Commerce graduate Alex Noon considered a wide range of possible careers before he realised that the world of accountancy was for him.
After briefly studying biomedical science, he worked 20 to 30 different jobs during an 18-month period in pursuit of professional direction.
“I was a masseuse, I worked in a chicken processing factory, I was a lifeguard, I worked in a nursery,” he says. “And it was while doing some clerical work at a tax firm that I picked up my love of accounting.”
He enrolled to study accounting and finance at Griffith Business School and has not looked back.
At university he seized the opportunities brought by membership of the Griffith Honours College and when Griffith’s work-integrated-learning program led him to city firm McGrathNicol’s summer vacation program he got the chance of some hands-on industry experience.
This led to a part-time job while he completed his degree, followed by a full-time position on graduation.
“My studies gave me that base understanding of the industry and what was going to be required of me,” Alex says. “You’ll never learn as much as you will on the job but university does give you a solid foundation knowledge of the core principles you need to understand to work in the industry.”
Alex has focused on the areas of Insolvency, Advisory and Transactions since he started work at McGrathNicol.
“I love the fact that I get to work on a variety of businesses every day. It’s never a case of walking in to the office and doing the same thing. It’s always different.”
Griffith Business School lecturers will deliver a series of presentations on commerce, international business, the Asian landscape, government and policy, and tourism and hotel management during Open Day at the Nathan campus on August 9. A dedicated Commerce Information Session will take place at 10.30am.