GDC 2014

Posted on March 28, 2014 by btjreedy under Careers, Other

In December I started to plan my trip to the Game Developers Conference 2014 in San Francisco. Unluckily, it fell during one of the busiest times of the school year (Week 4 of Module 4) and was a fairly large investment, but I still decided to go because not only am I interested in games, but it’s an industry I would love to be a part of. So on March 18^th, I brought my suitcase with me to school and after a full day of classes, boarded a plane and headed to San Francisco!

The conference itself was a bit overwhelming at first. Having been to Tokyo Game Show (TGS) before, I half-knew what to expect, but the scale of GDC blew me away. It took up 3 massive convention centers! On top of that, the best and brightest developers in the industry were there and here I was – a student looking for a job. I had taken the advice of my friends and the BCC and set up a few meetings in advance, but for the most part I was going to have to figure it out on the fly. As such, I took the first day slowly – spending most of my time scoping out the companies I would like to learn more about and speaking with some of the larger studios.

That night I was able to attend some of the parties and really started to feel more confident about the entire trip. As someone who isn’t the best networker in the world, it was great to know that everyone at the conference already shared something in common (hint: we enjoy video games.) I met some great people and really started to enjoy myself. It was really nice to learn from professionals in the industry. I felt like it was a good day overall, but I really wanted to hit the ground running in the morning.

The next day (and the rest of the conference) proved to be just as awesome as I had hoped. I met tons of people, learned a bunch, and managed to get into some of the larger networking parties that night. In one night, networking had turned into something that was enjoyable. I didn’t leave the conference with any job offers, but I had a bunch of leads and more than a handful of business cards.

Since coming back to Vancouver, it’s been nonstop between school and following up with everyone I met. The trip was absolutely worth it from both a learning and career development perspective. It would have been nice to enjoy some of the sunny Californian weather, but with module 4 wrapping up soon maybe it won’t be so long before I return to Cali. Only next time, I hope it’s to start my career.

Trek Toronto – The Next Frontier

Posted on March 19, 2014 by menconi under Careers, Other

Among all the wonderful opportunities offered by this program, I believe that this was the one that contributed the most to my personal development. Along with this, I feel that I have obtained a clearer understanding of what my dream career path is.

The trek was a length of four days (Tuesday to Friday) during our break week. The schedule of our visits was excellently structured and the Business Career Center team was able to create a list of very interesting companies. We had the opportunity to visit companies of different sectors, from Facebook to IBM, from BMO to Google, and Labatt to Deloitte.

With a small group of MM colleagues, we decided to arrive to Toronto early in order to visit the city and understand what it would be like to live there. I must say we arrived to Toronto not in the coldest period, but most definitely not in spring. The city was covered in snow and it kept snowing during our entire visit. However, it made the environment even more magical and spectacular.

Both the visits to the companies and the alumni mixer were truly useful in understanding more about working environments and working possibilities. I would have never expected to see such a warm and creative environment within companies. It’s now clear to me how and why companies are driven to such perfection!

The opportunity to meet fantastic geniuses from big companies is not a frequent occurrence, and I would never have had the experience if I didn’t join the MM program. When it comes to applying for jobs or talking with friends about companies, you don’t really know how it is – you have to experience these things with your very own eyes. Some companies are so forward thinking and innovative that by just talking to them, it opened my mind to so many new perspectives.

I have just one comment about Trek Toronto: Fantastic!

And now… to the new adventure, to the final frontier!

Tiziano
ca.linkedin.com/in/TizianoMenconi

What I Have Learned About Myself in This Program

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Rachel Lim under Other

Hello, hello! We meet again!

Today, I’d like to share with you three major things I’ve learnt about myself in the MM program. They’re not anything too novel or profound but definitely a refreshing revelation!

1. I enjoy teamwork.

My undergraduate scientific training involved largely individual work, so I’m used to working independently. The thought of suddenly having to work frequently in teams had both excited and concerned me. In my experience, level of motivation seems the most important differentiating factor for successful collaboration. But it’s not just how motivated you are, it’s also how you motivate the people around you–which is the tricky part. In the MM program, I’ve been part of diverse teams. Having a tendency to focus solely on the work, I continually remind myself to pay attention to team dynamics and to learn from the interactions of my team members. It’s certainly a continuous process of learning, which has given me a newfound appreciation for teamwork.

2. I can be good at time management.

One of the perks of teamwork is that it forces you to be accountable to your teammates. Nonetheless, discipline still ultimately comes from within. It may have worked in undergrad, but I told myself that procrastination is no longer acceptable as a graduate student. Amazingly (to me), juggling different team projects with individual assignments vastly improved my time management skills. Since the beginning of the program, I’ve done a fairly good job at keeping up with lectures, which means more time to reflect on the things I’ve learnt and less overall stress around exam time.

3. The day may come when I look forward to making presentations.

<What I’ve always said about presentations, “Singing in front of hundreds of people? No problemo! Just don’t ask me to talk. :D”>

In the Philippines during my childhood and teen years, I performed in many social events and in several singing and drama competitions. I love it and I look forward to it, but the key thing is that I’ve done it so many times that it’s become natural. When I think back to my earlier years, it actually took a lot of time and encouragement from my mom and teachers to get me on the stage. My mom had to take time off from her busy work schedule to accompany me to every practice session because I was too shy.

I’ve never particularly liked talking in front of many people, even just in the classroom and especially when it’s not rehearsed because I sometimes lose my English (which isn’t my first language). But now that I’ve a few presentations under my belt (which I forced myself to do even if it was optional), I can say that presenting is really the same as singing in front of an audience. The first time was the most difficult, but it gets easier and easier. Just give myself time to practice enough, and practice in front of my team or another person. Plus, it’s hard not to even try with so many of my supportive classmates cheering me on during presentations.

I look forward to seeing you again in my next post! 🙂

Rachel Lim

And the Gold Medal Goes to…Everybody!

Posted on February 11, 2014 by btjreedy under Careers, Other

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

A Day in the Life

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Rachel Lim under Other, Personal Profiles on MM Students, Tips for Prospective or Accepted Students

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

Mild Panic Attack

Posted on February 4, 2014 by yoyoeto under Careers, Other, Tips for Prospective or Accepted Students

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

Posted on February 1, 2014 by mursalshamsi under Other, Tips for Prospective or Accepted Students

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

The MM offers me…

Posted on January 31, 2014 by juliashe under Other, Tips for Prospective or Accepted Students

I realized this program was a great fit for me when I began my application process. Typical graduate programs all require admissions essays, as well as interviews, but I realized quickly just how much the program truly values who you are, not just on paper. In today’s demanding and competitive environment some of the most valuable and unique things about ourselves can get lost in a sea of accomplishments and GPAs. Those integral parts of yourself can get overlooked, but this program recognizes, values, and relishes in those things which make us all just a little different, and stresses how different definitions of success are what make the world so interesting.

Simply put, the MM program is about you. You hear the cliche “you get out what you put in” more times than you would like to throughout your career as a student, but there is nothing more true of this program. The Master of Management program, its staff and its resources are all here to see you succeed and become the best version of yourself you can be. All you have to do is commit to it and recognize how valuable this experience can be for you.

Julia Shepherd

ca.linkedin.com/in/juliashepherd/

Welcome to the MM Life Stories!

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Kenneth Lee under Other

My name is Yoyo Eto, and welcome to the MM Life Stories! We’ve only just started with this platform, so please check back soon for new posts and information!

Hello world!

Posted on January 8, 2014 by admin under Other

Our very first post! Please check back soon for new posts!

MM Life Stories

Master of Management Student Life at the University of British Columbia, Sauder School of Business | Robert H. Lee Graduate School

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