Business Studies

SOSE Business

De La Salle Accountants Win Cadetships

During term 2 a number of Year 12 students attended the Chartered Accountants Careers evening and over a number of lunchtime sessions they interacted with recruiting staff from large firms. Both Luis Godhino and Nicholas Kyriazis have been offered Cadetships at Deloitte and PKF for 2009.

“When the concept of the Cadetship was first brought to me I immediately thought of the opportunities that could come from it. I applied for a number of different firms, but there were two that really stood out as being places where I would be really happy to work. One of these was Deloitte, where I received my cadetship. It may seem like a daunting task, but the firm really look out for their cadets and ensure they make an easy transition into a working environment — even straight out from school. This opportunity kept me motivated for the entire year — opportunities like this should be considered seriously. It will provide an advantage with my university studies in coming years. It offers the cadet a chance to learn the business world while helping develop a vast array of work and people skills. Give it a go, because it really is something that may only come around once and it may provide you with a huge platform for the future.”

Luis Godhino De La Salle Student Goes to Australian Business Week

In February I was informed I had been accepted into the ABW program, which would take place at Deakin University in Waurn Ponds and run for six days during the first term holidays. After orientation we barely had a chance to get to know our team members and two mentors when we were launched straight into a briefing for survival in the Business Policy Game. This game was designed to simulate, as accurately as possible, what a real, competitive business market is like. Each team had to prepare quarterly decisions that would affect their company’s future and the data would be entered into a complex computer program which would give out results as to how each company performed for each business quarter. It would produce results based on product price, level of market research and advertising, seasonal factors, research and development, production lines, and production hours. Each team had to assess their position and produce financial reports to assist in making decisions for the next quarter. Each of these quarterly decisions had a deadline which required sacrificing lots of sleep just to keep the team afloat. During the second day there was a law component to ABW, and I volunteered to be the senior barrister in a mock trial. We met with Sam Cusumano, a law lecturer and barrister, who taught us the essentials for courtroom behaviour and how we should approach the case. Our team was representing the plaintiff in the trial, and my team-mate and I had three days to prepare a case and then present it in the Geelong County Court in front of another law lecturer. I have to admit that I felt quite important dressed in the barristers robe. Perhaps the biggest task for every team was the development of a company product and associated trade display. Each team had to create a product and an entire display to sell the product to as many as possible. Our team created the ‘Pollution Proactive’ device, to be fitted to the end of a vehicle’s exhaust pipe to reduce emissions. We spent countless hours getting the product ready and printing out hundreds of pamphlets to give to parents who were viewing the displays on the last day. We even had a chance to film a television advertisement for our product. On day six when the displays had been dismantled we had the closing conference and I said my final farewells to the people who I spent six of the most challenging days with, through laughter, debates, and punishing deadlines. I highly recommend ABW to anyone who has the opportunity of taking part in it. I will never forget being part of something so special. Timothy Perri