Master of Marketing

About the course

Quick details

Tonje Holm

Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Marketing graduate, Tonje Holm has given new meaning to taking her career global. Initially from Norway, she studied in Perth, took internships in New York and Dubai, built a thriving career in London and is now living in Africa.

Studying at UWA

One of the things I enjoyed the most about my degree was the practical experience. I always found it really interesting to learn through case studies – we would analyse the failures and successes, often these were examples from very famous brands.

I know a lot of people dislike group projects but I actually really enjoyed them because it forced us to form closer relationships with people we saw every day. I met such wonderful and interesting people, some of them I still keep in touch with today, despite us all being dispersed around the world.

Perth (and Western Australia in general) has some of the most beautiful beaches in the whole world. Who doesn’t love being near the coast? Plus, UWA has one of the most scenic campus locations in the state so that also contributes to a more enjoyable studying experience.

In my opinion, Perth has a great foodie culture (giving Melbourne a run for their money) – with really trendy, eco and health conscious cafés, restaurants and bars popping up all over the city.

Finding the right career path

When I completed my Bachelor degree I moved to New York for six months and did two marketing internships. I had never been to New York and did not know a single person so I was really outside my comfort zone, but I didn’t let this discourage me and in the end it was probably the best six months of my life.

The internships were a very important stepping stone for me because they helped me realise what I didn’t want to do. Don’t get me wrong, I genuinely enjoyed my internships, especially the people and the experiences I had – the coolest by far was attending events for New York Fashion Week and rubbing shoulders* with celebrities like Chrissy Tiegen and John Legend. *slight exaggeration – I got their drinks for them!

A couple of years later while studying my Master of Marketing degree at UWA, I interned in Dubai for three months. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Dubai, although yet again I realised the media industry wasn’t for me. But I met lots of wonderful, interesting people and had some fantastic life experiences that I will treasure forever.

Not only did these internships and experiences guide me towards the right career path, it also led to a lot of personal growth, development of my emotional intelligence and street smarts.

Having internship experience on your resume is hugely beneficial, and it doesn’t matter that it’s not experience in that exact role, because you learn a lot simply from being in an office environment.

Getting my first job out of uni

Now knowing for sure what industry I wanted to get into, I made a list of the top three advertising agencies in Perth that I wanted to work with and spent time researching these companies and tailoring my resume accordingly.

I spoke to people I admired and trusted to get some career, resume and interview advice and made a changes and upgrades based on my newfound learnings. I went out and hand delivered my resume to these three companies. For my number one choice I even reached out to the CEO who kindly gave me contact details of the best person to speak to about an interview.

A couple of weeks after my interview, I had my first day of work at Meerkats the Brand Leadership Company as an Account Coordinator.

Building a career in London

After working two years at Meerkats, my partner and I moved to London in search of a new challenge and adventure. I was hired by a design agency called NB Studio; a small, but mighty agency, where I quickly climbed the ranks and was working on global, highly sought after, accounts. During my time at NB Studio we won numerous industry awards and were ranked in the top three agencies in London at the Brand Impact Awards.

I am very proud of how quickly my career progressed in London, in the space of 12 months I went from Account Manager (which was already a step up in responsibility for me) to Senior Account Manager.

For someone relatively junior and inexperienced, my role came with a huge amount of responsibility and people management. On top of my ‘normal’ workload, I was across all new business, and with the owners, I would meet with and present to the Senior leadership team of the companies/brands we were hoping to work with. That is something I am very proud of because in other agencies this is typically something the Account Director would be responsible for, however being a small agency it meant I was given the opportunity to extend into that role.

What's next?

My partner and I are currently living in Africa in a French speaking country where I plan to become an English teacher and work with the local community in whatever capacity I can to make a useful contribution. It’s been a massive change of pace and lifestyle.

So far, we are enjoying this new adventure we’re on.

Hands-on experience

Graduate – Nicholas Anile

While still studying at UWA, Nicholas Anile began working for Painted Dog Research, the state’s largest social research company. Initially in a casual position, Nicholas was lucky enough to prove his skills and was offered a full-time position after graduation. He is still utilising the knowledge from his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees every single day of his career. Nicholas believes the skills he learnt at university including the ability to think critically and find solutions to problems are must have skills.

My degree

I chose to continue my education through a Master of Marketing at UWA after completing a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing and Management so that I could deepen my expertise and business skills for my future career.

My favourite aspect of studying at UWA were the friendships I made with classmates; which were facilitated by my tutorials and group assignments. These friendships helped me throughout my degrees. I always enjoyed tutorials the most – they were not only an opportunity to learn from my classmates but to engage with a number of incredibly passionate tutors throughout my studies.

Why UWA?

UWA was my first-choice university when I graduated for many reasons. It’s the highest-ranked university in the state, so was where I always intended to study. The prestige and reputation of the university combined with the culture and student life was attractive to me as a student, as I was interested in more than just a world-class degree.

My career

Several of the units I studied in my degree have led me to discover a passion for data, analytics, and social good. As an Account Executive at Painted Dog Research, this discovery assists me with my day to day responsibilities including in-depth data analysis through a wide variety of techniques ranging from simple statistics to complex data science models and writing reports that synthesises any analysis conducted into actionable insights.

I work with clients across both the public and private sectors around the country and am responsible for liaising and building relationships with these clients as well as assisting with the writing of proposals or tenders.

Flexibility