What did you study? When did you graduate?
I studied medical science at the University of Sydney. I graduated in 2016.
What is your job about?
The role and responsibilities as a Graduate at Harvey Norman involves being predominately focused on the operational aspects of the business, improving key categories of the business developing short and long-term plans to create a sustainable solution and developing the skillset that I require to be a leader of a successful franchise. Aside from the day-to-day responsibilities of the business, my role has been extended and transformed in a different direction with the launch of a new business venture.
This business venture involves the creation of a franchise that will be integrated into the existing business, which involves the unique opportunity to collaborate with 25 different bathroom renovators in the vast region of NSW. The requirement involves interacting with renovators to create physical displays in-store, which are a representation of the vision for their business operations and Harvey Norman in our physical complex with the end goal resulting in selling more products to customers and having these renovators completing those labor services for the customer. My responsibility now as Proprietor in Training includes interacting and communicating with these different renovators on physical bathroom layouts, product design to product implementation.
What is your background?
My childhood involves growing up in the Western Sydney region and attending my local high school, where I graduated as the Dux of my school. During that period of high school, I was very driven to be as academically successful as I could with the vision of becoming a neurosurgeon or cardiologist.
From that point, I attended the University of Sydney and graduated with a Bachelor of Medical Science degree. During my high school and university years, I was working at Coles as a part-time job and a life-altering moment led to deep introspective soul searching for what would define my happiness moving forward.
That is when I stumbled across the university graduates' advertising page and saw the opportunity that Harvey Norman offered, where through dedication and hard work, you could be granted the privilege to run a franchise as your own business. The thought of becoming a businessman appealed to me greatly and from that moment in 2017, the passion and desire to create a successful and sustainable business would meet that void that I had felt.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Absolutely and based on my experiences, tertiary forms of education provides you with the ability to apply knowledge or the skillset obtained in different areas. My belief is that the most important translatable skill is being able to have the ability to learn and identify how to apply that knowledge into different situations, which is then malleable to real-life experiences.
What is the coolest thing about your job?
The most inspiring aspect of this job is being able to have the satisfaction of creating a successful and sustainable business culture, which results in providing customers with solutions to their bathroom renovation situation. A thriving culture and improvement in the salespeople’s financial achievements are also highly rewarding.
What are the limitations of your job?
One of the major limitations is that due to the nature of the retail business, there is a greater the requirement to be present on weekends, as that is where the majority of the sales can be achieved. However though on the flip side of that, depending on how you have established the foundations of the business and empowered your team will determine, whether that requirement to work on weekends lessens or increases.
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...
The advice that I would give my younger self back in time would be a focus on:
1) What drives or motivates me
2) What provides me with the greatest sense of accomplishment or satisfaction with my career
3) What absolute external or internal factors need to be ever-present through my working
life/career? – Whether it be gym, attending a major social event(s), etcetera.