracted me towards Australia. This was, in fact, part of its experiential pedagogy.I narrowed down my choice to Sydney because of its multicultural environment that made people more warm, friendly and tolerant towards other cultures. Sydney is also the financial and economical hub of Australia, where the majority of the companies are headquartered. This made Sydney the ideal choice!
I further narrowed down to UNSW, Sydney because of its international ranking and Masters of Commerce as my course. I can look back and say that this was the best possible decision I made. The high mix of international students in my course curriculum helped me in creating a global mindset. The curriculum of solving real life cases in a team helped me to gain insights on the way other international students think and how different nationality and cultural backgrounds help to impact a conclusion.
UNSW has a dedicated careers and employment team. This team does not focus on the students in their last semester for placements, but starts training them with employability skills since the first day they join. This University has an opportunity for all the categories of student. For a student like me who had zero work experience and not even a resume, UNSW Business School gave me an opportunity to intern with a start up company at my first month at the university. This was just a start to my work place culture in Australia.
Other than this UNSW consists vast variety of clubs and societies (approximately 300). We can be a part of any society – there is no bar, which you need to pass to get into one. This not only allows you to follow your passion but also helps you to network.I grabbed an opportunity to do a Professional Development Program for International Students for Careers and employability. The program provides communication skills, recruitment tips and practical workplace experience, creating an opportunity for international students to gain essential workplace skills and undertake a 50-hour workplace experience on the UNSW campus.
I learnt how important networking is, and I built connections with the alumni and potential employers. This helped me expand my network for employability. In my current position, I messaged UNSW delegates via LinkedIn and was offered a job at the UNSW representative office in New Delhi.I look back with great satisfaction and happiness and I am proud to call myself an alumnus of UNSW Sydney. For those seeking to study abroad, I would unhesitatingly recommend UNSW as a great place for an awesome learning and living experience.
