December 18, 2019

Ben in ideal position to fulfil career dreams

More economic forecasting on the horizon for honours graduate

Ben Rada’s thirst for learning has been quenched during his studies at the University of Wollongong.

In 2018 he graduated with a Bachelor of Economics and Finance, but he was eager to learn more about economic forecasting, so he took on the Bachelor of Commerce Honours year.

On Wednesday 18 December, he celebrated his graduation and also received a University Medal.

University Medals are awarded yearly, with the Vice-Chancellor’s approval, in recognition of outstanding academic performance.

UOW Senior Business Lecturer Dr Alfredo Paloyo, who nominated Ben for the medal, said he consistently performed well in all his subjects and that alone should qualify him for the University Medal, but his Honours thesis was also exceptional.

“Predicting recessions is a difficult task for economic modellers,” Dr Paloyo said.

“What Ben has done is to compare the prediction accuracy of a number of different models using data from the US economy. He compared common or baseline models with his own augmented model which takes into account the different frequencies of economic and financial data (annual, quarterly or weekly).

“The contribution increases our understanding of how well these models perform, and it could help in forecasting future recessions for the US and presumably for other similar economies.”

Ben said the honours year helped him to get ahead of the pack when the time came to find a graduate job.

“I was enjoying the course work and I wanted to progress and do research, and by adding that competitive advantage I was able to differentiate myself, especially in the Sydney market,” Ben said.

Though he has enjoyed his studies, Ben’s excited to graduate and apply what he has learned at University.

Ben has recently landed his dream job in the economics department at Deloitte Australia.

Deloitte is one of the big four accounting organisations, and the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of professionals.

Headquartered in New York City, Ben hopes the job will open up international travel and work opportunities.

“I’m keen to jump in and get some experience with one of Australia’s biggest economic consulting firms,” he said.

“It’s an opportunity to work with some of the great minds in the field.

“Where I am is kind of ideal, they have offices located all over the world, so hopefully I can work and travel with the company.”

In the course of his career, he hopes his forecasting knowledge will serve him well.

“I’d love to work with businesses to help solve their problems,” Ben said.

“Forecasting can help me to prepare businesses so they know what to expect from the economy in upcoming months, and how to best manage that.”