We need interns

Employers and students like John say work helps course and career

Working as an intern makes John Fui a better student. The accounting and marketing major is learning not only how to be professional—being on time, building relationships with colleagues, meeting deadlines—but also how to relate practice to theory. “When my lecturer says something, I say, I know this. I’ve done this at work.”

As part of the team at private health insurance provider ACA Health, John has the “honour” of speaking with members who are seeking help, often at a vulnerable time of their lives. “Doing what I can to make someone’s day better gives me a sense of purpose. I like the feeling of serving others.”

Manager Jody Burgoyne also worked as an accounting intern when she studied at Avondale, so she is happy ACA Health can support John with his education. “He’s willing to do whatever job you ask of him, with a smile. We always have plenty of work to do, so it’s great to have a capable and enthusiastic person to help.” And help he has proved to be: John is “already contributing to the finance work of the fund.”

One employer is keen for other business students to do what John’s done, with the Seventh-day Adventist Church hosting a careers lunch on campus this semester. Offering accounting roles in sectors such as aged care, education and even retail “provides opportunities to work on multidisciplinary projects here in Australia and around the world,” says Nadelle Manners, chief financial officer for the church in greater Sydney. Besides academic credit, an internship “provides an edge to any student.”

That edge includes introducing students as “potential employees to decision makers they meet in their work,” says Jody. “Even the busiest person remembers their time as a student and happily makes time to meet interns.” Her advice to interns is to show initiative and do your best because “one job performed well remains in the collective memory.”

John began his degree at a university in Perth but struggled. “I didn’t know how to handle adult life.” He transferred to Avondale to “sort out my academic and spiritual life.” The two are connected. “Seeing others at Avondale embrace their faith has helped me do the same, and that’s helped me become more settled.”

Lecturer Dr Warrick Long describes John as a good student who engages in class. “He’s not majoring in dorm life. He turns up and puts in.”

Joining John in the Bachelor of Business is a large number of first-year students, a cohort that is almost double the size of that in 2022. The even better news? A deal that gives the new students $4800 in fee discount and free accommodation on our Lake Macquarie campus extends to those beginning the degree in 2024. “And who doesn’t love a great deal?” says Warrick.