Marketing is pervasive – it has always been present in some form or the other in our lives. When you look at the top executives, engineers, lawyers, architects – they’ve all used personal marketing (and of course persistence and intellectual brainpower) effectively to get themselves where they are today.
Proctor and Gamble receives over 100,000 applications a year – only 725 are hired on average. Goldman Sachs receives approximately 53000 applications a year; with 900 people hired on average (Data from Princeton Review’s “Best Entry-Level Jobs”. What does it take to become among the 0.725% or the 1.7% (respectively) that receive offers from two of the most prestigious corporations in the world? The same reason you choose to purchase products from a certain brand among the myriad of brands vying for your attention at the supermarket – branding.
Ever since I transferred to Sauder, I’ve been amazed by the services that Sauder provides to make its students as competitive as possible in the job market. First is COMM 299, in which you come out with a polished, effective resume and cover letter that highlights strengths and results and interview skills. Sauder also does a great job providing workshops (I’ve attended Careers in Night, Careers in China, etc) relevant to current student interests, co-op info sessions, industry mentorship programs, scholars programs, case competitions, conferences and job and involvement opportunities. Compared to my previous faculty, Sauder is doing a lot more to not only prepare students for the workplace, but also push them to succeed. The result – the average Sauder grad makes a starting salary of over $40,000 a year – above the current average income in Canada!
Of course how effective our personal branding is also depends on the individual, and their motivation, interests, and passion. But I know that no matter what option I choose, or where I end up, I will have Sauder to thank for helping my reach my dream career. It packages us students individually to present our best to the world, and also markets Sauder as a brand to the business community in Vancouver, nationally, and internationally. Even though Eastern Canada (with all the marketing and finance headquarters) have an advantage in location and business activity, Sauder’s performance in job placement is on par (and perhaps even better) than these schools.
Sauder Bcom Employment Statistics by Functional Area (From Annual Report 2010)
McGill Desautels BCom Statistics - it fares slightly better on average
John Molson School of Business (Concordia University) - the salary averages are on par (or slightly lower) than Sauder
For its success in branding its business students, Sauder gets an A+ from me. Now if only other faculties can catch on, to make UBC a leader in job placement, student branding, and university prestige. (Then maybe the jokes about Arts students being homeless after they graduate will eventually stop …)
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