Name: Milos O’Donohue 

Degree: Bachelor of Business / Business Analytics 

Why did you decide to do Business? 

I always knew I liked business, and I wanted to study it because I have so many interests and didn’t know where I wanted to go. But then I realised you can monetise anything. So, all my friends were telling me to come study engineering, I really wanted to do psychology and a bunch of other things. I realised the key factor in all these industries was that they all require business, finance, planning, etc. Business is the key connector to all these sectors. I knew I wanted to do a double degree as well, not just to have more qualifications, but because I wanted to branch out and explore. Originally, I was going to do business and psychology, but business analytics was new at Newcastle, only two or three years ago it was implemented. I thought I would take a crack at it. I knew data was the way to go, and I knew there was a lot going on with analytics and artificial intelligence. So, I thought it would be good futureproofing. I’m really enjoying my degree so far. 
 

Tell me about your job in IT? 

It’s very hands on and it’s a subsection in the industry called DAAS, Device as A Service. So, I do things like building computers, imaging them, processing them, etc. Parts that I would say are relevant are things like data, such as how many clients there are, how many devices are in use currently, how many of them need refreshing. Those data aspects are using different software and platforms that are industry related. It’s not directly related to what I’m doing at uni, but there is an opportunity coming up at my work for a marketing assistant, and one of my majors is marketing.  

Do you want to pursue a career in marketing or IT? 

There are so many different entry points, while you’re in uni you can experiment, see what you like. If I go into marketing and end up hating it, I can always go into something else. But as soon as I finish my degree I really want to specialise. So far, I’m looking at specialising in project management or data analysis. Maybe work for a major corporation, corporate banking, who knows. But I think it’s really important to experiment with roles, but when I finish uni, I think I’ll have to specialise if I want to have a career. 

Milos at the University of Newcastle 

What hobbies and extra curriculars have you picked up at uni? 

I love board games, so I play a bit of Dungeons and Dragons and a lot of chess. I used to do a lot of Judo, but I developed issues with my back, so I switched over to Karate and Kobudo, which is Japanese weapons fighting. I also like languages a lot, I speak a few such as Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian, and I like studying different languages in my spare time. I would consider myself very academically focused, I read a lot of philosophy and religion. Outside of uni, I try to do it all. I’m also the Treasurer of the UON Social Club, we’ve put on a few events this year, and we’re looking at doing some really big ones soon. We don’t know where we’re going to go for 2025, but we’re planning to go out this year with a bang.  

I’ve been prioritising my career so far at uni. In the semester break I was working almost every day. I felt a bit dead during the week, but then weekends, I recharged my social battery. I could go to parties, go out with friends, enjoy a night out. I think outside of uni it’s incredibly important for people to have a life besides studying. Studying is, of course, particularly important, people want to get HDs and want to excel. But I think it’s important to have a social life outside of uni. Even if it’s not social, if it’s something you quietly do at home, something productive. 

Milos playing chess 

Do you have any advice for students? 

Just go for it. Even if you feel like you’re not good at certain things now, you’ll learn so much. The uni has some amazing professors and lecturers, and in different fields of study. You can really experiment, play around with it, if you don’t like your first choice, switch to another, and use your electives wisely. Networking is also important, you really want to be able to network, so go to your lectures. Your lecturers have some really good information and really good industry contacts outside of lectures and tutorials as well. Each degree can lead into a variety of different industries. I’m in IT now, but my degree could lead into corporate banking, NDIS analysis, or any industry you can think of.  

Milos at an Orthodox event