Updating Results

Tory Rowley James

Experiences and aspirations outside of your career are important and you should put time towards making them happen as you would your work goals.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up on the Gold Coast and studied at Bond University. I worked at MECCA casually and tutored high school maths and business in my spare time. During university, I travelled to Europe, participated in different societies, university events, and alumni mentoring programs. I also had lots of hobbies including fitness, socialising and generally being outside!

How did you get to your current job position?

I applied for the Mecca Graduate program around 8 months before graduating. Like most graduate programs, it’s a long process and employers take a deep dive into your background and personality to assess not only your competency for the role but ensure you’re a good culture fit. I was successful in obtaining a position and moved to Melbourne in 2019 and have been in the role for over a year.

How did you choose your specialisation?

I’ve always loved maths and problem solving, and data analysis is an organic progression/natural fit. It’s exciting that those skills are now transferrable to non-traditional industries and roles. 

I chose the MECCA Brands Graduate program because I wanted an unfiltered entry into a game-changing business. I wanted to work in a role where I can use my technical ability, as well as be exposed to diverse experiences and develop well-roundedness. Graduate programs are accelerated experiences and force you to learn and adapt to new environments quickly.

MECCA is a game-changer in the beauty space, globally. The environment is fast-paced and extremely unique. Although I tossed up alternatives, based on all the information I had about MECCA and the opportunity I was looking for, Mecca was the right choice for me.

What was your interview process like?

This process included an initial application, cognitive testing, and a full day at the Graduate Recruitment Forum at the Mecca Support Centre in Melbourne. The interviews happen in the Graduate Recruitment Forum and include two group activities and two individual interviews. 

The two group interviews were focused on working in a team, brainstorming a project and managing unexpected change on short notice. The individual interviews were focused on understanding the detail of my technical ability as well as my cultural alignment with the business. I believe what made me successful, was being authentic, self-aware in my response and being able to think on the spot.

What does your employer do?

MECCA Brands is the leading beauty retailer across Australia and New Zealand.

What are your areas of responsibility?

I’m currently placed in MECCA’s IT Data team, and I’m responsible for data delivery for a wide range of departments. This includes building tableau dashboards and increasing data capability and the use of analytics in the business. 

Can you describe a typical workday?

Currently, I’m working on building dashboards in Tableau for different departments and working on a CRM attribution model. At MECCA you can almost guarantee that no two days will be the same. Naturally, this comes with some challenging moments. Nevertheless, good sailors never learn anything from being in calm seas!

What are the career prospects with your job?

MECCA’s Tech team is growing at a rapid rate, and so too is the demand for data analytics within the business. There are so many opportunities at MECCA in the tech and analytics spaces and it goes way beyond the traditional use cases.

What would your career be if you weren’t doing what you’re doing now? 

I would create a start-up!

What do you love the most about your job?

I personally thrive in an environment where I have the freedom to choose my own adventure and go after the big rocks. I love having tasks that have not been tapped into yet and really are an innovative step in the future for the business.

What’s the biggest limitation of your job?

Naturally, when you’re passionate about doing a good job and you care about the outcomes of tasks, you can easily get into a less than optimal work-life balance relationship. From experience, I know this is something I have to ongoingly manage or I will go down a rabbit hole.

Which three pieces of advice would you give to a current university student?

  • Experiences and aspirations outside of your career are important and you should put time towards making them happen as you would your work goals.
  • You can change your mind about what you want to do at any time. You haven’t wasted anything, and you can only make decisions based on the information you have at any given time. New opportunities present themselves and you should be flexible and reassess your situation to ensure you’re doing things that interest you. 
  • Learn how to receive and seek feedback so you can continuously improve. You may not do that exact task again, however, feedback is a part of daily work life and understanding and meeting expectations requires reflection and resilience.