Published on December 5, 2018
It was terrific to catch up with Kimberley Pearce (2015) recently when she returned to the School to judge Year 10’s café businesses for the Australian Business Week (ABW) Program.
Chatting with Kimberley, there’s no doubt – she’s a go-getter with healthy ambition. Awarded the Vice Chancellor Elite Scholarship to Bond University, she’s just completed a Combined Bachelor of Business/Commerce degree and has landed an extremely sought-after Graduate Area Manager position at Aldi.
“Thousands of people apply for these positions from all over the country, but generally only four people from each state are selected, so I feel extremely excited about what’s to come,” says Kimberley. “I start my new role in February and essentially, I skip nine years climbing the corporate ladder. It’s going to be very intensive, but I’m ready for it.”
Kimberley’s drive for success and her ambition to carve out a fulfilling career for herself has been evident for a long time.
“I’ve always held the view that I would work hard when I’m young -even if other things were put on hold- and relax when I’m older,” says Kimberley. “My degree at Bond was a condensed course, so while hard work, I could cut down a lot of ‘uni time’ by completing my degree quickly. I undertook internships to discover what I really liked and explored the things I might be interested in. I was able to narrow my career goals considerably doing this.”
Kimberley took full advantage of her time at university; she studied hard, finishing first in class, and was elected Corporate Relations Director for the Bond University Student Association. She was also a Student Ambassador for the university.
Kimberley credits the HVGS Australian Business Week Program as her ‘tipping point’.
“It was when I realised that I wanted to explore business, and I set my mind to carving out a career in that space. There’s lots of opportunities to be innovative in business, and that was evident in what I saw from the students. Some fantastic and diverse businesses were presented.”
Kimberley’s advice for HVGS students is to try lots of different things while they’re young and to be proactive. “I took the initiative to go on internships when others didn’t, and that gave me a competitive edge in a very competitive work environment post-university,” says Kimberley.