Hear how Sharleen Wang traded one career for another and found her feet in Agribusiness

With an already enviable career behind her in sales and operations management across a range of industries and countries, Sharleen never lost sight of her desire to work in international trade.

“Back then, I believed the best way to increase my chance to reach this goal was to undertake a master’s degree in international trade.”

Enrolling into a Master of International Trade with the University of Adelaide, Sharleen explored the breadth of subjects available to her and chose to undertake a course called ‘Trends and issues in the world food system’, as she had always had a passion for food and cooking since her childhood.

“This course made me realise that there are many issues and problems in the food system that I was not aware of. I was very interested in those topics and decided to learn more about them. Hence, I transferred to the Master of Global Food and Agricultural Business.”

Through this program pivot, Sharleen’s studies were further aligned with her interests, allowing her to pursue trade subjects with a lens on the food and agribusiness industry. A highlight of the program was the flexibility to choose electives in line with her passions, allowing Sharleen to broaden her knowledge and skillset.

“What I enjoyed the most is to be able to have a large degree of freedom to choose the electives that I was interested in, from different disciplines.”

Growing up in China and working all over the world, Sharleen has a natural appreciation for other cultures and vastly benefitted from the connections she made with other students from different backgrounds in the classroom.

“They help me to understand countries and cultures that I’ve had almost no contact with, which broadens my horizons.”

With her clear dedication to the agribusiness industry, and with the help of the Centre for Global Food and Agribusiness, Sharleen secured a research internship with Laucke Flour Mills, an international producer of high-quality flour products. Based in Adelaide, Sharleen’s role was to research consumer trends in China and develop a business strategy for market growth in the area, allowing her to bridge the gap between theory and practice.

“Through the internship research, I could apply what I had learned in class to form strategies and provide advice to capture opportunities and solve problems.”