What's your job about?
KordaMentha are an investment and advisory firm who look to help clients grow and maximise value. KordaMentha have a number of different areas, one of which is Restructuring which is the area I work in. In Restructuring, we specifically work with distressed companies to help stabilise, turnaround and recover value. This includes companies where:
As we work across a number of companies that are in varying industries and varying levels of distress, there is no typical day. In addition, our clients can be referred to us via a number of pathways, each pathway giving rise to different objectives and goals.
There are however certain areas that we are typically involved in. For example, typical tasks I currently assist with include payroll tasks such as paying employees and payroll tax lodgements, managing debtors, liaising with suppliers, completing Business Activity Statement’s, investigations into the company’s affairs, preparing reports, convening and attending meetings with creditors and much more.
What's your background?
I’m from the Mornington Peninsula. I am the youngest of four and for most of my life, my family have lived on a working chicken farm. Whilst my family have been involved in their own small businesses, none have ever worked in professional services.
During high school, I went to France on exchange which kickstarted my love for travel. Since completing VCE and prior to starting my career, I spent four years at Monash University on and off and two years travelling on and off. I have visited Europe, Asia, Mexico and East Africa and loved every moment of travelling. I mostly worked in the hospitality and retail industry during this time, however, I was also lucky enough to complete two four-week summer vacation placements. One of these vacation placements was at KordaMentha and led to the opportunity to become a Graduate on completion of my studies. I jumped at the opportunity and have now been at KordaMentha for two years.
Admittedly I had struggled to decide on what career path I wanted to take after VCE. Taking the time to find the right degree was key for me. I took a GAP year and travelled before completing one year of an Arts degree. Having not yet found inspiration, I took another year to travel. I received the advice that there are no wrong decisions in life, only ones that get you where you’re going sooner, and ones that take longer – in the end, you’ll get where you want/need to be. That gave me the confidence to make a decision and after sitting down with myself to consider what direction to take, I begun a Business degree.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes - some backgrounds may assist in understanding the work we do, however, what’s required to do our job is based much more on certain skills/characteristics than your background because regardless, almost everyone will be learning on the job.
Skills/characteristics that are required to do my job would include but not be limited to:
What's the coolest thing about your job?
The best thing about my job is the variety of work – even if it is the same task you’ve done 100 times, you always have to adapt it to the current client/project and therefore always critically think. You are constantly learning and being challenged and for that I do not doubt that I’m in the right job.
What are the limitations of your job?
As there are no two days the same, the job lacks predictability. At any time, a new project may start without notice and suddenly, your whole calendar will change. In addition, there may be times where you are extremely busy and other times where you are less busy – the work can fluctuate, and it is often outside of our control. You have to be prepared for anything.
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...