Jess

Restructuring team
Commerce (Accounting & Finance), University of Melbourne

What’s your job about?

I’m a Senior Analyst in the Melbourne Restructuring team. My team works on a range of projects, from formal insolvency appointments, such as voluntary administrations, receiverships and liquidations, to advisory-side engagements to help businesses, creditors and financiers dealing with financial distress.

During my time at McGrathNicol, I've had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects and workstreams, often covering a wide range of different industries. Some highlights include managing the day-to-day operations of a business under voluntary administration, assisting with a highly competitive sale process of a company and working with government bodies to investigate the potential misconduct and breach of duties by company directors.

How did you get to where you are now?

I studied a Bachelor of Commerce and majored in Accounting and Finance. I joined the firm through the Summer Vacation Program at the end of 2021, during my penultimate year of university. Upon completion of my university degree, I returned as a Graduate in 2023. Throughout my first and second year, I took on more responsibility in various workstreams and began completing tasks independently. This experience provided me with a solid understanding of Restructuring and equipped me with the necessary skills to apply for a promotion halfway through my second year.

What attracted you to McGrathNicol?

In university, I joined an accounting club which gave me exposure to many professional services firms who sponsored the club’s activities. Through my involvement, I came to know about McGrathNicol. Insolvency wasn’t a topic that was widely covered in my university studies, which piqued my interest to join as a Vacationer and learn more about the service line. Upon completion of various internships and when it came to choosing a graduate offer, the main factor that stuck with me was McGrathNicol’s culture. The people are what made my four-week program so enjoyable, and two years later, I can still say the same. I feel supported in my professional development through the guidance of managers and partners, and always have my graduate cohort to lean on when I have questions or concerns.

Rose

Restructuring team
Commerce (Finance & Commercial Law), Victoria University of Wellington

What’s your job about?

The Restructuring team handle a wide range of formal and informal insolvency appointments and distressed advisory from Voluntary Administrations, Receiverships, Liquidations and Independent Business Reviews (IBR). We work together with businesses to guide them towards a viable trading state or help them exit operations in a structured manner, while mitigating losses, ensuring compliance and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders including creditors, employees and government bodies.

As an Analyst, I assist the wider team engaging in a range of tasks including correspondence with key stakeholders, ensuring we comply with relevant legal and statutory obligations, reporting, and generally helping progress appointments with efficiency.

I have had the opportunity to work on a diverse range of projects, including liquidations, voluntary administrations, deed of company arrangements, creditors’ trusts, and receiverships, with a range of staff in the team. One of the most rewarding experiences was being involved in a smaller voluntary administration from start to finish, where I was able to see the entire process, from the initial appointment to paying the final dividend and closing out the job.

This experience allowed me to engage with all aspects of the job, including liaising with suppliers, creditors, and third parties such as solicitors. I was entrusted with preparing creditors’ reports and took full ownership of tasks like the dividend process. This role has been invaluable in helping me learn new aspects of my work and understand how they fit into the broader scope of the job.

How did you get to where you are now?

I joined the Graduate Program in 2024 having finished my Bachelor of Commerce (Finance and Commercial Law) at Victoria University of Wellington.

What attracted you to McGrathNicol?

I had experience working in the industry while at university but was looking for a change when I heard about McGrathNicol. I remember coming across the student page on the McGrathNicol website and watching the videos and instantly felt like it would be a good fit. I was already drawn to the work, and throughout my interview period I felt very comfortable, and a year on that hasn’t changed. The Graduate Program really invests in your professional and personal development.

I chose McGrathNicol as they invest significantly in career development through a structured Graduate Program with ongoing training, study support during your CA qualification, a unique counselling structure to ensure I was supported through challenges. By working as a graduate cohort we are able to share our experience and journey together to develop professionally and personally.

Since joining, I have been involved in a wide range of firm engagements and participated in various firm initiatives. I have always found the team to be supportive and understanding that as a graduate we won’t know how to do everything. Through support and guidance from the team, I have been able to develop my technical skills, improve the quality and efficiency of my work and contribute meaningfully to team discussions and project work. McGrathNicol has many opportunities to be involved in networking with other firms, charity initiatives and sporting events. All of this makes working at McGrathNicol multifaceted and highly enjoyable.

Megan

Government Advisory team
Commerce & International Studies (Accounting & International Relations), Deakin University

What’s your job about?

The Government Advisory team provides a broad range of advisory services to federal, state and territory governments. Our work and expertise cover a range of areas including financial analysis, governance and compliance assessments, and audit and assurance. As a Government Advisory Consultant, I have had the opportunity to work across a range of projects, including financial viability assessments, financial analysis, and providing assurance over government programs, systems, and processes. Since commencing at McGrathNicol, my favourite engagement has been serving as financial advisors to the Commonwealth to ensure the ongoing continuity of critical services.

How did you get to where you are now?

I joined McGrathNicol as a Graduate after completing my Bachelor of Commerce and International Studies, with majors in Accounting and International Relations at Deakin University. I applied to the Graduate Program in Canberra and was able to start pretty much immediately since I had just completed my studies.

What attracted you to McGrathNicol?

I heard about the firm through a friend who was also looking for similar graduate roles. After hearing about the role, I developed a better understanding about the type of work McGrathNicol does through looking at their website.

I chose McGrathNicol as the place to start my career because of the diversity and quality of the work delivered, the opportunity to support a range of government clients from the private sector, and the strong professional development available, including the completion of my CA studies. Being a mid-tier firm, McGrathNicol offered me exposure to a wide variety of work, allowing me to explore different areas and develop a clearer sense of my interests. The firm’s culture has been supportive as senior team members have helped me find opportunities to develop specific skills and gain exposure to the types of work I am interested in. Overall, McGrathNicol has provided a great work environment, an incredible team, and a diverse range of projects that have enhanced my early career journey.

Harry

Restructuring team
Commerce & Economics (Economics & International Business), UNSW

What’s your job about?

The Restructuring team assists mainly in distressed financial situations through advisory or formal insolvency work. This can mean anything from reviewing strategies and financials and providing advice, managing the trade on and sale of existing companies or running the wind down and liquidation of businesses.

I’m a Senior Analyst in the Restructuring team. What this means on a day-to-day basis changes with every project based on the type of project and the team involved.

I have been able to experience a range of projects, both large and small scale. This has ranged from independent business reviews, safe harbour engagements and trade ons, with companies varying from large freight and transport groups to party supply wholesalers.

How did you get to where you are now?

I joined McGrathNicol’s Summer Vacation Program and started as an Analyst 12 months later on completion of my Commerce Economics degree from UNSW. I have been at the firm for two years and I am now a Senior Analyst.

What attracted you to McGrathNicol?

I heard about the firm through a friend who had been part of the Summer Vacation Program and really enjoyed their time. I had such an enjoyable vacationer experience that when I was offered a graduate role it was a no-brainer for me. I have found the work to be enjoyable and challenging, but more than that, I have greatly enjoyed working with a group of social and intelligent professionals who make working here thoroughly enjoyable.

Caitlin

Data Analytics team
Maths & Commerce (Data Analytics, Operations Research & Finance), University of Queensland

What’s your job about?

I work in the Brisbane Data Analytics team. My team sits inside the McGrathNicol forensic practice, which grants me exposure to lots of exciting jobs including investigations, disputes, fraud detection, cyber security and wage remediation.

I am currently working on a large wage remediation project. As part of this I am responsible for inspecting data quality, modelling, testing and documenting results for our client’s review. Every project is a little different and requires me to think in different ways.

The best analogy I’ve heard for working on a data project, is that we start with a big box of jumbled Lego. We then need to decipher which pieces we have, which key pieces we are missing, and how we can use the pieces to build our masterpiece. This process encourages us to think both critically and creatively.

How did you get to where you are now?

I studied a Bachelor of Maths and Commerce with majors in Data Analytics and Operations Research and Finance. I joined McGrathNicol as a Summer Vacationer and came back the following year for the Graduate Program.

During university I wasn’t sure what a career in data looked like. In my last year I completed a few different vacationer programs to understand which field would be the best fit for me. Working in data analytics, I enjoyed learning new tools and having the creative licence to approach problems from different angles.

What attracted you to McGrathNicol?

I first heard about the firm on GradConnection and decided to apply. Doing a dual degree, I wasn’t sure what team I fit into best, so I applied for Restructuring. I arrived at the interview and had some fantastic conversations with the team. So much so I felt a little disheartened, the culture was obviously great, but I realised how much I wanted to give data a shot. Luckily for me I got a call the next day asking if I wanted to join the Data Analytics team, and the rest is history!

The Graduate Program guides you through the first 12 months at the firm. We had in-person and online training sessions. For the in-person sessions, our national cohort met in Sydney. This helped me build my network and settle any nerves I had about starting a new job.

In my day-to-day role, I found everyone made a real effort to create opportunities for me, and I got fantastic exposure to senior staff and lots of different projects.

Ben

Cyber team
Cyber Security, Edith Cowan University

What’s your job about?

The national Cyber team assists clients with analysis and protection of digital assets. If that sounds broad, that’s because it is! Our work spans from governance, risk and compliance to forensic analysis of devices for legal matters. My local team is most often involved in forensic investigations and incident response jobs, helping clients recover from data breaches and ransomware attacks.

As a junior in the team, my role involves conducting and facilitating much of the analysis work. This includes extracting data from devices, processing it across various software and applications, and analysing the results. I also assist in presenting findings in draft form. Being an enthusiastic learner is essential in my role. There’s always more to learn, and the ability to research and problem-solve independently is a valuable skill. That said, there’s almost always someone in the team with experience, and everyone is always happy to share knowledge and teach others.

I've been lucky to work on a wide range of projects. I expected a longer transition before getting involved in high-impact work, but early on, I had the opportunity to contribute to forensic investigations, incident response cases, and even travel to Sydney to help decrypt data after a ransomware breach.

How did you get to where you are now?

I studied a Bachelor of Science (Cyber Security) at Edith Cowan University (ECU). ECU offers an industry placement program that can substitute units in your final year. Since I had previously applied for McGrathNicol’s Summer Vacation Program, I reached out to them about a placement opportunity, and they were happy to take me on. This early start enabled me to get a head start and transition smoothly into the graduate program.

I have already been promoted to Senior Analyst, about a year and a half after starting as an Analyst. The promotion timeline was communicated transparently, and my team provided valuable support and guidance to help me develop the skills needed for this role.

What attracted you to McGrathNicol?

I first discovered McGrathNicol on GradConnection and saw they had Cyber roles, so I applied for both the Summer Vacation and Graduate Programs. Coincidentally, someone who would later become my colleague gave a really interesting guest lecture at my university, which encouraged me to reach out to McGrathNicol further.

When I applied, I was just looking for any cyber role to get my foot in the door. After starting, I quickly realised how lucky I was - I had landed in a role that aligned with my interests and is much more dynamic and engaging than many of the other positions I had seen presented.

The culture at McGrathNicol is great, it is one of hard work and quality but also of balance and reward. The team is big enough to feel like you’re a part of something important but small enough to be personal. It definitely feels like the firm cares about development of the graduates they induct, and makes an effort to retain its staff and see them progress.

Taylah

Deals team
Commerce (Economics & Finance), University of Melbourne

What’s your job about?

Within the Deals team at McGrathNicol you have the opportunity to work across all stages of the deal cycle from due diligence and valuations to financial modelling and corporate advisory engagements. We seek to identify value drivers and key risks of a potential transaction and provide innovative solutions to ensure the best result is achieved for our client. Every project we work on is varied and relatively short term compared to other service lines within the firm. This means each week brings its own set of unique challenges to solve alongside clients, ranging from family-owned local business to the world’s market leaders.

Due to the size of our team, you are exposed to senior management and clients from the outset which is completely invaluable in the early stages of your career. This exposure comes with a level of responsibility on engagements which is unique and can see you working directly with and learning from Partners at the firm. As a junior in Deals your role tends to focus heavily on the excel based financial analysis. Across my two years at the firm I have been involved in not only critically analysing historical and financial performance to determine key value drivers or risks, but also communicating those key findings to our clients through written reports, presentations and conversations with clients.

How did you get to where you are now?

Growing up I always had a passion for mathematics and solving complex problems, so when faced with the big question of what next, a Bachelor of Commerce seemed like the most logical step. Alongside my Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Melbourne I was involved with a range of student societies which ran both networking and social events, and it was at these events where I was first introduced to McGrathNicol.

My journey at McGrathNicol begun with a four-week Summer Vacation Program within the Restructuring team over my university break in 2021. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience from both a professional and social perspective and after completing my degree I returned full-time as a Graduate in February 2023. One month into the Graduate Program, an opportunity arose in the Deals team and I was able to gain exposure to the service line and get to know the team. Although I do not have the traditional accounting background and a fundamental understanding of accounting is important, the most critical skills required as a Deals Graduate is the ability to analyse financial information and understand the commercial objective of your findings. After spending four months in the team, I found the work to be extremely rewarding and heavily aligned with my financial and economics background, which led to my permanent transfer into the team in June 2023.

What attracted you to McGrathNicol?

Throughout my degree I was involved with a range of student societies which ran networking and other professional development events. It was at one of these events I first heard about McGrathNicol and the Summer Vacation / Graduate Program.

After completing my four-week placement with McGrathNicol, what initially drew me to the firm was the diversity of work within each service line and the opportunity to take ownership of my career. What I ultimately learnt from my very first day at McGrathNicol was what makes the firm unique is the people and the genuine commitment to your professional and personal growth. The Graduate Program is specifically designed to help you navigate your first year of full-time work and sets you up with the tools and support to take advantage of all the opportunities that arise in the beginning of your career. The support available to you includes a Counselling Manager and Partner, formal training resources and programs that run throughout the year, and access to the national graduate cohort whenever you have questions or concerns. In my role specifically, the smaller team size has allowed me to have a greater level of responsibility and exposure to a variety of work which has equipped me with the foundational skills that I will carry with me as I progress through my career.

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