Alison Gaden – Acting Operations Manager, PAYG, Aurora Energy, BCom (Hons), University of Tasmania, 2003

Alison started her university degree part-time and has been working in management-related roles since she was 16. Her first full-time job was supervising and training a team of young casuals at a Sizzler Restaurant. A straight 'A' student who left college and moved out of home to work fulltime at the age of 16, Alison took night classes at TAFE for 4 years gaining a Diploma in Management which paved the way for her entry into university at the age of 21. Alison enrolled in a Bachelor of Commerce degree majoring in Marketing and Human Resource Management on a part-time basis while continuing to work full-time. In the third year of her degree she opted to study full-time, and went on to complete an Honours degree. After graduating with Honours from UTAS in 2003, Alison worked at the Menzies Research Institute assisting the Business Development Manager and then moved to Aurora Energy where "I have been working my way up!" Outside of work, Alison is a Board Member of the Southern Tasmanian Netball Association, President of Friends Netball Club and a Mentor with the Tasmanian Department of Education "Girls in Real Life" Program at Claremont College . Passionate about netball, Alison plays once per week. This is Alison's career so far.

Where it all began.

"In high school I wanted to be a music teacher. I was offered a State School music scholarship at school and was totally absorbed in music. I played brass instruments and was involved with the Glenorchy City Council Brass Band and School Band, and thought that was where I wanted to head." However, when Alison turned 15, she started part-time employment and got drawn to the challenges of work. By the time she was 16, and after about 3 months of study in Year 11 at Hobart College, Alison decided she liked working much more than being a student and much to her father's anguish, (she was a straight 'A' student), pulled out of college and started her first full-time job.

First Job.

"I was a Salad Bar Attendant Team Leader at Sizzlers. In this job, I realised I enjoyed the organisation side of management and I really enjoyed my role as a Team Leader. I had to train my staff and had a role in choosing them" (about 10 - 15 people on a rotational basis). "The big thing back then was the ice-cream machine, which kept breaking down. I had to keep giving staff training sessions on how to clean it and how to operate it!" Alison was also responsible for making sure her staff understood any policies that came through regarding health and safety. While working at Sizzlers, Alison learnt how to manage her time effectively, she learnt a lot about people and about the importance of teamwork. Always interested in taking on a new challenge, it was at this time Alison also decided to enrol at night classes at TAFE.

Commencing studies.

"At TAFE, I decided to enrol initially in a Certificate of Frontline Management. I was 16.". "I remember turning up to a class and seeing everyone else was in their 30's and that was a real learning experience for me. At Sizzlers, everyone was around about my own age or slightly older up to the age of about 18, but when I went into the TAFE environment, I had to do group assignments and projects with people twice my age. I found that really challenging, but it's what helped me develop my communication skills - learning to interact with different types of people who sometimes weren't very nice but realising I had to be professional and to get on with the job."

Choosing to enrol in a BCom at UTAS.

By the time Alison was finishing off her TAFE coursework, she had picked up a couple of marketing units. "I found I really liked the creative side and the complexity of the marketing subject matter, like project management and product development." Being very management-orientated, Alison always knew she was going to do a Bachelor of Commerce. "I get a lot of satisfaction out of being organised and managing other people. I'm very outcome orientated and like the whole management type scenario. It seemed natural to do a Bachelor of Commerce because I felt that particular degree would help enhance the skills I already had."

However, Alison's first taste of university life was not what she expected as she grappled to come to terms with the School of Management 's requirements for assignments: "I remember my first semester at uni having just come from TAFE with a Diploma in Management after 4 years and I thought I knew it all. I was only 21 and did my first assignment and almost failed."." I don't think academia comes naturally to all people; you need to learn how to write in the manner that's expected and to reference properly."." It was a real culture shock."

Influences while at UTAS.

A major influence on Alison while at UTAS was her tutor for Buyer Behaviour, Megan Woods. In her third year at uni, Alison decided to study full-time. Prior to this, she was very focused on her employment which was full-time and didn't really notice what was going on at uni very much. Alison was considering doing Honours but knew she had to get her grades up. It was during this time that she turned to Megan for advice. "Megan had a lot of time for me and spent a lot of time with me working on improving my writing skills so by the time I went on to do Honours, she was also doing a PhD and shared the same room with the Honours students. She became a bit of a mentor and explained to me how it was all meant to work.".

" When I tutor at uni now, I give students the strategies that I had for answering exam questions, how to study, explain what we're looking for from assignments, and how to gain higher marks when completing assignments."

Alison's Honours supervisor, Jack English, was also a strong influence. "Jack was an older gentleman, American and very handsome. He was charismatic and very much a self-made man. He didn't have to be at uni teaching, he was a New Yorker who had made his money on the share-market, had written books and was very worldly." Jack helped Alison to understand herself, and led her to realise that it is important to understand what you enjoy doing, and to focus on doing those doing things because it will make you happier. "Jack opened my eyes up to the bigger picture and the business-world in general."

Regarding postgraduate study.

"Honours was a very stressful experience for me in terms of the time pressures, pressure to get high marks (with the ultimate aim of getting First Class Honours) and pressures on finding your way through. You really need a good supervisor and Honours coordinator otherwise you can find yourself wading your way through without understanding properly what's required. In hindsight, although I found my Honours year to be stressful, I'm glad that I did it and if I had my time over again, would still do it."

Why a university degree is valuable.

"Completing my degree altered my credibility in the workplace. I'd had so much work experience but having a university degree showed commitment to the career industry I was focused on especially having just spent 4-5 years getting a formal qualification." ."When searching for jobs it also meant I knew what I was talking about, particularly in regard to conducting my market research."

Regarding the value of a university degree versus work experience, Alison agrees it's a bit of a "Catch 22" situation: "When you go for an interview, if you don't have a qualification like a university degree you may miss out on a position because someone else does, on the other hand, when you apply for a job with just a university degree without any other experience, you may miss out on the position because someone else has that work experience." Alison doesn't have any regrets about the way she went about getting her degree and believes she came out with a really good balance: a strong working history background and a university degree to complement it. It also meant when she approached a potential employer, Alison was "basically a complete package" - someone who could demonstrate they had the desire to work in the field, commitment to the industry through a number of years of employment experience with qualifications to back it up.

Career plan.

"I've always had a 2 - 5 year plan. Looking back, when I was 16, it was a 4 - 5 year plan to get to university, once I was at university it became a 5 year plan to get through my degree."." During my first year of study, I wasn't aiming for a specific role with a specific company. In your head is the fantasy role, but it wasn't until I hit my Honours year that I really started thinking about the career aspect of it." Alison believed there were lots of organisations out there that could offer the kind of skill development and experience she was seeking and in regard to her career plan at that stage of her life, "it was more about me and what I had to do to create a product in myself that would be appealing to companies." Alison wanted to remain in Tasmania but was aware of the challenges involved in finding employment in a small market. Using her networks, Alison started getting involved in things that would "get my face out there and meet people". Some of the things she started doing while still at university included: becoming the student sub-committee representative for the Australian Marketing Institute and becoming Treasurer for the Commerce Society. Outside of university, Alison was involved with Jaycees at one point, which also "helped to get the networks happening."

Career progression.

"I never thought I would end up at Aurora ." Prior to working for Aurora , Alison was with the Menzies Research Institute which was her first job after graduating with Honours. Her title was "Fundraising Officer" and she formed part of a three-person team with the Business Development Manager. Together they worked with all the marketing aspects for the Menzies Research Institute. "That [experience] was good, but I started looking for other work because I needed to be challenged a bit more. I noticed the advertisement for the position at Aurora in the newspaper, applied for it, got it and have been really happy ever since."

Alison agrees that one of the things Aurora is good at is providing opportunities if you want them. "I have had to make some strange career moves within the business [at Aurora ] to get to do what I am doing now. I started as a Marketing Officer with Natural Gas, a new product to Aurora . I helped set up the processes, the marketing materials and conducted many community information sessions." Alison was also aware of some opportunities developing with Pay As You Go (PAYG) because Aurora was moving into South Australia . In order to get more product experience, she applied for a secondment as the Telesales Team Leader with the PAYG outbound telesales team which lasted for three months. Following that experience, Alison then applied to come into the PAYG team as the Operations Manager and was successful. "I was able to use my experience within the company with Natural Gas to get to that point. However, Natural Gas is non-electricity product and my knowledge and my skills regarding the electricity side of things was not as in-depth as the others in the PAYG team, so moving into the telesales role was fantastic. I was suddenly being bombarded with all the product information about the electricity side of things."

Staying motivated.

"Taking a break is how I stay motivated. This year my health hasn't been the best. I was diagnosed with Lupus, and that's been challenging in regard to the amount of activities I can do without getting fatigued. I tend to be the type of person who takes the laptop home and if I'm not doing anything I'll sit and do some work, or prepare the newsletter for the Friends Netball Club, or start planning other activities for myself and my friends. I'm the kind of person who constantly needs mental stimulation. When I lose motivation, I know I've lost it and welcome it. I take a break and just go with the flow and won't take work home or do extra things until I get over the energy lapse. I certainly don't feel any guilt. Once upon a time I did, certainly when I was younger. I'd work, work, work, almost until I'd have a mental breakdown." Nowadays, Alison appreciates taking the time to slow down and reflect on what she's achieved rather than just focusing on the next thing she is going to try and achieve.

The importance of extra-curricular activities in developing career-related skills and attributes.

"The skills developed from my extra-curricular activities have definitely contributed to where I am today. Leadership positions like being President of Friends Netball Club, Board Member of the Southern Tasmanian Netball Association (STNA) and a Mentor with the Department of Education "Girls in Real Life" Program have built on skills acquired through my employment and while at university."

Being involved in other things outside of work keeps Alison stimulated mentally as well as building on skills useful to her career and providing satisfaction on a more personal level. "The board membership with the STNA allows me to combine my love of netball which is something I really enjoy and I'm really interested in, while at the same time is also very valuable career experience. It's the same sort of thing with being President of the Friends Netball Club. Netball is fantastic, I love it, but at the same time you're using skills like managing a team and time management. At the moment it's about finding sponsorship, and marketing the club and networking. All of these things assist me in developing my leadership qualities."

Alison finds that her mentoring role with the "Girls in Real Life" Program is more of a personal reward. When the email came across her desk about the program, Alison reflected on her own experience as a 16 year old who had just left home and school and had commenced work fulltime. "I felt that I could give a bit back from that perspective and I wanted to try and have a positive influence on somebody. When I was that age, I made significant decisions about my life that have had an impact on me today."."The girl I mentor is a lot like I used to be. She's a 'straight A' student, she's Caltex All-rounder of the Year, she's made the state team in netball and yet lacks a bit of confidence. I get the impression that peer pressure at college is making her dumb herself down as it's not cool to be smart so the main aim of what I'm trying to get through to her is that it's ok to be smart and still have fun."

Being involved with Jaycees when younger has had a significant impact on Alison's confidence to engage in public-speaking. "Back in the 1980s, my dad was a member of the Clarence Jaycees. You could become a member when you were 18, and I remember my dad dragging me along [to a meeting]." Alison had also been living away from home by this stage, and regarded the whole scenario as "a nice outing with my dad." "We got to the meeting, and then they turned on me and said right you've got 2 minutes to tell us all you know about AFL football. So I thought well I'm here with my dad and I can't sit here and look at my feet, I've got to stand up and do it. I didn't watch AFL football at all and they knew that but it was the sort of environment with people pushing you out of your comfort zone. I realised I was going to be ok and so I spoke." "I actually really enjoy public speaking, it doesn't worry me, because I guess that I've been pushed out of that comfort zone so many times that I'm comfortable with the way that I present now and it's not a problem."

Alison's tips on applying for jobs in marketing.

Research the company and the role you are applying for and demonstrate enthusiasm. "When you have two people going for a position and one has researched the role really well and is enthusiastic for it and the other person may be slightly more qualified but shows less enthusiasm and is less well-researched, we're going to go for the one that shows they have done their homework and demonstrates enthusiasm. You're going to be working with that person and you'd much rather work with someone who is enthusiastic about the role and is genuinely interested in what they'll be doing every day."

Have a portfolio of work.

"If you have a portfolio of any work you have done previously, bring it in. You should never allow yourself to be prompted about outstanding things you have done. If you have done something fantastic, sell it. There may be an occasion where you are going for a job and there are ten other applicants being interviewed and perhaps the interviewers haven't had an opportunity to scout through your application as much as they could have - they're not going to know about your achievement if you don't sell it. It could be the thing that gets you over the line ahead of the other candidates."

"For those students who are going green and fresh into an interview but haven't had industry experience, if you've got something there [like a portfolio], it shows what you are capable of, it's evidence of what you have done, it demonstrates enthusiasm, and shows an interest in the profession you have chosen."

Get involved in community and volunteer work

In the marketing or management arena, there are so many wonderful charities and organisations out there that are dying for people to come in and say "Hi, I've seen your newsletter, would you mind if I changed it a little bit, had a go at zhooshing it up?" They're going to go, "Yeah, go for it." At the same time it's going to be something to add to your portfolio."

Ingrid Apsitis
Faculty of Business
University of Tasmania
2006