What's your job about?
I am currently in my third year of the management cadetship with MMEM. As a management cadet, I have learnt the business from the very base, beginning in the warehouse, and then learning every single office role. I have also rotated through a lot of different branches witnessing different management styles and the way in which different branches are run. Along with this, the company has sent me on many training and leadership courses. These can be run by various suppliers or external trainers. These are external trainers from outside of the industry who specialise in leadership or sales training. I can truly say that no two days are the same and there is so much variability to the job. There is no typical day or typical week, as one day you might be trying to win a project job for a customer worth several million, whereas another day, you’re trying to organise a couple of thousand-dollar delivery for an extremely important customer. It is a lot of fun, and the customers I interact and work with are all great people and make for interesting chats. The role is incredibly rewarding and the sense of camaraderie with my team is amazing when we’re working towards a common goal of trying to run the most efficient and profitable business.
What's your background?
After high school I graduated from Macquarie University with a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in International Business in 2019. I believe this would be a very similar experience to many people reading this and are students looking for a role out of university like I once did. I joined MMEM at the beginning of 2020 where I saw firsthand many things I learned at University. This was exciting to the theoretical in practice. Things such as management, supply chains and ways to be adaptable are all prevalent. I feel valuable to my team because I take an active role in the branch. This opportunity is definitely what you make of it and contains many extremely rewarding experiences and benefits.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
They absolutely can, just as long as they’re dedicated, driven, and enjoy being around other people. If so, they would thrive in this role. Having people from different backgrounds is a way a branch can be extremely successful as it allows people with completely different viewpoints and experiences to contribute and suggest new ways of doing things. The reason this is so great is that it allows for a branch to be as successful and efficient as possible because it’s so open to being improved upon.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
I love the problem-solving aspect of my job. Customers will bring me a problem or issue they have and then it is my job to find one or many solutions and then present these to the customer. It is incredibly rewarding and fulfilling when these solutions are then carried out successfully. I often know I am doing the right thing because customers love to let you know and are full of encouragement especially when they realise you don’t have an electrical background like myself. They are never short of praise especially when you get them out of a tight spot.
What are the limitations of your job?
You must be ready to embrace an industry you most likely never knew existed! Entering into something I never even knew existed before and trying to learn all the nuances and intricacies of the industry was somewhat overwhelming at first. I will say though; that you do learn all these very quickly. There are also a lot of business relationships to balance and when you first join you are in direct communication with so many shareholders, where your actions have potentially positive or negative consequences. It is a lot of responsibility but another aspect of the role which makes it so rewarding.
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