Class of 2018 Graduand Chloe Maxwell is going all in with her new career taking off before even crossing the stage to receive her degree.
Studying for her UCOL Bachelor of Applied Management and double majoring in both
Accounting and
Project Management, Chloe took on an internship at
BDO Central as part of her year three studies where she quickly proved herself in the industry and gained full-time employment.
“Coming out of school I wasn’t 100% certain of what I wanted to do. I definitely wanted to study at UCOL and I wanted to do something that would always be needed, something that can’t be outdated by computers.”
Growing up on a farm just outside of Palmerston North, Chloe went to Awatapu College and watched as her older sister studied at UCOL and achieved her dreams.
“My older sister studied here and seeing her do so well meant that I wanted to come to UCOL too.”
“The lecturers are a huge help here. They have so much knowledge, which is one thing, but they also know how to teach. What I found really good was having one-on-one time with my lecturers and they are very encouraging.”
One thing that attracted Chloe to her chosen degree was the employability potential, in particular, the internships on offer.
“The internship brought everything together for me. It showed me that I can do the job by helping me implement my classroom learning in the real world. The practical side of this degree really helps you prepare, especially in business, we even practised with the software.”
“The diversity here is great. I’ve made a lot of friends from all walks of life, backgrounds and countries. That’s a learning experience I take into work with me, it gives me the ability to be able to communicate with everyone which is something you need in this industry.”
Chloe’s advice to anyone looking at this area of study is to “have an open mind. I did a double major to keep my options open and believe me there are a lot of options once you start your study.”
In the future, Chloe would like to return to UCOL to do her chartered accounting papers before continuing on with CAANZ (Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand) through her job at BDO Central to become a qualified Chartered Accountant.