Nicole Ellsum

Since graduating last year, I have worked in a couple of different roles - sales support and admin at a local fruit and veg shop, receptionist at a macadamia plantation and now my current role as a People & Culture Officer with a NDIS registered organisation which I absolutely love and enjoy! My biggest achievement was finishing my degree with distinction and receiving a GPA of 6 - which is something I didn't think would happen, and my personal highlight was having my children watch me walk across the stage to get my degree at the graduation ceremony.

Prior to studying at CQU I was a stay-at-home mum to my 3 children, I had not finished high school and wanted to challenge myself, so I began STEPS in 2015. It has been a bit of a journey to get to where I am today as I dabbled in a few different degree options trying to determine what the right fit for me was. Those included business, nursing, digital media and social work. I finally decided that a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Psychology, Social Inquiry and Liberal Arts was the right fit for me, as it gave me a multidisciplinary education in the areas that interested me. 

As a People & Culture Officer, my role involves end-to-end recruitment, administration tasks, building strong working relationships within the organisation, conducting audits, monitoring relevant industry legislation, and other HR related tasks while supporting the People & Culture Coordinator.