Genevieve Pye

Genevieve Pye thought the  Bachelor of Management Studies degree was the right fit for her because she loves the organisational and structured side of business, and she is one of those lucky people who love numbers.

"The four-year BMS is a fantastic foundation for your career and with the opportunity of completing an internship in your fourth year," she says.

Originally from Lower Hutt, Genevieve says she initially applied to study at the University of Waikato “as a bit of a laugh between my mother and me, because that's exactly what she did."

After being offered a place, she discovered Waikato Management School’s outstanding reputation, range of courses, and the big opportunity to really leave home, experience the halls, and experience another city. So Genevieve made the move all the way up from the bottom of the North Island.

During her degree, she scored an internship with the Waikato Rugby Union, which helped to cement her path into the business world.

Genevieve worked alongside the commercial manager at Waikato Rugby Union, which developed her skills in the personal communication side of management. She was able to observe how important work relationships and networking are to business. “It helped me improve my public speaking and allowed me to look at the commercial aspects of a large organisation.”

Genevieve got to work in the corporate lounges on game day during the NPC rugby season where she worked hard to keep everyone happy. A lot of event management was involved in this position with seating plans and function set up. A highlight was meeting amazing players at some of the functions like Colin Meads and Liam Messam.

WRU's commercial manager explained to Genevieve how the business works and she was able to view sponsorship contracts, and understand the important parts of dealing with business and people’s passions and interests.

She says the best part of her internship was the "human interaction aspect". She had the opportunity to spend a lot of time interacting with ranges of different people which is her greatest take away from the whole experience.

“Although Waikato is smaller than the other universities In New Zealand, it gives students a better chance to utilise the opportunities available to them, especially in the Management School," says Genevieve.