From laboratory bench to corporate boardroom

Contributed by Sarah Lim - Graduate at ANZ

I completed an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Science at Deakin University, Melbourne, and then continued with my Honours in 2007 at the Centre of Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB). Honours was a challenging year that was filled with a lot of hard work and dedication, while also being a fantastic way to apply knowledge gained from undergraduate studies and apply these concepts into research. Furthermore, I was able to acquire work experience within the field and further improve on professional skills such as writing, project management and building working relationships. After the completion of Honours, I did some practical demonstrating which provided me experience in facilitating within a classroom environment. I also worked as a Research Assistant at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute where was I able to gain more industry skills and increase my exposure to various types of research.

I enjoyed the theories and concepts of Science, however, I decided that I wanted a career change. As well as science, I have always been interested in business and learning about how entrepreneurs differentiate their businesses from others. I wanted to be able to apply my skills garnered from my experience in Science while learning new professional skills and applying them into a corporate environment. As I had no knowledge of what jobs were available or suited to my skills, I decided that applying for graduate positions would be a great way as many of them have job rotations.

I applied for various Graduate positions albeit not having any experience or knowledge within the industry and landed a role within ANZ bank. I was first placed in a department called Invoice Finance which was heavily accounting based. Currently, I am based within ESANDA, a subsidiary of ANZ in a department called Business Equipment Finance Operations. The two roles have been diversely different to each other and has been a steep learning curve but this has been a great way to understand the different areas of a bank.

There are many benefits that come with Graduate positions. They are hard to obtain as they are highly sought after by other graduates from various backgrounds. It is a fantastic way to get recognised within an organisation, meet other graduates with similar mindsets, network with industry experts, learn new skills and learn more about the many different facets and roles within a bank. There are many graduate activities such as GO Week (Graduate Orientation Week), professional skills training courses, Friday night drinks, grad organised events (ie. Movie nights, bowling and a Grad Ball). Furthermore, as a graduate, you are involved in a graduate project where an issue is presented to you, and the project group recommends a solution. Involvement within the graduate project brings further exposure to the bank and a different skill set. Like most jobs, the year has had many ups and downs but everything has to be seen that “any experience, whether good or bad, is a great experience”.

Many skills gained from a Science degree can be applied within a corporate environment. Skills such as fine attention to detail, analytical mind, logical thinking, problem solving, facilitating a group to ascertain solutions, project management and strong research skills are just some examples. Furthermore, having a Science background, means you are able to bring a different perspective to any discussion and thus are able to stand out from the crowd.

For more information, visit the ANZ careers website.