Our Vlog

A wrap up of our own experience and golden tips!

The video is linked to the MQunitips blog as we share our own tips and personal interests, with a link leading viewers to our blog in the end. Overall the video is meant to show a snippet of the type of content that could be found on the MQunitips blog as well as being an advertisement for the blog.

Check us our in action! We tell you what we wish we could’ve done when we were in first year:

- Making use of student services (Sally)

- Joining more student societies (Sarah)

- Taking the degree more seriously (Boris)

We also want to share our favourite thing about uni at MQU!

- Ubar parties! (Sarah)

- Art & Culture! (Sally)

- Chicken nuggets and chips from the hub (A MUST TRY)! (Boris)

Each member took turns to film each other answering the questions and we took multiple clips from different angles and locations till we were all happy as a group with the quality of our content.

Each member contributed equally as we each made comments and contributed to the ideas of how this video would be filmed, what vibe we wanted, and what would be added in to the edits i.e. our transitions, background music, pace, audio and amount of video clips included.

We hope you enjoy our video!

Careers Fair

Every year there is a Careers Fair held at Macquarie University which allows students to get an idea of what kind of job opportunities are out there. The Careers Fair is usually only runs for a day where representatives from many well known companies come and have a booth set up. Students can approach these representatives and have a chat about the company or ask any questions they may have about certain positions in the company. It's a great way of allowing students to see what kind of people these companies are looking to hire. These representatives are usually employees of a company in a recruitment position so it is a huge opportunity to meet them and possibly make them a new connection which would serve as a big advantage in the future when it comes to applying for jobs.

Every student may have different goals going into Careers Fair, some know what they want and where they wish to work already so they attend only for the companies they're interested in. Whereas some students may not know what they want yet so they go around and speak to everybody on the Careers Fair to get a general idea. Regardless of the reason, attending this event is a great way to find out more about different industries and meet different people so we highly recommend it even if you're in your first year!

Here is a snippet of what a Careers Fair looks like at Macquarie!

Before you attend a Careers Fair here are some tips to be prepared:

- Check location and time to make sure you're not late

- Research the companies beforehand so you have some base knowledge of what they do

- Have some questions prepared

- Update your CV/Resume and bring it along with you on the day (In some cases students may be lucky enough to be asked for their Resume)

Lastly! just smile and have fun. it's a great day and you'll definitely get a lot out of it.

Reference: Image:

https://students.mq.edu.au/support/career_and_employment_service/careers_fair/

Studying For Exams

Exams are something that every student encounters, it could be an in class exam, mid semester exam or final exam! The purpose of an exam is to test your knowledge and what you have learnt throughout the semester. 

Exams are a nerve-racking experience and a lot of students can get stressed because exams usually have a higher weighing than other assessments. We have compiled a small list of tips and things to know before you study for an exam: 

Find out what kind of exam you'll be taking
Essay: If it's one essay then it is important to time yourself when writing an essay as the last thing you want is when exam time is over and you haven't finished writing your essay. 

Multiple Choice: Multiple choice usually involve specific question so it is important to go through and cover all of your lecture material and write flash cards. 

Open Book Exams: One mistakes students make is thinking if it's an open book exam that they don't need to study. It is still important to study! because you won't have time to look for the answer in the book. It is important to understand the topics already and use your book as a guide. The open book exams tests you on your ability to find and use necessary information in your book. 

Organising your time
- Allocate a decent amount of hours to study for each of your units and stick to a weekly plan. (Don't study the night before!! It is extremely difficult for your brain to retain all that information and will make your more tired and stressed)
- Study when you are most energetic! Don't study when you've just finished work or really tired. Study at optimal times like early in the morning. 

For more exam tips, follow the link below to a video about successful study tips for your exams!

Best of luck!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p60rN9JEapg

Info Day and Open Day

Not yet a first year student but about to become one? Not sure what Macquarie has to offer? Well lucky for you, we have two major events to help you get to know the place a little better.

Info Day is one of the best events you can participate in for preparing to start your degree. At Info Day you get to chat to academic advisors and ask anything you would like to know. Academic advisors will be available all day to share the specific details of any Macquarie University degree. There will also be current students who you can meet and chat to about what it's truly like to study here. Learn as much as you want to know about Macquarie, and see for yourself what is the right fit for you here. There is no reason to be shy about asking any questions because all the academics and students are very friendly and have all been in your position before, so don't worry! No one expects you to know everything, there are no stupid questions!

Info Day is coming up in the first Tuesday in January, mark your calendar 'cause you don't want to miss it!

Open Day is the biggest and one of the most exciting events at Macquarie. Open Day gives you the chance to speak with academics, get advice on careers or your field of interest, attend mini lectures on popular courses, and get a feel for life at university. Open Day offers you the chance to explore campus and view all the different exciting facilities. But most of all, Open Day is loads of fun! It gives you the chance to make new friends who are in the exact same boat, check out fun stalls and explore all the exciting different clubs and sports teams you can be a part of! Open Day is a great way to get a sense of what uni life will be like, have fun and get inspired for this amazing new chapter of your life!

Open Day is held on the second Saturday in September - get keen for it, we sure are!

My Experience in Macquarie University!

Written by Boris

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In addition to the post; Your degree is not everything - other ways to add Value to yourself!

Boris is a fourth year current student at Macquarie University Studying a Bachelor of Applied Finance with a degree in Bachelor of Commerce - Professional Accounting.

Being in Macquarie University or any other tertiary education, things happen fast! It is best to always be weary of what is happening around you, and of the vast opportunities that are happening. 

When I first started at Macquarie University, I was shy and timid from the unexpected change of atmosphere from secondary education. What I found was good was that i knew a few people prior to Macquarie University so this helped me in my transition. Howver, if you are new to the area, there is nothing to worry about as Macquarie stafff and students are highly friendly, so it be easy to adjust to the change. See my progress and how much my experience at Macquarie University has been a fulfilling and fast-paced one.

As I was progressing through to university life; I witness the number of Student Societies at O-Week. At this time I joined the Catholic Asian Students' Society (CASS) and the Accounting Students' Association (ASA), where I was expressed my interest to join the executive team. 
Tip: Join as many student societies that may be applicable to you and be apart fo the team, to gain as many soft skills as you can!

From the induction into the Student Societies I went to progress within them as indicated below;
CASS: Spiritual Coordinator --> President
ASA: Marketing Intern --> Marketing Manager --> Vice-President (External Functions)

What I can say about this experiences is that it helped me grow and develop professionally where I can also apply these skills that have been attained in interviews, such as working within the unversity as a Student Administration Adviser and more recently as a Senior within the team, or gain an internship within the University and external firms in Australia. 

Overall, with the assistance of university and its culture that it instigated my growth and development; I believe that without period - my experience in university, let alone life has not been a fulfilling one.

Referencing

Effective and appropriate referencing is very important at university. At uni, there is a great deal of emphasis put on each person developing and presenting their own opinions and ideas. As an individual, it is important to show which ideas are yours, and which come from academic sources you have read. Learning how to integrate sources correctly in your writing is a skill assessed in most assignments. The whole point of referencing is to clearly display which sources you have gathered your ideas from and which are your own. If you do not use references correctly you may be plagiarising and will therefore be penalised, so be very careful!

Plagiarism can include:

• Using any information from a source (such as a book, journal or internet site) without referencing it

• Using an author’s exact words without using quotation marks and referencing the page

• Writing an author’s ideas in your own words but without referencing them.

Penalties of plagiarism can include loss of credit for a subject, to suspension or termination of enrolment.

Knowing how to use and acknowledge sources in your writing takes a bit of practice, but don't worry, after putting some time and effort into learning it, it'll become easier. Find out what referencing system you need for your assignments – for example, Harvard, APA or MLA, and use an official university's guide/template to get familiar with it.

When you read academic articles, pay attention to how different academic sources use and different types of language and as you may be taking ideas from different sources, it is important to integrate all your ideas into one uniform language in your piece of writing. If it feels overwhelming or you're still unsure, you can always attend an Academic Skills Unit workshop or consult one of Macquarie's advisors or your particular tutor/unit convener to help improve your skills in this area - or, even ask one of your friends to help you! Everyone has or has been in the same boat and it can be confusing, so don't be afraid to ask around.


Reference: Image retrieved from https://www.brownstonelaw.com/computer-hacking-an-examination-of-the-illinois-criminal-code/ 

Research and Reading

One of the first things you may notice about uni is the large amount of reading required. You need to develop and express your own ideas based on the reading of appropriate resources. The primary places to find these resources are the university library and its website, so to make yourself more familiar with these, you can see our "Using Macquarie's Library" blog post.

Other than the library, there are many other websites that publish credible university resources which can be accessed via Google Scholar. In our opinion, Google Scholar is the most efficient way to find credible journal articles, books and periodicals that will be most appropriate for your assignments. All you need to do is type keyword or phrases into the search engine and, voila! You have a range of many different appropriate papers to read and research so that you can expand your learning and integrate readings into your assignments. Other sources such as businesspremier and ebsohost can also be found via "Mq Library Research". Make sure that you appropriately cite and reference all of your sources as well! For more information on that, see our "Referencing" blog post. :)

It may all seem overwhelming now, but once you get the hang of it, it gets easier. Good luck!


Reference: Image retrieved from https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/research/university/