Paving your own path with a degree in business
Published on the 03 June 2024 by UNSW Business School EDI Team
As a proud Gomeroi woman, Brodie Booth wasn’t sure what she wanted to do after high school. But the one thing was certain, she wanted to open up as many doors as possible and have autonomy over her career.
One of four kids, Brodie watched her two older siblings take different career paths, enabled by studying a commerce degree at the UNSW Business School.
“My sister majored in marketing and my brother in International Business. Seeing them on such different pathways under the same degree made me realise that the diverse range of experiences and skills you get through a business degree can take you anywhere.”
Inspired by her siblings and her knack for numbers and finance at school, Brodie enrolled in a Bachelor of Commerce at UNSW Business School and hasn’t looked back.
Four years on, she has graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce & Arts, Finance and Indigenous Studies and has been putting her skills to work as a Graduate employee at the Commonwealth Bank (CommBank).
Changing the way Australians bank
Brodie says the networking opportunities offered at UNSW have been invaluable to where she is today.
For example, as the Vice President of UNSW Business School’s First Nations Business Society – the first of its kind in Australia – she could connect with a range of different people with varying levels of experience.
“What makes the society so powerful is the members. It has both undergrad and post-grad students, alumni, working professionals with decades of experience and industry partners. There's so much to gain from being part of a network of like-minded people who want to empower each other.”
It’s networks like these that led Brodie to secure a three-month internship at the Commbank during her second year at uni. At the end of her internship, she was offered a part-time Junior Insights Analyst role and a year later, she has been promoted to a full-time Insights Analyst.
These roles exposed Brodie to invaluable experiences and Work Integrated Learning opportunities before she even graduated from university, including helping communities through a natural disaster.
During significant flooding along the East Coast of Australia in 2022, areas such as Byron Bay and Lismore were heavily impacted. Commbank’s local branches flooded – cutting people off from accessing cash, which was critical during prolonged WiFi outage.
Brodie’s team was responsible for letting over 1 million customers know about the support available to them, including new pop-up branches and grants they could access in their time of need.
“Coming into a bank, I didn’t think my role could have such a big impact on people, especially in one of the most vulnerable times in their lives. So, to be a part of that was incredible.”
Brodie was also part of the team that launched Australia’s first customer recognition program for a bank, CommBank Yello, to over eight million customers.
“We're really paving the way for what’s to come. It is so fulfilling to visit the CommBank Yello hub and see the work that I put in come to life. It’s an amazing experience to have so early on in my career.”
Today, Brodie is six months into her 18-month graduate program, helping digitise the customer experience for Australian home buyers. And she’s loving every minute of it.
“We look at the customer journey and how we can give customers more autonomy over their home loan. From changing home loan repayments to splitting loans, they can make changes and control their loans online and through the CommBank app. We’re empowering the next generation of borrowers, which is an exciting space to be in right now.”
A smooth transition to work
Brodie says her UNSW degree taught her transferable skills that allowed her to step into these CommBank roles with confidence.
“A UNSW commerce degree shapes the way you think about problems. And the way UNSW lecturers teach makes your skills easily transferable into real-world situations.”
Brodie recalls working through real-world customer problems in class, breaking each down into smaller sections, analysing them and offering recommendations for how to address the problem.
While at the time she undervalued these analytical skills, she immediately recognised their value once she started work. She realised she could apply these skills easily while improving the digital customer experience at CommBank.
“We identified that our app’s search function wasn’t very intuitive when addressing customers questions, which was a real customer pain point. So, we came up with a solution – tagging content better – which improved our customer experience by ensuring the right content was displayed, at the right time for our customers. An app search function is a small part of a large-scale project, which can easily be forgotten. But it can cause real friction and impact customer satisfaction if we don’t get the little things right.”
Opening the doors to endless opportunities
Armed with practical skills and frameworks for the real world of work, and with a wealth of experience already under her belt, Brodie is set to pave her own career path.
So, what’s next?
“I have no idea. But I think that's what's exciting. Once I complete my graduate program, I’ll see what doors open up. I've been very open to the opportunities that have come my way and that’s really worked for me.”
For now, Brodie hopes to inspire other female-identifying students to pursue a career in business.
“Studying business lets you explore what you’re interested in and then make your impact in your chosen area – whether that’s finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, or something else. It allows you to innovate and lead and create the change you want to see in the world.”
“With a business degree, you can find a role in a company or in an industry that aligns with your values and where you really see yourself making the greatest impact.”
Want to explore your future in business?
Learn from inspiring students like Brodie at the UNSW Girls in Business Camp. The Camp is open to any year 10, 11 or 12 female-identifying high school students in New South Wales who have a genuine interest in studying Banking and Finance, Economics, Information Systems and Technology Management, Risk and Actuarial Studies at UNSW Business School.
Learn more about the UNSW Girls in Business Camp
Learn more about Information Systems and Technology Management at UNSW Business School