Working in Flinders University’s Careers and Employability team has seen Morgan Whiffen adapt to new ways of connecting amid COVID-19 restrictions, in a challenging year that also saw her plan her own wedding during the peak career event period.

What is your role at Flinders University? 

I work in Employer Activation within the Careers and Employability team here at Flinders, which basically means I act as a connector between industry and students in providing opportunities to engage. I coordinate a range of activities and events across all cohorts, from small one-off industry sessions to major conference-style events across our Tonsley, Sturt and Bedford Park Campus – and now online too which has been a fun challenge.

What was the journey that led you here?

I studied a Bachelor of International Tourism with a focus on Festival and Event Management at Flinders University and graduated in 2017. I actually did my final placement with the Careers and Employability team at the start of 2017, where I coordinated my first major careers event for Flinders which was a great affirmation that my career was heading in a direction I enjoyed.

When I finished up my placement, I decided to focus my third year research project on developing an events operation manual for Careers and Employability. Long story short – by the time I graduated mid-year 2017, Careers had an entry-level position become available which I applied for and this is how I secured my first professional job. I’ve now been working with the team ever since and have worked my way up through a few roles to where I am today.

What does a normal day look like for you?

A normal day for me really depends on which ‘phase’ of event delivery I’m in. One of the things I love about my job is how different one day can look from the next, though generally my day starts with a nice snuggle with the pups at home and a flat white!

From there, I could be running around setting up an event, in meetings with industry or other teams at the Uni, planning activities – break for another flat white – developing marketing materials, responding to emails, administration, reviewing resources… It’s pretty diverse which always keeps things interesting.

Can you share a challenge in your life and how you dealt with it?  

The first few months of the year is generally a peak period for our Careers and Employability team, as it’s the beginning of graduate recruitment season for many industries and a lot of my work revolves around coordinating three flagship career events (we call them Joblink Summits) across a 2-week period – except in 2020 I was also planning my wedding in the middle of them all! It was also my first year stepping into the lead coordinator role for these events so heading into 2020 I was braced and ready for a big test of my organisation, time management and resilience.

While it definitely was, I think going into it with an open and flexible mindset helped me as I was able to just go with the flow when things didn’t go quite right and not get set back by it. I’m also very fortunate to be surrounded by so many amazing people in both my work and personal life who supported me through those tough few months keeping things positive, and I’m very happy to say all events turned out to be a success!

Can you share one of your proudest moments?

The day I graduated from Flinders and received my Bachelors Degree – and not because it marked the end of a tough few years of balancing study and work – but because of how much it meant to my parents to see me walk across the stage and accept my degree. Not being a parent myself (puppy parent – yes. Human parent – no), I can only imagine the feeling, but the looks on their faces made me feel very proud to be their daughter.

How do you relax in your spare time?

I really enjoy gaming and spend a lot of my down time either playing or watching gameplay online. It’s an interest I’ve had since I was young and being the eldest child in the family, I strongly influenced my sisters to share my interest so it’s now something we all enjoy doing together.

I’ve also recently started watercolour painting which I’m really enjoying (along with buying all the necessary materials of course). I used to draw quite a bit, but it was a hobby that fell away when I started getting busy with Uni, so it’s been nice to get back into being creative again. I’ve found it really helps me slow down and unwind after a long day too.