My Experience In A University Society

Written by Sally
Sally is a third year current student at Macquarie University Studying a Bachelor of Commerce with majors in Marketing and Human Resources.

In some of our previous posts we said how important it was to go to o-week and check out some of the societies the university has to offer. If you don't join a society in the first year that's completely okay! there's no rule. No one can force you, but if you were ever curious there's no harm to give it a go because it's a great experience and this is a little bit about mine. Some students join as a member where they get the opportunity to attend activities and events held by that society and some students join to be a part of the team behind those events in that society which is what I did.

I joined a ECFS (Economics, Commerce and Finance Society) in 2014 as a Marketing Intern for the experience. As a Marketing Student myself I thought that joining a society in a position related to my degree that would give myself an idea of what kind of Marketing activities this area involved and as it adds value to your resume. (Some employers like to know how involved you are in university and being in a society is one way to show that!).

In this position I was involved in the advertising ECFS events around campus; board advertising, creating posters, managing social media channels and lecture announcements. It was a demanding role as there was deadlines and targets to be met for each event. It was challenging and took up some time working alongside many other Marketing Interns we were a close knit team who met regularly each week to discuss our progress and advise each other on how we could improve for our next event. If we physically could not meet we would make the time to do group chats online or Skype call each other. Honestly I didn't realise how much time went into being aprt of this team however i was committed to it because i loved what I did and I enjoyed working with the people around me. In the end I believe it was well worth it because of all the people I met and skills gained;

- Time Management
- Organisation Skills
- Communication Skills
- Creative Skills (Photoshop and Editing)
- Leadership Skills
- Teamwork

After a while I chose to leave ECFS as the uni workload was getting too much however I still refer to ECFS if asked in a job interview. It's a great example to show employers what you are capable of.

If you are curious to see what working in a particular department is like or gaining some real professional skills, being in team in a society is a great way to achieve that. Even if you decide to leave afterwards, you get to meet some great friends and connections!

For a list of student societies on campus at MQU follow the link below:

http://mq.edu.au/on_campus/get_involved/student_groups/

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Image - http://www.learn2success.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Is-Building-a-Team-Really-That-Easy.jpg