"One thing the ProGrad team drill into you is that first impressions last – keep this in mind when first entering through that door!" Emma completed a Bachelor of Business Administration (Marketing) and a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) at Macquarie University.   Prior to applying for a position through ProGrad, Emma worked as a research analyst for Jasper Capital during an internship in 2007-2008. Emma was responsible for generalised research for the financial sector along with assisting the Group Chief Executive in research and administrative tasks.   Emma came through our assessment day on the 31st July 2008 showing great overall results from all aspects on the day. Emma was presented with four opportunities after completing her assessment day. These ranged from a Finance company, through to a business information company, all the way to an Architect consulting organisation. Emma performed extremely well throughout all interviews and was successful in making it through to several second rounds.   Emma eventually decided to go with a company that provides high end foreign exchange and financial services for both private and corporate clients. Her role concentrates on the private client side of the organisation where she provides personalised foreign exchange advice and service to private clients who require the transaction of one currency to another. Emma is involved in the process from initial call all the way to post transaction follow up.   Emma has now been with the organisation for almost two months and has already exceeded her quarterly budget well within this time period. Her performance in this role and the development of new business has opened up an opportunity for another ProGrad graduate to be placed in a similar role under Emma’s guidance. This is a great example of how hard work can present great opportunities for graduates when they exceed the required effort in the role.   On a recent client service visit Emma described the positives of her role as the following: ·       ‘Having ownership of the entire role’ ·       ‘Autonomy in the role’ ·       ‘The organisational culture’ ·       ‘Career progression’ ·       ‘Earning potential within the company’ ·       ‘And the responsibility of the role’   Emma’s Thoughts – The assessment day, Interviews and her role: The Assessment Day Challenging – I wasn’t so much concerned about the 3min speech as I had presented many throughout uni, but the group work was challenging because everyone is there to be noticed and you are constantly trying to make sure you stand out from the crowd, yet making sure you remain genuine and true to form. Remember you are being watched all the time, even outside of any activities. Try to be social and chat with people around you, this will make the day easier as you become more familiar with the people you must work with and vice versa – if the observers can see others responding positively toward you then this is of a great advantage! One thing the ProGrad team drill into you is that first impressions last – keep this in mind when first entering through that door!   Interview Process Keep your options open when describing to the ProGrad rep’s what it is you are looking for in a role. Being a fresh graduate I had no idea what sort of job I wanted to get into, so keeping my options open allowed me to go and investigate different companies and industries – I had nothing to lose by going and seeing what was out there and it is great practice for future interviews which may end up being the one that you really want! Confidence and practice makes a world of difference. With interviews you must remember that it is not just the company interviewing you, but you interviewing the company – are they the right for you? Make sure you ask them questions. This also helps you maintain some level of power and confidence during the interview. Again, try to be genuine and unique with your questions (chances are they have interviewed ProGrad candidates before you and are familiar with the ProGrad interview skills and advice).   My Role I was eventually drawn to a role which involved a high level of responsibility, autonomy, and human interaction all within a fun and exciting organisational culture. The company is global yet has a small presence in Australia and New Zealand – the opportunity to grow with the company here was a major plus in my mind. I have been here almost 3 months and have already been flown to New Zealand and back, have passed my probationary period much sooner than anticipated and am now hiring others to help me in the role. Career progression can be either by geography (offices are located in London, Spain, NZ, USA), specialty (business development, risk management, advisory, accountancy) or grade (private clients, agents, corporate clients). The opportunities available to me are vast and the company rewards success – if you perform well you will be noticed! The team is young and motivated to succeed and we are often out for a drink or two on a Friday night after a hard week – clearly adopting the ‘work hard play hard’ ethic.