As part of his visit, Mathew accepted an invitation to visit The Glennie School and share his career experiences with the Year 12 accounting students.
Educated in Toowoomba, Mathew graduated High School with an OP1, studying predominately science and maths. After attending both The University of Queensland and Bond University he secured an analyst position in the Corporate Finance team at KPMG, working on a number of large infrastructure projects around Australia.
After four years, Mathew felt he was ready for a new challenge, so he approached his employer about overseas work opportunities.
After first working in the Singapore KPMG office, for the last two years he has been at Mizuho Bank, as a key member of their Natural Resources Project Finance team.
He now works closely with a wide range of oil majors and top tier mining companies on large scale, multi-billion-dollar projects. In the last year his role has taken him to places including Tokyo, London, Paris, Rome, Washington DC, Jakarta and Seoul.
Glennie’s accounting, business and legal studies teacher Mrs Deirdre Sinnamon expressed the privilege of having a successful businessman visit their students.
“It opened the girls’ eyes to the opportunities that await them when they exit our classrooms this year,” said Mrs Sinnamon.
Mathew’s final advice to the Glennie girls was to not let high school results (high or low) “pigeonhole” them into specific degrees, as preferences quite often change as students experience more of the world. He recommended pursuing a diverse range of summer internships and other work opportunities while at university to experience the differences between studying and working in particular fields.
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