What careers does commerce lead to and what about Uni property courses r they a good

[motivated 5555]

Pls can anyone give me any hints advice info re studying commerce at Uni and what careers that can lead to .

A friend studied commerce and aswell at Uni studied a property course .

I know people can just read a couple of books but what do others know or advise re these courses pls .

Thanks .

 

[Deltaberry]

Course = only useful for getting a job

PS: not even helpful for doing your job

As far as property investing or anything like that goes, whether you go to uni has no relevance.

In short, for some people it's a great stepping stone to a mediocre life. For most people it's a waste of time and $$ and if you had used the same time to go to Kalgoorlie to drive a truck and invested the money you'd probably be $600k-$1m cash ahead.

Regards
Person who topped this very course in one of the best institutions in this country with several 6-digit job offers before he was even out of uni left right and centre

 

[bene313]

Do a property degree if you want to work and have a career in property.

Regarding commerce, it can pretty much lead to anything in business. Often people choose a couple of majors and that follows through to either a job within the field of their majors or perhaps a job where they have some work experience. Like Delta said, a course is helpful for getting a job, but what really counts is work experience.

Many commerce students will choose an accounting/finance combination to ensure they have options when they graduate (eg. you may not want to "be an accountant" but the jobs are there for grads and many simply use their grad accounting position as a stepping stone).

 

[Aaron_C]

Doing a commerce degree is fine if you want to just get an ordinary job. I guess that's how most people started off anyway....as long as you don't finish up that way

 

[motivated 5555]

ThANX so much for the replies . Much appreciated .

Bene13 and Aaron pls tell me what could the commerce degree b a stepping stone to
Or accounting what could that be a stepping stone to pls?
Thnx

 

[Aaron_C]

You can basically find work in any accounting firm, financial services firm (like financial planning), or a big corporate (like BHP) doing their accounting work.

 

[The Y-man]

accounting what could that be a stepping stone to pls?

Doing your own tax returns!

The Y-man

 

[Deltaberry]

Doing a commerce degree is fine if you want to just get an ordinary job. I guess that's how most people started off anyway....as long as you don't finish up that way

Should start off driving trucks in West Pilbara, then go on to do something better and have more capital in shorter time.

 

[bene313]

ThANX so much for the replies . Much appreciated .

Bene13 and Aaron pls tell me what could the commerce degree b a stepping stone to
Or accounting what could that be a stepping stone to pls?
Thnx

The reason many go down the accounting route is because working for a big 4 accounting firm gives you a very good understanding of business. It's almost like being at some sort of real life university. If you want to work in business (and pretty much guarantee yourself a job) accounting/finance is not a bad choice.

Examples of what CA/CPA qualifiers go on to do:

- CFO (most in the country will be qualified accountants)

- CEO (many will be CA/CPA qualified)

- Finance, banking, investment banking - varying roles

- Management roles in industry - varying sectors

- Own business operator - varying industries and sectors

Examples of people I know personally who are qualified accountants and their professions now:

- Property construction company owner

- Stock brokers

- Corporate finance and transaction advisor

- Investment bankers in UK

- Corporate trainers/speakers

- Paint manufacturer

- CFO of plumbing business

- Project analysis at BHP

- Forecaster at CBH

- Analysis of petroleum supply BP

Having said all that, you really have to go with what interests you because that is what you'll be good at. If you're interested in human biology for example, don't do commerce or accounting - do a physio or medicine related degree.

 

[bene313]

Doing your own tax returns!

On the contrary. Most accountants would be more knowledgeable in the correct treatment of company revenues than what to claim as a personal tax deduction.

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

Perhaps the better question is where do you want to end up?

For many people the initial degree they hold does not reflect where their life ends up taking them. People often have radical career changes at some point and the obtain the necessary qualifications as they need to.

In my case I originally obtained an engineering degree and worked for 10 years in the relevent roles to that degree. Some circumstances caused me to change careers and to do that I needed to study further. I now hold numerous qualifications in finance and management.

My brother also studied engineering. 3 months into his first job he decided he'd rather be a stock broker. He bounced around 3-4 jobs and did further study along the way, but he's been a stock broker for 12 years now.

Fair to say, neither of us really understood our paths in life, but we're both quite happy with where we've ended up.

If I could do it again I'd try figure out exactly where I wanted to end up and then determine the path (and right qualifications) I needed to take to get there. The problem is at 18 where I wanted to end up is not what I want from life now.

 

[Belbo]

If I could do it again I'd try figure out exactly where I wanted to end up and then determine the path (and right qualifications) I needed to take to get there. The problem is at 18 where I wanted to end up is not what I want from life now.

The problem is at 18 where you want to end up is determined mostly by uninformed preconceptions (and overactive hormones ).

But really, it's simply impossible for a child of that age to decide finally on a career path or to sensibly choose a university course that will suit them.

I don't blame the kids: I blame their adults and their society.

While not quite agreeing completely with Deltaberry that they should throw out the whole idea of uni, I would advocate a couple of years working between school and starting uni to try working life for a bit first and look for some real world inspiration. I can't help but think of all the wasted resources that go into educating kids in areas they never proceed into professionally.

But then again, who are we but jaded adults?

 

[Cupcakes]

If you're 100% sure you want to work in property I'd go for an actual property degree (or a property major) like this one: www.rmit.edu.au/programs/bp209

Many real estate companies specifically look for people with property related degrees like CBRE, Colliers, Jones Lang LaSalle, Westfield, Stockland etc. Then there are real estate trusts and managed funds. Some of the big banks and investment banks like Maquarie have property funds. Go on their websites and have a look at their careers pages to see what degrees they're looking for e.g. http://www.stockland.com.au/careers/careers2_scholarship.htm

Sometimes a commerce degree majoring in finance/accounting won't actually get you a job in property! If it's possible I'd go for a Business or Commerce degree which offers a major in property. Then if you change your mind there is a broad range of other majors to choose from!

Good luck!

 

[BuildingBlocks]

I think that they need better career advisers at schools and more work experience programs.

Only working in a role will tell you if you really enjoy it.

Having said that, I get bored easily so who knows where I will be in 5 years time.

 

[motivated 5555]

thanks. lots of good answers for me to pass on.

pls can someone tell me
is it dangerous to drive the trucks on the mining fields as why do they get paid so much and if it was that good why isnt everyone doing that to set themselves up for life.

 

[bene313]

thanks. lots of good answers for me to pass on.

pls can someone tell me
is it dangerous to drive the trucks on the mining fields as why do they get paid so much and if it was that good why isnt everyone doing that to set themselves up for life.

It's not as simple as just going up there and driving trucks. You will need a number of tickets/training before you can do this. There are some guys here who know a lot more about this than me, I think Reeco is one of them and there are a couple of others too.

If you go up untrained you can start earn around 80k. I have a mate who drives a recovery vehicle (landcruiser) working 1 week on, 1 week off and he is getting 80k. He could get more working 3 on, 1 off etc.

 

[Deltaberry]

The reason many go down the accounting route is because working for a big 4 accounting firm gives you a very good understanding of business. It's almost like being at some sort of real life university. If you want to work in business (and pretty much guarantee yourself a job) accounting/finance is not a bad choice.

That's the funniest reason people tell me they go to big 4 for. The only people who understand business are people who do business.

Sitting in an office auditing some supermarket's accounts isn't going to help you learn how to run a supermarket. Nor is auditing a mine going to help you understand how to run a mine.

In fact you won't even know how to do many other things such as source equity and debt capital, negotiate with banks, procure product, manage staff...

 

[Deltaberry]

thanks. lots of good answers for me to pass on.

pls can someone tell me
is it dangerous to drive the trucks on the mining fields as why do they get paid so much and if it was that good why isnt everyone doing that to set themselves up for life.

Most people don't do it because they think like ordinary people. And most people are ordinary, by definition.

The other day I was speaking to my university-graduate cousin (graduated from Business/IT from RMIT). He couldn't find a job in any corporate/office role. Asked me if I knew any leads.

I told him: "Why don't you go to a place like Kalgoorlie or Gladstone and do some manual labour? Heaps of people making $100k+ in those roles. Better than making $40k as some IT kiddo at some random corporate job like Big 4"

He said to me: "Yea but I want to wear a suit because it looks prestiguous"

If you were serious about getting ahead in life you'd go to these mines, make some $$$, buy some houses and position yourself for the next boom.

 

[Deltaberry]

It's not as simple as just going up there and driving trucks. You will need a number of tickets/training before you can do this. There are some guys here who know a lot more about this than me, I think Reeco is one of them and there are a couple of others too.

If you go up untrained you can start earn around 80k. I have a mate who drives a recovery vehicle (landcruiser) working 1 week on, 1 week off and he is getting 80k. He could get more working 3 on, 1 off etc.

Or he can start at $40k at PwC as an auditor

 

[The Y-man]

He said to me: "Yea but I want to wear a suit because it looks prestiguous".

That made me smile I do absolutely everything to avoid wearing a suit!

In fact any time anyone in my office turns up in a suit, the first quesiton is "Oh, so where's the interview?"

Funny thing happened 2 weeks ago - one of my staff did turn up in a suit - so we asked the standard question, His respone: "Pregnant wife's about to give birth so she's in hosptial - and I've run out of clothes because there's no one at home to do the laundry....

The Y-man