Offshore Graduation | Mace-bearer's prize run

As a Chinese teenager growing up in Adelaide, Monica Chung learned the value of hard work through her family.

Like many Asian immigrants, her father made his mark in Australia by working as a chef and running a Chinese restaurant.

Monica saw the fruits of his diligence and applied the same attitude to her studies at Hamilton Secondary College in Marion, where she excelled in her studies. An outstanding academic result in 1996 won her a place in the highly sought after Computer Systems Engineering degree program offered by the University of Adelaide.

Eight years after graduating with First Class Honours, Monica has once again stolen the academic limelight, taking out three MBA prizes offered by the University of Adelaide's offshore program in Hong Kong.

Monica was one of 50 MBA students presented with her degree at the Hong Kong Grand Hyatt on Sunday 14 April. Apart from taking out the top prizes for economics, e-business and managing a contemporary organisation, Monica was also chosen as the mace-bearer for the ceremony.

"My first thought when I was asked to be a mace-bearer was: 'surely this role doesn't involve pepper spray?' "A few seconds later the penny dropped and I realised what an honour it was to take on this role at the ceremony," she said.

Monica's career path has taken several twists and turns since her first job with Motorola in Sydney, working as a software engineer to test 3G mobile phones.

After 26 years in Australia, Monica decided to give engineering a break and explore her cultural heritage, accepting a job in Hong Kong teaching English to Chinese students.

"During this time I made up my mind to do an MBA with the view of progressing my career into some kind of management role, using the communication skills I had acquired through teaching," Monica said.

The MBA has secured her a plum job working for the international recruitment firm Robert Walters, where she uses both her engineering experience and my communication skills.

But with her sights firmly set on a managerial role, Monica is confident the MBA will stand her in good stead.

"The MBA has given me a good understanding of how the monetary aspects of the business world work, including managing budgets, allocating resources and grasping the big picture.

"I feel I have really found my niche with recruiting in IT and plan to work up to managerial level within the next few years."

Story by Candy Gibson