From Andy Dennis of Coburg Consulting

With March well underway, the CRMBA class of 2014 is closing out their final semester of what has been an exciting journey through Dal MBA. Meanwhile, across Canada the class of 2015 is a quarter of the way through their 8-month Corporate Residency.

This week we check in with some of the first-year CRMBA students currently on residency to find out what their experience has been like so far and the challenges they have faced in their first two months.

“To date, I’m really enjoying my time with the company and the challenges of my position. Upon arrival in January I was surprised to learn that I would spend my first five weeks in a TJX classroom being introduced to their norms, systems and reporting methods. Although the training period was lengthy it is a testament to their willingness to invest in their co-op students. In my relatively short time at TJX, I’ve been entrusted to research multi-million dollar initiatives, encouraged to participate in quarterly strategy meetings, and offered the opportunity to freely interact with executives.”

Courtney Carnahan – Store Planning Analyst, TJX Canada (Toronto)

“In the past two months I’ve been able to help on a number of projects and proposals, doing anything from research to stakeholder interviews. It’s been great to be given so much responsibility off the bat and which has allowed me to gain insight into a few different industries. One of the challenges I’ve found is leaving things at work. It’s really easy to take work home with me and sometimes I do, but I’ve learned to better separate work from personal time in order to better enjoy both.”

Morgan McCunn – Business Analyst, Deloitte (Halifax)

“In Global Banking and Markets the work I am doing is mostly centered around company analysis. I really like applying an analytical mindset to complete the job efficiently. Applying knowledge of financial statements and classification of different expenses/revenues to paint a true picture of a company’s financial position is something that intrigues me and keeps things interesting. Each industry has different ways of reporting its financial health, and for each industry, Scotiabank takes a tailored approach to evaluating the risk of the company. Using both qualitative and quantitative information to assess and quantify this risk is what I really enjoy.”

David D’Cruz – Corporate Banking Analyst, Scotiabank (Toronto)

“Working at DHX Media is great.  I love that I was able to dig into the work right away.   It is providing me with a tremendous learning experience.  I have also enjoyed the unique challenges that DHX faces as an international organization.  I am looking forward to seeing how the next six months unfold.”

Rebecca Hebb – Corporate Development Analyst, DHX Media (Halifax)

To learn more about the Class of 2015 and their Corporate Residencies please click here.