One Year After Completing My MBA

It has now been one year to the day since I completed the MBA program at Queen's and I find myself sitting in my apartment enjoying the weekend re-charging for another week of work. Twelve months, gone. It is hard to believe so much time has passed. Even more strange is contemplating that almost exactly two years ago I was just starting the MBA program at Queen's. So, one year later, what has the MBA done for my career, would I do it again and where is the class? Hopefully I can answer these questions with this posting.

Right now, I find myself working back in downtown Calgary,Alberta, Canada. I'm in a role as a Market Analyst for a large multinational corporation that manufactures pipe and sells it to the oil and gas industry. The role I have been hired to fill uses both my engineering and industry experience as well as my MBA. The organization is very MBA "friendly" as there are people with MBAs throughout; even a few with the MBA/engineering combination I have. I did, however, have to take a slight pay cut from my pre-MBA salary, but that is to be expected with the economic downturn. In addition, it took me seven months to find this position. Also, I am working with my supervisors to expand my role as I am finding I could take on more responsibilities.

Overall, I am very happy with my decision to return to for an MBA. Although it took me seven months to find a position and I had to take a pay cut afterwards, I count myself lucky. I believe both of these can be attributed to the economic downturn, which I would have needed to navigate regardless since I couldn't have stayed in my pre-MBA position for much longer. I look at where I would have been if I had not returned for my MBA and I am very glad I did return to school. Without my MBA I would have had to try to find a different purely engineering position in an environment filled with more qualified people, with no additional skill set to offer and I would have had to take a pay cut since I would have been leaving the lucrative world of consulting. The MBA allowed me to leverage my previous experience and find a rewarding job with future growth potential with only a minor pay cut despite the economic downturn.

The summary, bullet point format, of where I am one year later:

• In an MBA role that uses my previous experience
• With a company that values both my MBA and previous experience
• With a company that has long term career growth potential
• Slight pay cut, but this can be attributed to the economic downturn
• Took seven months to find this job after graduation, but again this can be attributed to the economic downturn

As for the class, there are still a few people looking for jobs. However, it seems that the biggest barrier for these people is there limited work experience prior to completing the MBA and/or their commitment to staying focused on just one type/segment of work (e.g. only want to work for bio-tech start-up firms in a business role). As a whole, almost everyone has found employment. I'm sure the employment statistics are not pretty for my graduating year, but that holds true for MBA grads across the board.

The class has managed to say in touch somewhat, but some people have disappeared. My wife and I have returned to Toronto once for a classmates wedding reception, which was great since we got to see a lot the class. Also, there are a lot of weddings happening now that the program is complete. These are couples that were met while in the MBA as well as people who had been together prior to starting the MBA. Overall, a lot our classmates have lost touch as their post-MBA jobs and lives take up their time. However, since we all know each other so well, because it is a smaller program, there is never any hesitation to pick up the phone or drop someone an e-mail to say "hi" or to meet up if they are passing through town. I have met up with several of my colleagues as they pass through my town on business and I suspect I will continue to do so as the years go by.

Another interesting aspect of the post-MBA life is being invited to attend information sessions to answers questions from perspective MBA students. It is strange since I know I was once in their shoes. Also, it is a nice way to stay in touch with some of the faculty that travel to put these information sessions on. Furthermore, it has been interesting to become a member of the Queen's University and Queen's School of Business alumni community in my city.

That about covers my one year entry. If you, as a reader, have questions please feel free to write, but be aware that I don't check this e-mail as frequently as I once did. I may write a one and a half year or two year entry if the mood strikes me, but if not, this is likely my final post. It has been fun to write this blog and I hope others have enjoyed reading it.

Until next time,
Appleseed

Graduation Dinner and Valedictorian Address

Saturday the class had our graduation dinner at Ban Righ Hall. Everyone showed up dressed to the nines. Quite a few of our professors came out and the entire administration was there. A nice meal served and some nice words said were said by Dr.Bill Blake, Director of MBA programs at Queen's, and Dr.Scott Carson, Director of the full-time MBA program at Queen's.

After dinner the class president and valedictorian addressed the class. The Elizebeth Hand and Team awards were also given out. Finally, there were the "fun" awards with a slide show (i.e. who was voted most likely to get arrested, kicked-out of cricket match, lick their own belly button, etc.). Once all that was done, the class headed out to the Joy Supper Club for a night of fun and dancing. All and all it was great, but at the same time bittersweet as we realized the end is very near and soon we will be saying good bye to many of our friends.

Our Valedictorian, Adam Grahn, really hit a note with his address to the class. I am posting it here, with his permission, so that our class can have access to it in the future.

First, I’d like to say a couple thanks you’s. I’d like to thank all of you, first for nominating and then for selecting me to represent you as valedictorian out of 75 people who could just as easily be standing up here.

I want you all to know how much I appreciate this, so I thought I’d give you a 30 second snippet to help you understand how much this means to me. I grew up in a very small town in BC as the third eldest in a family of 12. If asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, kids from that town dreamed about 3 things: heli-logging, driving a truck, or winning the Stanley Cup. I can tell you I only shared one of those dreams with the other kids, but I never could have dreamed that I might one day graduate as valedictorian from one of the most prestigious programs at one of the most prestigious institutions in Canada.

I can tell you that this moment, being able to stand up here, is the thing I am most proud of in my life… with one exception. That being getting married to my friend,
partner, supporter, and champion, Deedra. She is just as much a reason for me being up here as anything I’ve done, so thank you Deedra!

Almost exactly one year ago, 75 people gathered in the atrium of Goodes Hall. If you’re like me, it feels more like 5 years ago but what I recall of that gathering is how awkward I felt and how I kept repeating a mantra in my head… “What the BLEEP am I doing here?” I then recall Drs. Carson and Blake speaking about Queen’s and teamwork and what a transformational experience we were going to have… I have to admit, I was still a little unsure…

Then, over the next few weeks we were teamed up, bombarded, psycho-analysed and introduced to that wonderful team-building exercise known as 0.4. Over the course of the next 8 months, we worked our asses off and our teams became more than just a part of a marketing brochure… They became a part of who we are. Through the course of the year, through our efforts, our struggles and our triumphs, we HAVE been transformed. Of course we have learned the technical knowledge required to be considered an MBA… I think we’ve all seen enough 2x2 matrices and Discounted Cash Flows to validate that…

but what we’ve learned is how to lead and be led, how to take a group of people from different nationalities and with different personalities and turn it into a well-oiled machine that can tackle near any challenge. These are not skills that can be learned on-line or through a text book, but only through trial and experience. We, each of us, now has the ability to step out from here, this safe place, and walk confidently into the “real world”, comfortable in ourselves and our abilities. Comfortable working with, for and leading others, and, perhaps most importantly, with the knowledge that should the time come that we need help, there are 74 others standing behind us, ready with a shoulder to cry on, an arm to lean on, a joke to pick up our spirits or a smile to share. We have 74 friends.

And in my estimation, it is friendship that has been the ultimate benefit of our time here. If you do the math, we’ve essentially spent $60,000 and come away with 74 friends. That’s just a little under a $1000 a friend. Friends that have shared experiences and shared understanding. A very good investment, I assure you, especially given the economic uncertainty we are facing. I am sure that a year and a bit ago, when we all signed up for this program, none of us thought that we would be graduating into a market where jobs are scarce and the value of MBAs had been called into question. Yet, that is the situation, and at times like these, the value that friends provide may be the difference between success and failure.

So I’ve never performed a valedictory address before and hadn’t had the opportunity to hear one either, so I did what anyone would do in that situation, I looked it up on Wikipedia. While I was doing that, I discovered an interesting thing about the roots of the word. It turns out, that Valedictorian comes from the Latin “vale dicere,” which means – To Say Farewell… So I thought to myself, that’s pretty depressing… It sounds like I’m saying I’ll never see you all again. That would make this valedictorian address more bittersweet than sweet… a bit like the difference between marmalade and jam… So I’ve chosen to break with tradition a little bit and to say “See you soon” instead of Farewell, since I’m sure it is more accurate and since it’ll just make me sad to think otherwise.

So in a little over a week, as we venture out and each of us makes our mark on the business world and the world in general. As we work to better the lives of ourselves and our families. Think back now and then to the times we have shared here at Queen’s and conduct yourself with the grace, dignity and ethical standard expected of a Queen’s MBA grad. And above all, if ever any one of you should need a friend, you know where to look…

Thank you and See You Soon!

Links to youtube videos in parts (1), (2), and (3 w/ speech).