And the Gold Medal Goes to…Everybody!

The job hunt is important to all of us for some reason or another. Maybe it’s student loans waiting to bite back, wanting to move on from student life, or even just anxiety. In the MM program, there are 50 other bright students trying to figure it out along with you and we’re all more than happy to help each other out. We get a lot of coaching and help from the BCC (Business Career Centre), but I think as students we give each other the best shot of succeeding after graduation.

If we’re all students and we’re all trying to find jobs, how can we possibly be giving each other the best shot for success? At most, each of us only have a few years of experience and we haven’t come from business backgrounds. What can we do for each other?

We support each other and act as a team. Yes, I know this may sound wishy-washy and maybe it’s all the Olympic hype, but please bear with me and let me explain.  We spend a lot of time together in the classroom, in teams, and outside of Sauder. We quickly get to know each other and what types of opportunities each of us might be interested in. This is fantastic because when we’re searching the web for own job hunt, we may not always find something interesting. However, you might find perfect opportunity for one of your classmates. So share it with them. On top of that, a lot of us are trying to enter industries where we may have little experience. With a cohort as diverse as ours, there is always someone to talk to who may have studied or has experience in that area.

I’ll admit when I came into the program I was a bit worried about finding a job after graduation. Now, however, it is more exciting than I ever could have thought and I credit this change to my classmates. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or advice. And remember that even if our destinations aren’t all the same, right now we’re all in the same boat.

 

Blair Reedy

Fun and Social

I still can’t believe I have been in this amazing city for almost half a year. It feels unreal! The past five months of the MM program have been super busy and we might need to push ourselves even harder for the remainder of the program. But, if you think the heavy work load or final exam pressure can stop us from having fun, you’re absolutely wrong!

Hanging out with my classmates is one of the biggest reasons why I like this program so much! The program gathers like-minded people with diverse backgrounds which makes the social life in Vancouver so incredible and diverse. For example, last week a group of us went to try some of the spiciest chicken wings on earth – so spicy that you need to sign a waiver before you’re allowed to eat them. What’s more, for someone who’s born and raised in a completely different culture, I never thought watching a hockey game in a bar with a bunch of friends would be so much fun!

We also participate in a wide range of special events outside of class. The faculty and my classmates strive to provide many networking opportunities to make friends and connections. For example, at our alumni mixer in November I received precious advice on careers, job hunting, interviewing and even tips for new-comers to Vancouver. Another special event was Trek Vancouver. Trek Vancouver was very useful for the class, especially for international students to get acquainted to local companies as well as Vancouver’s business culture.

Almost every Master of Management student likes a good quality social life to enhance the value of their learning experience. I don’t think many of my classmates would sit in a class think “Geez! this capitalization table is the coolest thing I’ve ever learned!”. However personally, my classmates are my greatest support in this program and I have learned just as much from them as what I’ve learned in class.

A firm handshake

Early on Friday the 24th of January, 22 MM’s dressed in suits gathered at the Starbucks in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Hotel for Trek Vancouver.

What is Trek Vancouver?

Trek Vancouver is an awesome event planned and organised by Nate, our class’s VP of Career Affairs. The bible of job hunting states that you should have as many informational interviews with people in industries you are interested in as possible. Trek Vancouver is a super, day-long informational interview with 12 people from three companies and half of the MM class.

Fuelled by caffeine, the MMs headed to the BMO’s palatial offices next door where we were greeted with some more coffee by senior banking executives who were ready to meet starry-eyed students, share stories, and lavishly impart wisdom.


After an enlightening session, we grabbed some lunch and headed to Vision Critical’s trendy and picturesque office on Granville Street. There, we were greeted by 3 MM alumni and given a tour of their offices, which featured a kitchen with a foosball table much like the one in our MM lounge.


Having visited a suave bank and a creative marketing technology firm, I was longing for a Mad Men style boardroom with plush leather chairs. I was in luck as our final destination for the day was RBC Wealth Management. We squeezed into a large boardroom and listened to two executives share stories and insights from their careers.


Having spoken to professionals from three different firms in their own offices, we were able to really appreciate the differences in culture between seemingly similar firms. I was truly able to understand the sort of environment in which I would like to work.

Till next time,

Talal

 

A Day in the Life

Hello there!

For my very first blog post, I’ve outlined for you what a typical Monday or Wednesday is for me. We follow a slightly different schedule on Tuesday and Thursday—days on which we start at 8:00 a.m., take a 4-hour break from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., and end at the usual 4:00 p.m. I like the 8:00 a.m. starts. I surmise that I’d like them even better if I could remember to sleep earlier the night before.

I live in Richmond, in a not-so-convenient area in terms of public transport. Most of my classmates don’t live as far away as I do, so my before and after-school routine may not be representative of my classmates’ habits. Living so far away means continually refining my time management skills, rearranging activities to be done at certain times instead. On the other hand, the most notable challenges I’ve faced are the following, ranked according to what I perceive to be the most dreadful:

(1) The exhaustion that eventually gets to you and slows your brain down as the period (what you may know as a “school term”) progresses

(2) Time and energy I may not have for peer-socializing (which may be less problematic if I owned a car)

(3) Inconvenient weekend trips to school because there’s no direct bus from Richmond to UBC (then again, it ensures that I try my best to minimize the need for these trips)

 

7:30 a.m. Get up and prep for the busy day ahead

*Ok, I may have snoozed my alarm a few times…

8:15 a.m. Cross a school sports field —> shopping plaza —> road —> BUS STOP!! (~1 block)

*There’s another bus that stops much closer to my house, but it’s a turtle bus!

 8:28 a.m. Bus to Bridgeport Station

*You can get away with a shorter time buffer the earlier you have to leave (less traffic). Occasionally, I miss this bus and take an alternate route.

8:58 a.m. Transfer to the 480 bus —> read the free newspaper / review my notes / nap

*Seat, seat, seat… YES!! The 480 bus originates in Bridgeport Station. Ironically, your probability of grabbing a seat diminishes the closer you live to campus.

9:40 a.m. Arrive at the UBC Bus Loop and begin the long walk to the Sauder School of Business

*Sadly, I haven’t figured out how to get to Sauder from any other direction without getting lost. I found that the only other places you need to know to survive are the Student Union Building (SUB) and the UBC Bookstore.

9:50 a.m. Morning chat with fellow MM-ers

*I’ve never met a more wonderful, supportive bunch of people. It’s great to be part of this cohort!

10:00 a.m. Marketing Research class with Professor Joey Hoegg

*In our recent classes, we evaluated the UBC Course Evaluation Form and also created our own survey in groups. It’s easy to critique a survey, but man, creating one is complicated work!

12:00 p.m. Lunch + go through emails and update my calendar and to-do list —> team meeting / review my notes / work on an assignment

2:00 p.m. Managerial Aspects of Accounting with Professor Bill Dorfmann

*I admit, the first few lectures weren’t the most stimulating (which we were amply warned about… You can consider yourself cautioned when you hear the words “ad nauseam”). But we’ve finally gotten to the more interesting bits, like how to make add/drop (a business segment) and make/buy decisions.

4:00 p.m. 2 possibilities:

(A) GO HOME!! —> prep dinner and tomorrow’s lunch —> do work

(B) Team meeting —> maybe take out dinner from our neighbour, Triple-O’s (White Spot), if I’m still at Sauder at 6:00 p.m.

*The best outcome, of course, is being able to leave as soon as class ends because the commute at this time isn’t as painful. Leaving UBC past 9.30 p.m. may extend my commute to up to 2 hours.

 

Until next time!

Rachel Lim

Study Abroad? Why not!

One of the many opportunities offered by this exemplary Master program is the possibility to study abroad. As an international student, this is a great opportunity for me to improve my business knowledge and to study in different environments.

There are many locations that are offered to the students. Coming from Europe, I was especially interested in continuing my studies during the summer in an Asian or American location.

It would be very interesting for me to spend two months studying in Beijing or Shanghai.  The difference from the American and European culture would help me acquire more experience when I would have to work with Chinese companies. On the other hand, why not go to Harvard, another opportunity that is offered by the program? The quality and recognition of this school could always help whenever you are looking for a job.

These are just some of the many opportunities that this program offers you. When you think about this, you know that you will come in contact with a different culture and you will gain flexibility in relating with different environments wherever you go.

This will not be the conclusion of the Master of Management program; this will be the beginning of the new life, granted by the MM program.

 

Tiziano Menconi
ca.linkedin.com/in/TizianoMenconi

Exchange Possibilities

For me, doing an exchange was a non-negotiable. It was a matter of when and where, not if. I didn’t take advantage of the great opportunity that exchange offers you in my undergraduate degree, so I knew I had to when I started the Master of Management program. Experiencing education in a different country has so much value not only educationally, but personally. You get to meet students from all over the world, to experience a new education system that differs from the one you are used to, and you get to explore! The travel really excites me – I have an insatiable wanderlust. The MM program offers a variety of summer exchanges that vary in lengths from two to eight weeks. A few cities include: Cologne, Copenhagen, Shanghai, and London. Choosing where to apply could be the hardest part for some! For me, because I have already spent a few months in Asia and only weeks in Europe, I wanted to head back to the motherland of croissants, macarons, and cassoulet!

The one potential negative to going on exchange is it may have an effect on your job hunt by extending it longer than you may prefer. This is a risk I am willing to take because I don’t know if I’ll ever have this amazing experience at my fingertips again. In the end, I get out what I put in to my job hunt. So I will be working extra hard, knowing I get to spend June here: 

Nice, France

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kpsiu/5978996674/

Until next post,

Maddie

http://www.linkedin.com/in/maddieholeksa

Mild Panic Attack

The other day, I woke up panicking! I was going through my first “I DON’T KNOW WHAT I WANT TO DO WITH MY LIFE” dilemma.

There are three things I have always been sure about: I have a passion for people, I have pretty strong presentation skills, and I LOVE traveling (also, dancing is the cure for all illnesses). I decided I wanted a career in Industrial Relations so I needed a Masters program that would get me there. I talked to one of my professors about it and he suggested that I strongly consider the MM program because it is a program that prepares students for all parts of business ranging from organizational behavior to marketing strategies, and that I might end up really liking another part of business instead. Clearly, I decided to take his advice but I still came in believing that a career in Industrial Relations was absolutely what I wanted.

Period 1 began and with it came a variety of classes ranging from drawing graphs (not pie charts) in Statistics to Marketing; I found out that I really liked Marketing and realized I was pretty good at this brand review stuff but my mind was still set on IR and leaning towards Recruitment. Period 2 came around and I took the non-financial route which had Employment Relationship and Organizational Behaviour courses, but also a basic Finance class. For some reason I found myself, not only understanding, but also enjoying that Finance class; who ever thought Put and Call options would be so interesting? During the freezing Calgary Christmas break I spent time with a lot of family and friends who were asking me about what I wanted to do after I was done with the MM program… THIS WAS WHEN MY PANIC REALLY BEGAN. I didn’t know what I wanted to do anymore; my answer changed a little bit every time someone asked.

“How is it possible that some people in the program are narrowing down their options and I suddenly want to broaden mine?”

“I want to do Recruitment…and HR…and Branding…and a little bit of Investments…and…everything…”

“What if I take a job and then see something I might like better? OH MY GOSH! What if I don’t even get a job???”

I eventually booked an appointment with Jeff Balin and talked to him about it, he managed to calm me down (go Jeff!); apparently, this whole freaking out phenomenon is normal.

So we are now nearing the end of period 3 and Managerial Accounting is not looking too scary (ask me about this again in a week when I’m studying for finals). I’ve come to the conclusion that my Prof. was right…this is exactly why I chose the MM over anything else; it gives me the opportunity to find out what exactly the Business world has to offer me. I’m going to fully embrace the confusion because it means I am actually learning something new.

I can’t guarantee that I won’t be panicking again within the next 2 months…or 2 weeks…or 2 days…or 2 minutes but I have officially decided that I am going to look for a job where I can keep learning and contributing all I’ve learned. You never know, in ten years I might become the best Statistician in the world :D.

It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day

As an international student, moving to Vancouver was a new beginning, a beginning full of excitement and hope and an underlying sense of nervousness and uncertainty.

I can clearly recall the first time I met most of the MM students. They were sitting around a table enjoying a late barbecue at the MBA House when I joined them. To be honest, I felt like I was back at home sitting with a group of my friends whom I had known for the better part of my life. As I got to know them better, all the nervousness and uncertainty vanished in a matter of minutes. I had never met so many people, who had just gotten to know each other and could relate to one another, allowing them to form bonds that continue to strengthen as the MM program continues.

However, probably the best part of the MM program is the diverse nature of the academic backgrounds that its students come from. The person sitting next to you is almost guaranteed to have a different academic background than yours. What is common, however, is that no one has any experience in business education. The MM provides each of us an opportunity at a new beginning. To some it is an opportunity to completely switch career paths, and to others a chance to catapult themselves in industries related to their undergrad.

But no matter what your background is, what your goals are, or where you come from, you can be sure that the MM faculty and its students will make you feel at home and will help you each step of the way.

 

Mursal Shamsi

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