If you’re considering an MBA program because you want to transform your career and land a new dream job, you’re not alone.
“Last year was an all-time historic low for career moves in the Australian jobs market, but this year we’re definitely seeing a lot of movement,” said Bec McIntosh, a Career Consultant in the UQ MBA Careers and Professional Development Team.
“More people are taking action to change careers, exploring new employment opportunities and dipping their toe into new industries.
“People who haven’t considered a move for some time – they may have been in the same career for 10 years – are thinking that now is the right time to make a change.”
One UQ MBA graduate to benefit from working with the Careers and Professional Development Team is Siobhan Coster.
Siobhan said she enrolled in the MBA when she was unsure where to go next in her career after moving back from London and feeling unfulfilled in her e-commerce business.
“I was in a discovery phase and wondering what the next steps to take in my career were,” Siobhan said.
“I tapped into the UQ MBA Careers and Professional Development Team to help me identify what industries I’m passionate about and the roles that would align with my values.
“I didn’t know the best way to navigate the job market.”
That’s when Siobhan met Bec McIntosh.
“I had my first meeting with Bec toward the end of my MBA,” Siobhan said.
“She helped me take a step back and use different tools to identify what particular industries and companies would be of interest to me.
“It was really helpful having a very logical process to tackle these complex.”
The UQ MBA Careers and Professional Development Team also provide practical services to help MBA students advance their career journey.
Bec says: “Using our expertise and background in career development, we help students and graduates connect the dots on their career journey.”
“They supported me through the end-to-end process of looking for a job,” Siobhan said.
“I was guided through working out what particular jobs to apply for and they helped with improving my CV.
“When I was applying for jobs, there was interview preparation where I practised answering questions by drawing on my expertise.
“The team also challenged my thinking about my own worth and taught me how to negotiate for a higher salary.”
The support worked. Siobhan has secured a sought-after role as an Entrepreneur in Residence at CSIRO.
She’s working on a food technology startup called Eclipse that sustainably creates nutritional protein ingredients from plants instead of animals, using the world-leading technology of precision fermentation. The goal is to create a new protein system that helps to increase the availability and accessibility of highly valuable nutritional ingredients.
The project is helping meet the nutritional needs of 10 billion people by 2050.
For her ambitious and innovative work with Eclipse, Siobhan won the ilab Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the 2022 Ventures ilab Accelerator Pitch Night.
“I’m overwhelmingly happy with the decision I’ve made with my career,” Siobhan said.
“I’m very grateful for the support I’ve had from the Careers Team to help get me here.”
Siobhan said she would continue to work with the UQ MBA Careers and Professional Development team as an alumnus when she needs support recruiting staff for her own projects in the future.
As well as providing individual career advice, the team deliver events, programs and workshops designed to prepare students for the competitive global job market.
Learn more about the personalised and lifelong career guidance and professional development you’ll receive as a UQ MBA student at an Information Event on 7 April or 4 May. Register now or apply before 31 May 2022.
