As one of three professional bodies recognised by Australian law, the NIA has over 22,000 members and students, each of them gaining professional support in the Accounting industry.
MHM Senior Accountant Tracy Tepe and Elders Limited Group Finance Systems Manager Walter Lee are both members of NIA and discussed their career paths with students at Career Development Week, reflecting on how small opportunities lead to big career moves.
Ms Tepe began her accountancy career as a receptionist at a small accounting firm. Her on-the-job training turned into a professional interest and Tracy decided to pursue a professional education path and progressed to university studies, working full-time and studying part-time.
Having made the move to a medium-tier firm as a Senior Accountant, Tracy greatly valued her experiences in a small firm, saying that it allowed her to take ownership and interest in a variety of areas for an accounting role.
Walter Lee’s professional path also took a turn, but through a stroke of good fortune. As a student, Walter sat on a plane, ready to take a short holiday overseas in a semester break. He had a chat to the person next to him on the aeroplane. Walter was polite, discussed his studies, career goals and even offered to assist the passenger with her baggage.
What Walter didn’t know when he sat on that aeroplane was that this passenger would go on to offer him an internship working on a major regional campaign in his field.
Moving from an internship into full-time professional employment was not an easy transition for Walter. He spent nine months searching for the right job after graduating, eventually taking a position in which he travelled 3 hours return every day. But this time sacrifice proved worthwhile when Walter took every opportunity thrown his way. From extra responsibilities to leave-contract positions, Walter worked hard to sell his skills and understand how to progress in the industry to his current position of Group Finance Systems Manager.
The NIA supports both Tracy and Walter in a professional capacity, and offers free membership for university students. The NIA believes that every member counts, and membership includes information, access to many opportunities within small-medium sized businesses, face-to-face seminars, career focus websites and online resources.
