Bachelor of Commerce (2016)
Claire is a Manager at Protiviti Australia. In this role, she is responsible for managing the day-to-day delivery of internal audit and business-performance improvement (BPI) projects. She started working at Protiviti as a graduate in 2016, and has since gained considerable experience across various business areas, including risk and compliance, while working both in Canberra and Melbourne. Claire has also completed Protiviti iNN – a global internal program dedicated to innovation and thinking outside the box.
20 OCTOBER 2021
What do you like about working at Protiviti?
The people, the size of the organisation and its global presence.
- The people I work with are talented, fun and have a great energy. This makes for enjoyable, stimulating project work, and also good social events.
- As Protiviti is a smaller organisation, it has given me the opportunity to be part of a wide range of different projects across a large number of service lines. This has enabled me to develop a well-rounded and extensive skillset, and have an incredible variety in my experiences to date. It has also meant each day or week is different, and I find this exciting and a great challenge.
- Protiviti is a global firm that provides opportunities for me to work overseas. The iNN program, which I have just completed, allowed me to work with colleagues in the UK, India and America. We also have a great global mobility program that enables us to work in other countries for a number of years.
Beyond the marketing and international business knowledge you gained at university, what else did you have to learn to succeed in your initial graduate position?
Beyond the knowledge I gained at CBE from my Bachelor of Commerce degree, I had to learn how to build strong, lasting relationships with both my colleagues and clients. Having a strong rapport enabled smoother project delivery and valuable outcomes, which resonated with the client and provided great support.
I also learned that my colleagues were not expecting me to know very much as a graduate. My first year was all about taking everything in and learning as much as I could from as many people as possible.
We all talk about the importance and benefits of relationship building and maintenance. What is your advice for students who don’t know where to start?
In my line of work, relationship building is a really important component, if not the most important component. It is all about people. For me, a great place to start was speaking to people who were able to communicate well with others. For example, friends, family, and professional acquaintances who had some experience in the field. It can be beneficial to ask them for tips or lessons they have learned along the way. However, the best experience for me was learning on the job – observing my colleagues and how they navigated different situations. This enabled me to develop my own unique style and approach to building relationships that work for me.