Megan Daviduck
Bachelor of Commerce, Dalhousie University
Account Executive, Ogilvy Australia
Edmonton-based Megan Daviduck initially planned to study architecture and considered Dalhousie University in Halifax. When she changed her educational plans, she was already familiar with Dal and knew their business school had a great reputation. The fact that the program had a mandatory co-op component and the opportunity to complete an international academic term, made Dal the perfect choice for her.
Megan always wanted to experience living abroad and knew that this would create additional expenses, so she was strategic about the location of her co-op work terms so she could save money for the exchange. Her first work term was as an Account Coordinator in Cossette’s Halifax office. Although Cossette is a large marketing company, the Halifax office was small which allowed Megan to see all stages of the marketing process. She created social media schedules and content plans for clients, community-managed social media accounts, assisted with developing RFPs for new business development, prepared creative briefs and helped with executing social media campaigns.
For her second work term, Megan returned home to save money and worked at the City of Edmonton as a Business Analyst. During each work term Megan developed skills that built upon her previous experience. “Something I learned was saying yes to any new task that came up within my role, even if I didn’t know what I was doing, helped me to grow professionally and pick up new skills. These skills became assets for my next role and opened the doors to new opportunities.”
In February 2018, Megan traded a Halifax winter for the palm trees of Australia. Megan was one of three students accepted for academic exchange to Australia, where she studied at UNSW in Sydney. UNSW was already using recorded lectures, and most courses had an accompanying tutorial. The term was from February to June, so it meant that upon her return to Dal, Megan would have to move her third work term to the following summer.
After completing her final eight months of academics, Megan returned to Alberta for her third work term as an Associate Project Manager Intern with Critical Mass in Calgary. Meagan had increasingly more responsibility with each work term, and in this role, she developed scope of work and project plans for campaigns, managed daily tasks such as, budget tracking, and project plan creation. Upon graduation from the Bachelor of Commerce Program, Critical Mass offered her a full-time job as an Associate Project Manager.
Megan’s desire to live abroad was still strong and although she was happy at Critical Mass, she made the decision to return to Australia arriving in February of 2020. One month later, the country went into a strict lockdown due to the pandemic and Megan’s career plans came to a screeching halt. After six discouraging months and with no professional network in Australia, she was hired in an administrative position in a vet clinic. It was a disappointing time to not be working in her field of study, but Megan was determined to make this a learning experience. While at the vet clinic, she developed time management skills and gained experience working with people – skills that would easily transfer into her next job.
As Australia began to loosen its pandemic restrictions, Megan reached out to a former colleague in Canada who had connections in Australia. Unfortunately, this colleague’s connections were in Melbourne, not Sydney, but they did help Megan realize that the Project Manager role that she had been working at in Canada, was more aligned with Account Management roles in Australia. Redirecting her job search, Megan secured a position with Ogilvy as an Account Executive.
It has been over two years since Megan made the move to Australia, and she couldn’t be happier. She is progressing in her role and works with a fun team. The work culture in Australia is good, and there is a corporate acceptance that there is life outside of work. Employees enjoy a minimum of 4 weeks vacation compared to two weeks in Canada.
So, what’s next for this adventurous Dalhousie alumnus? For now, she has settled into life in Australia, but her natural inclination to be open to change and put her hand up for work and tasks outside of her comfort zone, might open other doors in other countries.