I don’t wanna work! I just want to stay on social media all day!

Imagine, you can have your social media page open all day at work, and you can read through all the exciting news from friends and people you are following in your newsfeed, even when your boss is right behind you. Would that be a dream job for you?

Well, that’s basically what I am doing now. In order to make this make more sense to you, we have to flash back to September last year.

I was in my second semester undertaking Internet Marketing (MKTG90017) . The class was very interesting and engaging. I was inspired by so many Start-up cases we have reviewed in the class, and decided to join the Internet Start-up Competition 2013 with my friends. Basically, the competition was about selling your start-up idea to investors. The winner of the competition will receive funds (YES, REAL $$$) to commerce your own business. Obviously, it was very competitive! And unfortunately my team didn’t win it. Maybe it is because I was terrified during the pitch to the judges and I couldn’t speak properly or maybe my idea was not good enough, or maybe even both. I didn’t know. After that I was like “if job interviews are all like that I can never find a job! Then I’m gonna die alone and poor with my cat (or maybe “cats”, if I’m going to live by myself for the rest of my life)”.

My Cat

Anyway, back to my story, so after that I started to apply for part-time work and Summer Internships to make sure I won’t die alone with my cat(s). Alright, I know what you are thinking now, you must think this guy is crazy! Haha apologize for that, I always have these crazy and dramatic thoughts in my mind, but I’m not crazy (yet). So, after going to MBS’s Career Center to sort out my CV and intensively sending it to numerous companies. I have successfully got replies from some of them stating “Although impressed by your background and credentials, we were unable to find a strong fit among our current open job opportunities”. Okay, I failed again.

Until a mysterious night, I saw a recruitment post on Weibo from Weibo’s Australia and New Zealand agency. I was like “meh, no harm to try”. So I sent my CV once again. I didn’t raise my hopes too high on this one, since I was already immune to rejections after so many “No”s. Surprise, surprise… Few weeks later, I got it.

Weibo’s Logo

If you are not familiar with Weibo, it is a Chinese social media platform, like a combination of Facebook and Twitter. It has the format of Twitter, users can only type in 140 characters in each post. However, one character is actually one word in Chinese, it will give users great flexibility as Facebook. Since Facebook and Twitter are both banned in China, Weibo has become the most important social media that can help international companies to tap into the Chinese market. Both the University of Melbourne and  Melbourne Business School/Faculty of Business and Economics have Weibo accounts, in order to build a close relationship with its current and future Chinese speaking students. So if you are using Weibo please follow!

Alright, back to the present time: July 2014, I have been working for OEI (Weibo’s Australia and New Zealand) on a part time basis for nearly a year now. It was not easy. During this period, I have learnt how to work with different people with different backgrounds and personalities. Different work ethics between Chinese and Australian working environment might cause inefficiency and misunderstanding too (That’s one of the reasons I undertook Cross Cultural Management and Teamwork this semester, see my previous blog on this subject here!). The biggest challenge I have faced, as a young professional, is how to introduce a foreign and intangible product to Aussie marketers with years’ experience. I had to convince them that I am not here for work experience but real business. Lucky enough, I have been working with various Australian companies helping them to understand the Chinese market and strengthen their presences in China through social media marketing. Different from Facebook’s newsfeed advertising, FansTalk campaigns (Weibo’s newsfeed advertising) are designed to generate interactions/re-posts within the targeted audience group. Hence, from campaign design to launch, it needs to be monitored carefully in order to ensure it stays on trend. So I have a perfect excuse to stay on social media all day at work without receiving death stares from my boss.

 

With my graduation coming next month, I hope I can stay in the same field helping more Aussie and international companies tap into the Chinese market through social media efficiently and effectively. Hope I can start something big and special! 😉

Thank you so much for going through my crazy and ridiculous thoughts with me. Well, I guess what I really want to say here is: Never get up! You never know what tomorrow holds for you.

Until next time!

Take care,

Max

A Week of my CRAZY Life

Live and study in Melbourne is a “crazy” experience! Busy with study and work, and surrounded with friendly and fun friends, no two days are the same! Every day is different, exciting and challenging! Here is a glance of one of my crazy weeks!

Monday!

Monday Tram Selfie

Work at day, class at night! A super long day for me, so why not finish this crazy day with a selfie on the tram to home.

Tuesday!

Work Hard! Play Hard!

At work, there are always emails waiting to be replied！And there is absolutely NO time for Youtube videos! BTW the juice is FREE from my manager! He always treat everyone snacks! I guess that’s one of my motivations for work. 😛

Wednesday!

Work Trip to Adelaide!

A business trip to Adelaide! So excited! I had to deliver a presentation to our clients, I guess those class presentations have finally paid off… Oops, I think I stood too close to the poor lady behind me… Awkward… haha Sorry…

Thursday!

 

My Cat!

A lazy day at home with my cat. She was cooking lunch for me, because I was busy with my assignments.

Friday!

Assignment Group Selfie

Nearly all my assignments at MBS are group ones. I guess it reflects the real business world. We have to learn how to work and communicate with people from different backgrounds and cultures. This is just another productive group discussion ended with a group selfie, before a big Friday night out!

 

Saturday!

Weekend Shopping

Weekend shopping is always a great way to relax my mind, especially so many international brands that have come to Melbourne this year! However, it may be relaxing for my mind, but an extreme exercise for my wallet…

 

Sunday!

More Sleeps!

Sunday! One day before another crazy new week starts, I guess I need more sleeps to prepare for a new week!

 

Is your “week” as CRAZY as mine? Tell me about it!

Max

 

 

INTENSIVE Cultural Exposure

Have you ever wondered how people from different cultures work and study together? Especially when the world is highly globalised and when you study and live in Melbourne which is such a multi cultural city. That’s why I picked Cross Cultural Management and Teamwork as a subject to fulfil my curiosity and prepare for the real world.

Before I started this subject, I had so many questions about it. How can you understand such a broad topic from a single person’s perspective (lecturer)? How can it be practical if we just seat in a lecture room and talk about cultures? And why is it an intensive class that finishes in two weekends? After I finishing the subject, I can say it was the most intensive cultural exposure I have ever experienced.

We had two concurrent streams for the subject. Each stream was quite small, it was more like a tutorial than lecture. So I got the chance to know everybody and address them by their name not just “hey classmate”. What made this class even more interesting was we had people from so many different cultural backgrounds. Hence, besides from the lecturer, we were able to learn from each other through discussions and activities. This mutual learning was not limited to a classroom, because it was an intensive 9 to 5 full day class, we “had to” have lunches together, which gave us the chance to share more cross culture stories and awkward moments. (Confession time: I love to hear other people’s awkward/embarrassing moment stories).

Multicultural Lunch

We even had a multi-cultural lunch on the last day of our class. Everyone had to cook some food that represented their culture and share with the rest of the class. I was so surprised on how many different kinds of food were available at the lunch. It was like a food world tour, from Chinese dumplings to Italian pizzas and many more I personally have never seen before. AND I didn’t get food poisoning after that! Yeah~~~~~~~~~ 😛

If you think this ‘crazy’ culture experience ended with the two weeks of intensive class, you are wrong! In order to complete one of our assignments, we had to go out of the university to visit a culture. We decided to visit an Italian culture, cos all of us love Italian food. Hence, we can go to an Italian festival and take so many crazy selfies for purely academic purposes. This assignment also gave me a legitimate reason to invite my group members to visit my place and have a dinner party with my Italian housemate. Again it was purely for academic purposes too 😛

Culture Visit

We had a lot fun along with this assignment, as well as understanding more about this globalised world. I guess for graduate studies, university is not a place where you just learn everything from your lecturers, but a place you can meet exciting new people who have different lives and career experiences from different cultural backgrounds and start a mutual stimulating learning experience.

Believe or not, I’m actually writing this blog on the way back from spending 3 days of my mid-semester break in Canberra. Maybe I could share more about my travel stories with you next time.

Take care!
Max

November Melbourne Business School Information Evening

So today I handed in my last piece of assessment EVER! It was a group assignment for Social Entrepreneurship where we had to create a business plan for our own social enterprise. While on the way to uni to hand in the hard copy version of the assignment, I started feeling all nostalgic about my time at Melbourne Business School.

Get Fit For Good Business Plan – my last assignment. EVER! 😀

I remember being terrified on my first day of postgraduate studies. I wasn’t sure if I had made the right decision or if I’d make any friends. It was basically that same nervousness I felt on my first day of high school. Thankfully, after my very first lecture (Managing for Value Creation), I knew that the Master of Management degree was perfect for me.

 

I’ve loved studying the Master of Management degree because it’s the perfect mix of theory and its practical application to the business world today. I wanted to further develop my quantitative skills, as well as my overall business knowledge and I’ve been able to do that with my degree. I’ve also met some incredible friends along the way too.

 

To learn more about your graduate study options in business and economics, attend the last Melbourne Business School Information Session for the year.

Date and time: Wednesday 20 November, 6pm to 7.30pm

Venue: Level 2, FBE Building, 111 Barry Street, Carlton VIC

 

Check out the website for more information:

http://www.mbs.unimelb.edu.au/calendar/info/local/melbourne_business_school_information_evening_20nov13

 

Until next time,

Mel 🙂

Social Entrepreneurship + some #dosaloving

How is it Week 12 already? I have no idea! As my final semester at the university comes to an end, I thought I’d write about one of my favourite subjects, Social Entrepreneurship. This new and exciting subject led by Dr Ben Neville explores how business insights through the creation of social enterprises can be used to solve social and environmental problems.

Over the past 12 weeks, our three-hour seminars have covered a variety of social and environmental problems. We have been lucky enough to listen to a diverse range of intriguing guest speakers from organisations such as The Big Issue and Green Collect to name a few. The class has taught us about the important balance between profitability and the attainment of social/environmental goals when thinking about starting a social enterprise.

Our guest speakers have highlighted that social enterprises “[tell] a story of advantage” and “[employ] the unemployable” while recognising the talents and skills of all people. As I’ve discovered, social enterprises have the potential to empower people through developing frameworks to produce social capital.

One of the interesting aspects of the class is that our major assignment involves developing our own social enterprise idea. We have to create a pitch and business plan for our idea. The four teams that make the competition finals will present their pitch to a “Dragon’s Den” of successful entrepreneurs, angel investors and industry experts. The Social Entrepreneurship Competition Finals will be held on Friday October 25 from 6.15pm – 9.30pm. Come along and listen to each finalist’s social enterprise idea and network (refreshments provided! 🙂 ) with industry leaders. More details can be found here.

Group meeting number 1 – complete the business model canvas (pre-post it note attack).

Aside from the actual content of the class, I’ve also enjoyed working with students with different academic backgrounds, from environments and development studies, to international relations. As we have about 30 students in our class, we’ve been able to get to know each other and share our myriad of experiences with the larger group. Many of us have sampled our new friend Kunal’s mobile/pop-up food experience called “OVERDOSA” which sells delicious dosas (fermented crepes/pancakes). Set up near the Rose St. Artists’ Market in Fitzroy, OVERDOSA sells dosas on the weekends to hungry customers who seek authentic Indian street food. After demolishing two and a half dosas a few weekends ago and falling in love with their incredible homemade coconut chutney, I highly recommend a visit!

Demolishing dosa number 1 with a very serious eating face.

OVERDOSA – 50 Rose Street, Fitzroy

I better get back to finishing off some of my last assignments for the year. If you’re a current student, I hope you have a fantastic final week of Semester 2.

Until next time,

Mel 🙂

Well, that was quite Intensive

Apologies for the lame title, but in case no one got it, I am going to be writing about my recently completed Intensive Subject. So, what is an Intensive subject? These are usually held during semester, but can also be completed over summer semester or winter semester. The three (four – if you include the Melbourne Business Practicum) intensive subjects I have completed this year have been held over 5 to 6 days from 9am to 5pm (some do finish earlier!). As painful as these classes are sometimes, once they’re done you have one less subject to worry about for the remainder of the semester. For all the students who have spare electives in their course, why not try an intensive subject??

The three intensives I’ve completed are Managing Organisational Change, Conflict & Negotiation, and Cross-Cultural Management & Teamwork. I completed the last subject just yesterday, so I have a somewhat clear recollection as to how that was. Cross-Cultural Management was a really great subject as I got to meet a diverse range of people. This subject is actually a compulsory subject for International Business students, so it was a really great opportunity for me to meet people outside the Human Resources and Management streams. Additionally, there are others who are studying a variety of courses ranging from the Master of Information Systems to the Executive Master of Arts.

The subject was held over two weekends, on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. By the Friday afternoon, I usually wanted to go home and dreaded the rest of the weekend – but in hindsight this was a really good chance for me to actually practice concentrating from 9 til 5 for three days straight. (OK, when I say concentrate, I mean I was conscious in class).  As students, we aren’t quite prepared for the realities of working life as some of us are so used to attending 3 hour lectures and then going home to nap. (This may just be me, but I’d like to think that I’m not the only one). This class was definitely enjoyable at times as we completed many different practical tasks. By doing so, we all refined our communication skills, presentation skills, and most importantly – cross-cultural skills!

Informal Group Presentations during class

Another advantage to having an intensive class over the weekend is that you are somewhat encouraged to spend the lunch break with people from your class, which helps you to get to know them a bit better than if you took a subject with them for three hours a week for the 12 weeks in the semester. There were some fascinating people within this class who came from countries such as Mongolia, Hungary, and Tanzania. Within usual subjects, you wouldn’t typically get the chance to meet so many different people. We also held a Cross-Cultural Lunch on the last day, where everyone brought something from their own culture.

Just a couple of the dishes that were at the Cross-Cultural Lunch

After classes on the last day, a group of us went to a pub within the city to spend more quality time together. Because somehow the 6 whole days we spent together wasn’t quite enough. This ritual is quite common after a lot of intensive classes. My winter subject – Conflict & Negotiation – concluded with the two lecturers buying us a round of beers at one of the bars on campus!

After class drinks!

So the best aspects of an intensive subject, from my point of view, is:

1. You get to do more practical activities, rather than just listening to a boring 3 hour lecture
2. You get to know people in your class a bit better
3. You get to try a lot of different food!

Anyway, I guess my message for today is (again) – try new things and meet new people here at MBS. You never know how things are until you try it, and it may be the best subject you’ll ever do! (If you repress the memories of the slow painful afternoon sessions of the class).

Until next time!

Jess

Open Day 2013

Graduate Ambassadors at Open Day – Ru Ann, Jessica, Weiping, Leroy and Mel

August 18, 2013. This year was my seventh Open Day. At the age of 14 or 15, I attended a special Science summer camp held at the University of Melbourne (yes, I was a massive nerd). It took me less than one day to fall in love with the campus. I’ve been going to Open Day every year since 2007 (either as a prospective student, volunteer or staff member). At every single Open Day, there is always a great buzz in the air coupled with magnificent levels of energy from very excited prospective students and their families. This year was no different.

The Faculty of Business and Economics at Open Day 2013 (before the crowds of people!)

Thousands of prospective students supported by their families flooded our campus which was decorated in a sea of white and blue. In the early morning, the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Glyn Davis and Provost, Professor Margaret Sheil, visited MBS on the day to thank staff and current students for volunteering their time. The Graduate Ambassador Team in their limited edition hoodies spoke to prospective students about their student life at MBS. The tremendously popular BusEco Photobooth was back again, providing our visitors with hours of hilarious entertainment. Check out the BusEco Photobooth fun here.

Graduate Ambassadors with the Vice-Chancellor and Provost

Being a Graduate Ambassador gives me the opportunity to speak to prospective students about my postgraduate student experiences. I met many dedicated high school students on Sunday who spoke to me about their study plans and future career aspirations (some of which involved postgraduate study at MBS). Though these discussions made me feel very, very, very old, they also made me think back to when I was a high school student preparing to sit my first round of VCE exams. This year, a few eager Year 10 and Year 11 students who had wandered into the MBS area asked me…

 

“What’s the difference between undergraduate and postgraduate courses?”

And my personal favourite…

“What’s a thesis?”

 

Back in the day, “tutorial, lecture and Lectopia” were completely foreign words in my mind. Now, five years on, I feel that I’ve made the most of my university experience thanks to great friends, brilliant academics and fantastic student clubs.

 

Studying at MBS has challenged me academically and has opened up numerous professional opportunities for me personally. If you’re interested in learning more about our postgraduate courses, visit us at one of our MBS information sessions this year. The next MBS Information Evening will be held on Thursday August 22.

 

Hope you’re doing well wherever you are in the world.

 

Until next time,

Mel 🙂

Introducing Jess

Hi everyone, my name is Jess and I am a new member of GAT (AKA Graduate Ambassador Team). This is my fourth and final semester undertaking the Master of Management (Human Resources).

I have been asked quite frequently “What is GAT?” – in my opinion, it is program that allows me to share my experiences at MBS with prospective and current students (essentially, anyone who wants to find out!).  Hopefully each person who reads this will gain some sort of insight into what one version of student life is like at MBS.

Firstly, I grew up in Brisbane, Queensland, and completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Queensland. When I first started at MBS, I thought everyone would already know each other from undergraduate studies at the University of Melbourne, and that it would be difficult for me to make friends. However, this was not so! I think the biggest mistake new students make is not deviating from their small groups of familiar people – e.g. those from the same country – and not branching out. MBS provides a multitude of opportunities that enables you to meet new and interesting people outside of your particular course.

Through my experiences and involvement at MBS, I have met my closest friends here in Melbourne. Below is a photo from the Welcome Function After Party this semester. Everyone in this photo was in the MBS Student Association Committee in Semester Two of last year. Although some of us have moved on and graduated, the experiences we have shared and the friendships we have made at MBS carry on much further into the future.

 

My view on studying a Masters at Melbourne Business School is that it’s not all about studying! (I’m not endorsing people not to study).  Sure, you should definitely work hard and try your best in your subjects, but the true MBS experience lies outside the confines of a lecture theater and the library. To truly gain the most out of the one and half to two years at MBS, I encourage everyone to get involved – be it a consulting group, or even the buddy program. When you start working, you will probably regret not taking part in these activities and wish you had spent less time in the library.

So my parting message for today is this: Get involved, don’t settle for the familiar, and make the most of your time at MBS!

In the meantime, if you see me around the Spot, feel free to hit me up for a chat! Until next time, Ciao!

Global Business Practicum – Shanghai 2013

Shanghai’s Oriental Pearl Tower

The holidays have sadly come to an end and it’s time to get back into the swing of things. Welcome to Week 3 of Semester 2 at the University of Melbourne!

Simon and I recently participated in the Global Business Practicum (GBP) in Shanghai. In July this year, 20 brave students and one enthusiastic academic travelled to Shanghai to partake in Melbourne Business School’s GBP. The GBP offers postgraduate students the opportunity to participate in an in-country consulting project with a host organisation. This year’s participating host companies included KPMG, NAB, PwC, AIA and Ernst & Young.

“The GBP is not a holiday!” – This phrase was repeated constantly before our trip. Wise words. After two weeks of tireless work on our respective projects (and very little sleep), we soon realised that these words were very wise indeed!

Simon and I have decided to answer a few FAQs about our trip. Feel free to leave us a comment if you want any additional information.

Favourite place in Shanghai and why?

Mel: The Bund which is a waterfront area located in central Shanghai. The architecture in that whole area is simply beautiful. It’s also home to some fantastic bars and restaurants.

Simon: My favourite part of Shanghai is JinAn Temple. After the refurbishment it is now a crossroad between the traditional culture and modern metropolis. Sitting under an ancient elm tree just outside the temple grounds, the skyline is accentuated by the LED light hanging overhead connecting the temple to the nearby skyscraper.

 

Favourite food in Shanghai?

Mel: Roasted miscellaneous bacteria! (refer to photo at the bottom of this page) Just kidding! I ate my way through Shanghai one dumpling at a time. I particularly enjoyed some delicious pork buns which were pan fried at the bottom creating a nice crunch.

Simon: The buns that Mel was referring to are called ‘Shen Jian Man Tou’ (Pan Fried Buns). This is a Shanghainese specialty. Think of meat filled buns the size of golf balls with a crunchy base and juices that oozes out the minute you bite into it and you are about 1% there in terms of understanding how absolutely amazing this dish is.

 

Favourite aspect of your GBP project?

Mel: Learning from my teammates. I don’t come from a finance or banking background so my teammates who are currently studying Finance helped break down some complex banking speak for me. I love learning from the people around me so I’m very grateful to my team for their expert tutelage.

Simon: My favourite aspect of GBP must be getting a first-handed taste of working in Shanghai. Although I was born in this city working here compared to China is quite a different story.

 

What was your greatest challenge?

Mel: Probably being in a country where I don’t speak the language and working on very little sleep every night. It was definitely worth it in the end though!

Simon: The greatest challenge to GBP is that is actually very short. Two weeks is barely enough to understand the area you are researching in let alone become an expert and be able to tell the project sponsors (who are the real experts) something that they don’t know.

 

List your top three GBP tips for future GBP students.

Mel:

1. Define your project scope ASAP!

2. Don’t be afraid to ask your host company questions.

3. Try to learn the language as much as possible. Locals appreciate it when you try to speak with them, even if it’s just a basic “hello” or “thank you” in the respective language. If all else fails, smile and nod politely!

Simon:

1. Do NOT think this is a holiday. My team had to work harder than any other subject, intensive or otherwise within 2 weeks.

2. Try to set up an early review session to present the work you have done so far and get invaluable feedback.

3. Try to stay a few nights extra so that you can have a good break after your project. Shanghai has a tremendous amount to offer. To holiday there is a very different story to working there!

 

Here’s a video summary of our weekend activities. We visited the iconic Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower, Tianzifang and Hangzhou.

Thank you to our very generous host companies and the Faculty of Business and Economics for organising a fantastic program.

Until next time,

Mel and Simon 🙂

View of The Bund

Hotel buffet breakfast description. Delicious! (They were supposedly roasted mushrooms).

Pan fried pork buns

NAB Shanghai Team – Jia Yin, Tom, Richard and I

Who Am I?

Hi Everyone!!

How was your weekend? I hope the answer is AWESOME! So why am I sitting behind a computer, (effectively talking to myself), writing a post to you…? Whoever you are….?  Well, it’s quite simple really – I’m in the final stages of my University life and would like to share my experience with you!

So, Who Am I? (Unfortunately not anyone famous… yet!)

• My name is Karen and I’ll be joining the Graduate Ambassador Team (more fondly known as GAT), as a blogger!
• This is my 4th year at University
• I’m currently studying my Master of Management, majoring in Accounting (yes, you read correctly. Accounting)
• I have completed a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Economics and Finance
• I like to talk (!!!)

That is pretty much me in a nutshell, would you like to tell me who you are…?

Stay tuned… I’ll be posting more substantial and insightful posts soon (or at least I hope their insightful =/) !

Happy Sunday!