Week 45: Electives - Block C (t-minus 6 weeks)

Week 45 ends and so does Block C of electives. There are now only 6 weeks left till the program is finished. Spring is definitely on it's way and the wind never seems to stop blowing, even when its raining. I imagine soon there will be green grass showing in the parks and leaf buds on the trees, but my focus on school, seeking employment and planning my move home seems to occupy all my time and as a result I likely won`t notice these changes.

Advanced Topics in Marketing was concluded with a series of presentations on Wednesday. Each group was responsible for pitching a mode/aspect of tourism in Canada (i.e. air travel, road travel, etc). This was the final assignment and with no final exam, this marked the completion of the course. Overall people really enjoyed this course and most got quite a bit out of the material.

Services Management finished with no really big events. Everyone completed their required papers and projects. My understanding is that people enjoyed the course, but many people who were taking Advanced Topics in Marketing enjoyed that course more.

Investments was the toughest course this block. This seems to be a common theme for the finance courses in the elective blocks. Friday morning was the final exam and everyone agreed that the test was nothing like what the assignments or the lectures had made us believe it would be like. It was very difficult and very demanding. Almost nobody left before the time was up, including the "finance" people who seem to enjoy this topic. Hopefully the professor is kind on the part marks.

This week the Business Career Center set up some one hour sessions on a variety of topics. One was on case interviews with an individual who used to work with BCG pre-MBA and had an offer with Bain post-MBA before turning it down to pursue other career options. Another was with Peter Copstake, the Executive in Residence and former Senior Vice President and Treasurer of Manulife Financial. Peter's session was more centered on how to really come across strong in an interview and more on his take on seeking employment. These sessions were smaller, 5 to 10 people, and therefore offered people more of a chance to get the information they wanted.

Also, the MBA office has arranged a special tax session for the international students in the class. This session was designed to help familiarize people with the Canadian tax system who have never filed taxes in Canada. Many people assumed that if they are not a permanent resident (PR) or citizen that they do not need to file taxes, but that is incorrect. Simply being in Canada for a certain period requires that you file an income tax statement whether you are a PR/citizen or not.

In other news, two of our classmates are in Pittsburgh this week as they were accepted to a business plan competition. So far things are going okay for them as they have made it past the first round. The idea they are pitching involves gold from tailings. 1st place is supposed to be a significant amount of money with part of it in cash and part of it in professional services (i.e. lawyer fees, marketing, etc). In addition, there is another pair of students finishing up a tour of 4 business plan competition through the US. Not sure how they are doing, but I hope it has gone well for them.

The MBA hockey team managed to get a much needed win this week to allow us the chance to make playoffs. People continue to meet-up to play squash and workout. Wednesday the exchange students had a gathering to celebrate a birthday and a good portion of the class showed up. Also, this weeks point four will be at the Merchant. Finally, Brian Adams was in town and some people went to check out his performance at the K-Rock center. As it turns out, Brian Adams was born in Kingston.

People are continuing their search for full-time employment. Some of my classmates are negotiating the details of offers recently received. Others are taking the next block of electives off to focus purely on their search. In addition, people continue to contact alumni to get advice and see what opportunities might be out there.

There is a rumour that the class size has been expanded for the incoming cohort. This is in response to the overwhelming demand for spots this year. In the next couple of weeks there is supposed to be an official statement released by the program director. I will be sure to post the details so that the incoming students that follow this blog can see the details.

Surprisingly there are still a large number of perspective students coming to the school for interviews. I met a few this week over lunch and will likely meet some more this coming week. Most seem nice and they really appreciate the opportunity to discuss the program with the students.

Finally, a few official administrative e-mails have been sent out. One is for convocation concerning who will be attending and how many seats they want to reserve. The other is for awards as voted by the class for who should be given the instructor award, team award, valedictorian and individual leadership award. Nominations are due the end of March with voting taking place sometime soon after. These awards will them be bestowed during the graduation dinner on Saturday, April 18th.

Next week Block D of electives starts. This weekend will be filled with some much needed RnR, while getting any prep work for the next set of electives out of the way.

100 Best Blogs for MBA Students

Today I received an interesting e-mail informing me that my blog, and many others, had been included in a “100 Best Blogs for MBA Students" list. Looks like I made #35. This looks like it could be a good sources of information for people considering an MBA.

Week 44: Electives - Block C (t-minus 7 weeks)

Week 44 is ending leaving one week left in Block C of electives and 7 weeks left in the program. Also, the weather has started to warm up (e.g. it is currently 6 degrees C in Kingston as I write this), which means spring is on the way. This also means rain and continuously grey, overcast skies.

Investments was focused on Equity Valuation techniques. Specifically, using dividend discount models, free cash flow to the firm and other methods to establish what a good price for a stock should be. Today we have a guest speaker. Brian Shaw, the CEO of CIBC Capital Markets from 2005-2008, will be talking to the class. Also, we are all working on evaluating the company we chose as the assignment is due Monday morning at 8 AM. After that assignment there is just the final next Friday.

Advanced Topics in Marketing continues to be a course focused on marketing more difficult products/services (e.g. hybrid cars, solar panels, etc.). This week the class had a speaker from Proctor and Gamble, who was the brand manager for Olay in Canada. She discussed her efforts for online marketing and various issues surrounding brand management. Today is a class focused on Canadian tourism. One of the main group assignments is for each team to present an aspect of Canadian tourism sometime next week.

Services Management continues to be based on discussions surrounding different cases that present issues surrounding services in a variety of industries (e.g. Hotels, pharmacies, etc.). Throughout the course there are 7 cases. Each student is expected to complete a write-up on any 2 of these cases. In addition, each case is presented by a certain group to the class. Overall people seem to be enjoying this course and the work. A few people completed the very first 2 cases for their individual write-ups and had their group present one of the first few cases. As a result, all they have left to do is to attend class to get participation marks.

This week the hockey team played their 3rd last game. It corresponded with this week's point four, so the stands were full of rowdy MBA students cheering the team on. This weekend will likely be filled with work as people push to get any final assignments complete.

Julia Blackstock has been having a series of smaller sessions to assist people with preparing to continue their search for full-time employment after the program. The good news is that there are still people managing to secure interviews and offers. I just heard of a friend of mine who has been made an offer.

As for myself, I have been taking advantage of the alumni network to continue to learn more about other areas I had previously thought my skill set would not apply. As it so happens, the management consulting companies in Calgary may like my credentials and not all of them focus on IT and telecom, despite my original impressions. This means that I need to begin getting ready for a potential "case interview". At first I was a little hesitant, but preparing for a case interview will make me that much better at interviewing in general. With any luck I will find myself in an interview with a management consultant that values my oil and gas experience and background.

Week 43: Electives - Block C (t-minus 8 weeks)

Week 43...gone. Another week passes and we are have completed the first week of Block C electives. That leaves 8 weeks of classes until the program is finished. Also, it is raining hard today and as a result I suspect the vast majority of the remaining snow will disappear. Unfortunately this also means the outdoor rinks are going to go with the snow.

A Facebook group for the incoming 2010 class has been established. Only accepted and confirmed students are allowed to join. A number of us from the current class have been asked to join this group and answer any potential questions the incoming students have to help make the transition as smooth as possible.

Nothing new with the Tri-Colour Fund, New Venture Project, or Consulting Project courses. They are still in limbo and working pretty much on a self-directed basis. A couple of our classmates were in Louisiana for a business plan competition (I think this is the one, but could be wrong). In addition, a couple of our classmates are out in Vancouver trying to see if their plan to find gold will pan out.

Investments is the finance course this block and the one I am enrolled. The professor, Sean Cleary, is very knowledgeable, but lacks the enthusiasm and passion some of our previous professors have exhibited. The text for this course is selected chapters from the CFA "investment series" (ie "Managing Investment Portfolios" and "Equity Asset Valuation"). This week is on portfolio management for individuals and institutional investors. Next week is focused on the asset valuation material. Today we had Peter Jarvis as a guest speaker in class. Peter is the Executive Director of Toronto CFA Society and has held a number of very senior roles with various investment and retirement boards.

Services Management, the consulting&project management course, has also started. From what I have heard it is a fair bit of work, but all of it rather fun. People are working in groups to present and it looks like there are some individual memos that need to be completed for the cases/material covered in the classes.

Advanced Topics in Marketing, the marketing&sales course, is the final course. This course has started off on a good foot and there is a group presentation involved. I will find out more for my next posting.

I would like to again mention my classmates blog on his experience in India at ISB. His experience may not be representative of all exchange experiences, but it does bring to light some of the challenges that studying abroad can present.

This week the point four was at "Fanatics", a sports bar. We are also having a mixer with the law and medicine students this evening at "The Joy Supper Club", but prior to that a bunch of people are planning to attend a local OHL game. Saturday is a "scrabble" party where attendees wear a letter and go around trying to make as many different words as possible. Also, fit-to-lead has arranged a ski trip to Calabogie. The MBA hockey team also had a game this week and a few people are still making time to play squash.

Not much else to report on. The BCC has been helping me to continue to find opportunities to apply to. In addition, I have been contacting alumni for informational interviews to see what potential opportunities may be available both now and in the future.

I'm still having trouble believing there are only 8 weeks left.

Week 42: Electives - Block B (con't)

Week 42 comes to an end and so has Block B of electives. The weather took a turn for the worse this week and we are back in the heart of Canadian winter. The tease of almost spring weather, combined with the slight reprieve in workload, has only made the sudden onset of renewed cold, snow, tests and papers at the end of this week seem more dubious than usual.

Global Strategy has ended, but it still lingers. There is a large research paper due and the deadline has been graciously extended into the weekend. We formed groups for this assignment. Almost all of the groups have some members that have not been able to focus on this particular assignment, given the workload from other classes. As a result most of us will be making use of the extra time given. Also, those of us in the class have been invited to join the professor's "listserv", which he uses to send out current global strategy and management papers that he finds from time to time.

Risk Management ended today at noon with a final exam that I'm sure everyone is glad to be finished. Louise apparently has been a very good professor, but that doesn't make the material covered any easier.

Dynamic Pricing (aka Revenue Management) also ended with a large project being completed today. Apparently the groups also had to give a presentation on their final models. I haven't heard much concerning this course since everyone taking it has been far too busy to discuss it.

No news on the Tri-Colour fund, Consulting Project or New Venture Project courses.

People continue to seek employment. The BCC continues to do what they can for the students who are still looking, but the fact remains that the economy is sluggish and continues to slow down. Last week we had a brief Q&A with the BCC Director, David Edwards, and the BCC Manager, Julia Blackstock. Both have been excellent to work with and continue to do their best for us. They revealed what we all already knew; numbers are down from previous years. This is true across all business schools, but nobody is willing to talk about it between schools (aside: as one professor put it "the moose in the room"). What's interesting is that the school has actually seen more positions posted at this time than for the same period last year. What appears to have been happening is that a lot of employers have been putting candidates on "hold" prior to the first actual interview or just after the first interview. This is likely because of the deteriorating business conditions they find themselves. With that being said, the class still remains optimistic and people are re-doubling their efforts. What else can you do but remain positive and keep looking?

This week some people found time for a game of "shinny" on one of Kingston's many outdoor rinks. The point four was moved from Thursday to Friday to accommodate all the Risk Management and Dynamic Pricing students and will be at "MyBar". Also, the Kingston Canadian Film Festival is coming up next week. The weekend should be filled with some much needed R'n'R while people prepare for Block C next week. Now back to that Global Strategy paper...

(Aside: One of my classmates has started a blog about his exchange experience to the Indian School of Business)