1) Tell us a little bit about yourself
Hi y’all, I am a business degree graduate whom has been thrown into the crazy working life for close to a year.
2) What course, school and year are you from?
I am a graduate from the SIM-RMIT Bachelor of Business Management and Marketing programme of year 2012.
3) What subjects did you enjoy the most back in JC?
The subject I enjoyed most back in JC was project work. The one subject that many abhor but to me, it was actually the highlight of my JC days.
4) What inspired you to study Business management and marketing?
My interest stemmed from a nationwide entrepreneurship competition back in my secondary school days. I fell in love with the entire process, from the generation of an idea to the nurturing of the idea into a concrete and sellable one and finally the proud presentation of the final concept. That was my first exposure to business and projects in general and it was a very exciting and fulfilling process. Then came project work in JC and that experience pretty much sealed the deal for me.
5) Tell us a little bit of your character traits that you feel align you with your course of study?
I am more observant and analytical in nature. I love analysing new information and then moulding them into applicable and beneficial knowledge. Business especially marketing is a very dynamic subject. There is so much data out there but data will only remain as data unless one can make use of it and convert it into knowledge that you can use to your advantage.
6) What are the challenges in pursuing a degree in SIM-RMIT Business management and marketing? Despite all these challenges, why did you choose to study it anyway?
One of the greatest challenge was the uncertainty. There were times when I was uncertain if my choice was the right one and whether it suits me, uncertain about the future career prospects especially when the graduation date looms all the more closer and with so many more seemingly more qualified people out there. And there is also that stigma about students from private universities. I have passion and interest in marketing, but those can only push you so far throughout the course and in the real working life. Now, I am a stubborn person. I want to do something I love and have passion in. Life would be too sad otherwise. The thought of being stuck in a course that suits me or have better career prospects but which I have no interest in simply horrifies me. Luckily, I am pretty short-sighted person as well. I would just take things one step at a time and try to gain as much out of each step. I have never regretted taking up the course. From it, I have gained life-long friends, greater belief and confidence in myself as well as even more interest and passion in marketing.
7) What is a typical day in SIM-RMIT Business management and marketing like and what is the nature of the course work (Content-heavy? Practical skills? Group work? Self-reading?)
There are typically four mods per semester and a three hour lecture is held once weekly for each mod. Thereafter, its up to you on how you would use the remaining time to juggle the individual and group projects as well as studying for assessments. For RMIT, the nature of the course work is more project-centric, with individual projects for the management mods and group projects for the marketing mods. There would be a final exam at the end of the semester for all mods as well.
Projects take up a lot of time and energy as especially when one is dealing with more than four at once. Typical days are usually spend researching, editing, discussion and all of that is repeated until all projects are submitted. For students who are planning to enter the course because ‘it is an easy degree’, I would advice you to reconsider that. And the onus is on you to maximise your learning and benefits that you would gain in the process of attaining the degree and not just the degree itself which is pretty much as useless as a blank piece of paper if you do not have the skills to substantiate it.
8) Is this your first choice? If not, what were your other choices and why?
This was my first choice. I really do love marketing even if it may not have been the most suitable choice for me.
9) What do you plan to do with your degree? What are the career prospects with the degree?
Haha, I am already in the working world. Well..career prospects..the cold hard truth is that the job market is saturated with such degree holders. Unless you have a very substantial advantage above the rest of the jobseekers, my advice is that don't reject the idea of starting small. The key is gaining knowledge and experience. I have learnt through that hard way that even with a marketing degree, you may not get to do marketing right away. Several of my friends have met with such experiences as well. It is through much toiling and perhaps a dash of luck that you may finally get to do what you love. Hence, do not lose hope if you experience such a phase in the future, many out there have or are experiencing the same problem as you. Just try to keep the end in mind, and gain as much as you can out of whatever you are doing, be it part-time jobs, internships, or contractual jobs etc.
Thank you very much JX!
Hope that the contribution from JX will help you in deciding your university courses!
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