For many university students, landing a dream job often seems like the end goal, something you aim for post-graduation. But for Emily Hill, her ideal career came knocking well before she finished her degree.
Emily, who is studying a Bachelor of Business with a major in event management, tourism, and leisure, found herself in a full-time role with the Dolphins NRL team after an unexpected opportunity came her way.
"My career really just kind of found me before I went looking for it," Emily says.
Emily was a full-time student at UniSC's Moreton Bay campus, two and a half years into her degree, when she received an email from her lecturer announcing an exciting employment opportunity with the Dolphins, who are UniSC's education partners.
"Around August 2023, the Dolphins reached out to UniSC looking for two casual staff members to do a membership and ticketing officer role during the off-season," Emily says.
"My lecturer sent a message out to all the students in the class to let us know, and I applied straight away."
Tourism, Leisure and Events senior lecturer Dr Aaron Tham said one of the aspects UniSC prided itself on was the close working relationship the university enjoyed with industry partners such as the Dolphins.
"These partnerships not only allow us to offer hands-on work experience opportunities with some incredible businesses, organisations and groups - it gives our students and graduates access early employment opportunities, such as Emily has experienced firsthand," Dr Tham said.
For Emily, that job opportunity was a turning point after she successfully scored a casual position with the Dolphins in memberships and ticketing. She enjoyed it so much, she also decided to do her events internship with the Dolphins' events team.
"I really enjoyed both these roles as I got to see multiple sides of the business and what different people did at work," she says.
During her internship, the Dolphins' corporate sales coordinator resigned, leaving a full-time position available.
"The team said, 'Hey, Emily, we think you'd be perfect for this role… do you want to do it part time?' I said, 'yes, I do!'
"I knew they were compromising the full-time role for me so I could do uni, but I ended up loving the role so much I offered to take it in on full time and switched to uni part time."
She knew the value of the chance in front of her.
"Because I'm studying towards working in a job like this anyway, I thought, why would I postpone the work opportunity when it's right in front of me even if I haven't finished studying yet?"
Now, as corporate sales coordinator, Emily has found her niche within the events industry.
"I've absolutely loved it… the job covers a lot of bases, including sales, which I really wanted to do.
"I also coordinate the catering, setting up the function room, ticketing, and - on game day -mediating any issues and chatting to clients, seeing how everything's going and if they want to get on board for another game."
Emily's industry experience has even enhanced her academic learning.
"Working in the industry has helped with some of my subjects, because I can draw knowledge from what I do or what I've seen already," she says.
"So many people would dream of working for a sports club and doing what I do.
"I have worked very hard, but I'm also very fortunate as well."
