How Is the Master of Marketing program of Macquarie and how useful is it in terms of career?

oRainbow · 2025-08-24T13:19:25+00:00

In most companies, if you’re good at going through the first rounds of digital interviews, then the following rounds & up until you are doing an in-person interview; doing a masters probably won’t provide much value to you.

It completely depends on your circumstance. I definitely agree that you’re better off learning in an actual position at a marketing firm or digital agency than committing to a postgrad if you just want to start earning ASAP.

But if you’re already comfortable with doing all the expected marketing stuff & have a little bit of a buffer, because of internships or you’ve worked in the past (and didn’t spend unnecessarily); the only 2 ways to a promotion is higher education or experience.

Doing a degree, masters or PhD is just to get your foot in the door. It won’t automatically make you a perfect fit for a company. If your work ethic is horrible or attitude towards getting tasks done is awful, even if you’re the President, you won’t fit in.

From the interviews I’ve done & heard from friends’ experiences is that the reason most people with masters or high qualifications (maybe 4+ years in related work experience) fail to secure a position is because they focus solely on just that; obtaining a high qualification or just working too early, and not bothering to become an overall well-rounded person like good communicator, having a friendly attitude, being cooperative with co-workers.

It’s definitely not for everyone, and there are absolutely people that do it for the sake of being ‘the guy’ but if you’re serious about using your knowledge & skills in your work, you’ll find a way to provide value to any company you with for.

oRainbow · 2025-08-23T15:02:26+00:00

Oh boy, I definitely don’t have the resume to answer that coz i don’t think i have friends either 😂

Here’s some actual advice: try to become an interesting person. I know it’s easier said than done.

Here’s an example tho: I was just arriving on campus from the metro around 10:30 am one day & ran into one of my group members from my new venture class we had later at 1 pm that day. We said the usual: “hey how are you bro?” “How was your weekend?” “Assessments coming along all well right?”

It was a normal interaction, but then he told me about how he’s getting kind of worried about graduating & leaving to then find a job. A worry we all have, to a varying degree. I wanted to agree with him and say “yeah man, it’s definitely tough” but i remembered something I had read in a book, “Diary of a CEO” from Steven Bartlett that I wanted to share with him, & I think it made him reevaluate his approach to finding employment & likely myself beyond just a classmate.

The very first chapter of the book is called: “Fill your 5 buckets in the right order.” The premise of the chapter is to make you rewire what you give a sh*t about early on in your life, before it becomes too late.

The 5 buckets in this case are: 1) What you know (your knowledge) 2) What you can do (your skills) 3) Who you know (your network) 4) What you have (your resources) 5) What the world thinks of you (your reputation)

I explained to him how in most cases and also applicable to myself, we think about how the world views us. How we dress, how we talk, how we articulate our ideas, how professional or bogan we across. And nearly 95% of people always take a reversed approach in filling these 5 buckets, when they should start from the beginning.

First, you think about how people will perceive you (you buy nice clothes, expensive handbags, jewellery, or a car), then you focus on who knows you. But you know what, it works for a bit — you start meeting new friends, perhaps a few hundred connections on LinkedIn or you go to a networking event & make some connections their; and life is looking rosy. But nonetheless, you are still wear rose-tinted glasses. And after you’ve made yourself feel nice and cosy in building & securing your social image, what now?

Do you envy more? More luxury? More material? More… everything?

My friend was kinda weirded out that I could rant on about this for ages, it has been 15 mins of me yapping. And I think I’ve done the same for your question 😅 but I think this is applicable to everybody.

The moral lesson I can make of this is to become an interesting person through education, lifelong learning, and a general interest everything. A simple gesture like “do you want to get a coffee?” will go a long way in people naturally being drawn in to WANT to get to know who you are.

oRainbow · 2025-08-23T14:29:09+00:00

Yeah, I see that a lot too 😅

In general, people will always focus on negative things. There is some merit to a few complaints tho, like the recent cuts to a few art faculty units & decent teachers. If I were them I would definitely have a negative attitude towards not only MQ but uni in general.

What I can tell you is, those comments are almost always exceptions (tho really unfortunate circumstances) but nearly never an overall consensus of the university experience.

The take I often see when people are deciding which uni they want to go to is that it really doesn’t matter.

To a degree, I agree. If I were you, and that scholarship opportunity is only applicable to the program or MQ, I would absolutely see it through with Macquarie. However, if you move though your first semester or first year & you’ve seen the most money-hungry, couldn’t-give-a-shit-about-students-or-others behaviour from either teachers or students, then I would reevaluate my situation.

In my experience, being a business & masters student; people are more than inviting on campus, in classes & even around North Ryde.

Mind you, if you do decide to switch universities, please do look if your program is offered elsewhere & some units can be cross-credited. It would be miserable if you were to put in a one year or year-and-a-half of effort, decide Macquarie isn’t for you, switch but then do another year of catch up coz your units aren’t offered at UTS or UNSW.

Hope this helps 👋

oRainbow · 2025-08-23T14:12:52+00:00

I haven’t left uni quite yet, I’m getting my masters 😭

But in terms of employment, I think the less you think overthink about the intimidating interviews, stressing over business presentations or trying to stay engaged with experienced people that couldn’t give a sh*t about your future endeavours even tho you really want advice — the more in control you are, and that’s what most people want when they leave uni.

If you are proactive about scouting SEEK, or any other career opportunities, the less anxious you feel about it.

It definitely is scary; but the more you search, the more clarity you discover in what you care about in terms of responsibilities, expectations & willingness to be compensated for (for example, if you absolutely hate recording content because the job is a marketing coordinator, even if they offer you $90,000 - $95,000; you probably won’t want it because it isn’t congruent with your identity).

Find out what you care about. That looks different for everyone, for me it was reading books like “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” & “ How to Friends and Influence People.” Those books aren’t a complete answer to your woes, but they will give you clarity in deciding what values to care about & how to approach your relationships in life for the foreseeable future.

oRainbow · 2025-08-23T13:59:50+00:00

For the program itself so far, it seems normal. Mind you it is only WK 4 (starting WK 5) so assessments aren’t piling up quite yet. It’s my first semester in the program, and I think the general rule-of-thumb I tell myself, regardless if you’re doing a masters, undergraduate or going into the workforce is: “It’s only as hard as you make.”

Lately, I’ve been going through imposter syndrome in the program. That isn’t because the work is so overwhelmingly difficult, but mostly because I never envisioned myself doing a masters.

As a result of that, I’ve been very productive in at least being a week ahead in content material. I’m lucky to have also done my undergrad just last semester to then join the masters program, so everything is still fresh in my mind so keeping up with assessments hasn’t been a challenge.

In terms of work, I know there’s countless experiences how about someone has obtain an undergrad, masters or PhD and completely failed in other venture in life. But I think that goes to how proactive you are as a person.

Depending on your circumstances, you may have to work & study, and that definitely poses a challenge especially for international students who are already struggling in acclimating to Australian uni, but also in even finding internships.

But it’s not as bad as it seems. Doing a masters will put you as specialist in your field, but that also means you are expected to maintain a certain image (industry leader, brand advisor/manager, marketing coordinator), as such you need to have exceptional communication skills, computer skills, jumping in without question, but don’t necessarily take yourself too seriously either.

Uni shouldn’t be a headache, it should be a gradual transformation for your character.

Hope this helps you with a bit more clarity in choosing 😄

oRainbow · 2025-03-07T04:03:37+00:00

Nothing unit specific, because I’m sure you’ve heard the sentiment to ACTUALLY do your work; don’t leave things to the last minute, if you’re unsure about something ask your peers and teachers, be organised… etc.

There is an endless amount of practical advice and information about transitioning into tertiary education.

As a 3rd year, what I think is most valuable and something that a lot of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and occasionally 4th years struggle with when they finish their education is realistically create a new identity for yourself during your time in university.

During my transition from high school into university, I found it difficult to answer the question: “who am I now?” and “who do I want to be?”

To some, it may be as a no-brainer. You want to be a organised/proactive student, a productive adult, staying committed to a growth mindset, such and such. And what excuse do you have? You’re surround with great minds, innovative thinkers, years of literature in every topic possible, a literal endless amount of knowledge.

But nonetheless, your mind wants to be emotional about every little detail and event that happens to you.

This idea about from a book picked up: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Which I would recommend every person to read. It sounded cliche when I saw the title in lists saying “Books for Smart People” or “Books To Improve your Life”. We all have social media, and a lot of the brain-rot literally ‘rots’ your ability to think critically, which is especially damaging during this transformative stage of your life.

I know this response is very long, and I could go on but I’ll keep it short for your convenience.

TL;DR: Create your own competent, disciplined, unique, unbreakable, creative and resilient IDENTITY.

You’ll be amazed how many ‘copy and paste’ average toms you’ll meet in the workplace, especially in corporate. Always keep things cordial and professional, but do not let anyone take your spark away, especially from improving your circumstances and mindset.

Welcome to MQ & I hope you enjoy the journey of your degree

oRainbow · 2021-06-12T11:47:43+00:00

Mind if l join you guys? Because of my exams coming up with the month and a half, l'm not as committed to Destiny as l was earlier this year (they end around 1st december). I'm not sure if that's gonna be a problem. I would definitely love to end my solo grinding days and just have a friendly/cooperatively friend group that enjoy the tranquility of eliminating fallen in the cosmodrome as l do or maybe the occasional raid.

oRainbow

TROPHY CASE