A rich undergraduate experience takes Devinda from commerce into postgraduate business analytics.

When international student Devinda Gunawardena first chose to study commerce at Deakin, he had his study and career sights firmly set on accounting.

But it didn’t take long before he realised it was a Deakin’s commerce course not only offered him a solid business degree but the flexibility to choose from a range of major sequences across a variety of disciplines.

Recently graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce, where he majored in accounting, accounting information systems and business analytics, Devinda has now articulated his studies into a master’s degree in business analytics.

‘I chose to study this at a postgraduate level because I enjoyed business analytics during my undergraduate degree. I also chose this course as I wanted to have qualifications in multiple fields  as I know this will open many doors and job opportunities for me in the future,’ he explains.

Learning to use a wide range of industry-relevant software tools during his undergraduate studies, Devinda was also able to take part in what he says was a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ – a USA accounting study tour. 

‘I visited Los Angeles, Washington DC and New York and visited companies such as Disney studios, CBS studios, IBM, General Electric, PwC, Embassy of Australia, US Securities and Exchange Commission, MasterCard Global and Pepsi. It was an outstanding opportunity to learn how these companies work and how their accounting systems operate,’ he says.

During the tour he was able to gain valuable insight into how international accounting standards function and importantly, how they differentiate between organisations.

‘Furthermore, I was able to learn how the companies operate in-depth – something that’s given me a greater understanding of international environments and culture which could potentially help me in the future if I had to travel abroad for work purposes,’ he says.

In the future, Devinda hopes to become a member of the Austrian Computer Society (ACS) and focus on a Certified Practising Accountant qualification.

‘Becoming a CPA this and also being a member of the ACS will provide an important boost to my professional career,’ he says.

In the meantime, Devinda is enjoying his postgraduate studies and learning how the emerging field of analytics drives business growth.

‘Big data and analytics is a very important concept in any field of work. In the world of business, data information leads to decisions.’