CRMBAs Take on Toronto – Toronto Connect 2015

February 24, 2015 Quin MacKenzie Leave a Comment

Halifax is a beautiful city to live in while completing your MBA, but not where everyone wants to stay after graduation. Ontario is not only where many of our MBA candidates hail from, but is where over half of our graduates seek employment. In order for our students to be able to establish connections and pursue post-grad job opportunities, this year Dalhousie’s Management Career Services (MCS) created a two-day networking trip called Toronto Connect. I was fortunate to be able to experience this excursion first-hand.

In January, 16 of us embarked on the inaugural Toronto Connect trip. On the first day of the trip we attended several corporate tours. We got to visit the downtown offices of companies including Scotiabank, TD Bank, Aon, Sustainalytics, Avison Young, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. There was also an opportunity to network with CRMBA Alumni over drinks at a popular Irish pub after a day of touring these potential employers.

On the second day, we were hosted by the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University for the MBA Employment Summit. This was another opportunity to network with potential employers as well as other MBA Candidates; there were students there from DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University, the Goodman School of Business at Brock University, and of course the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University. The summit included breakout sessions run by professionals in the Toronto business community as well as a networking lunch and trade show.

All of the feedback I have heard about the trip has been very positive. Our MCS team of Anna Cranston, Amy McLellan and Ally Howard spent months working on the logistics of the trip and coordinating meetings and tours with employer partners. They even created two streams to accommodate the different interests of the students attending the trip! There was a finance group and a group for those interested in other opportunities such as consulting and marketing.

Not only did we have the opportunity to scope out the downtown offices of a group of amazing companies, but we also got to do this at virtually no cost! That’s right – most of the funding for the trip came from the Annual Fund and not from our personal bank accounts. This means that each student who attended Toronto Connect had most of their expenses for the trip completely covered.

My fellow student, Sean Tait, “appreciated the opportunity to extend [his] network in Ontario and meet in person with prospective employers.” To read Sean’s blog post on networking click here.

My favourite part about the trip was the first day of corporate tours. I enjoyed visiting both the Aon and Sustainalytics offices and found everyone there to be very welcoming and willing to answer all of our questions. Representatives from senior management and HR were in attendance, and we were able to hear many different perspectives to get a broad picture of what it would be like to work there.

Our class really appreciates the effort put in by MCS to organize Toronto Connect 2015 and we hope that future cohorts are able to have similar experiences!

Velkommen hjem!

February 3, 2015 Quin MacKenzie Leave a Comment

The opportunity to experience new cultures and gain exposure to international business practices are just a couple of the many reasons why a Corporate Residency MBA student would choose to go on our Copenhagen exchange. This fall a few of my classmates crossed the Atlantic Ocean to attend Copenhagen Business School (CBS) for a semester. I was thrilled to catch up with Kaleigh MacMaster and Renée Hodder over coffee to hear about their adventure!

Kaleigh had been interested in going on the CBS exchange since she had first applied to the CRMBA program. After a very positive experience while on an exchange to Europe during her undergrad, she was eager to travel again. She described traveling on exchange as having a “safety net” because you go with a group of people who are all in the same situation, and attending classes provides an opportunity to socialize and meet new friends.

CBS accepts approximately 1,500 exchange students every year and offers a week long orientation at the beginning of each semester. Additionally, CBS organizes two trips for exchange students during the semester. One is a trip throughout Denmark, and the other explores other areas of Europe. Renée, who participated in the first of the two and explored Denmark, loved the international experience. She felt that she “was part of a community of different cultures from around the world.”

While on exchange, students are required to take two mandatory classes and two electives. Due to CBS’ size and focus on business programs, the school is able to offer a wide variety of electives for graduate students. CBS has strong connections with industry and it was common for professionals from large firms such as Wolff Olins and Boston Consulting Group to come in to classes and interact with students. CBS is also home to a world-class library and has excellent facilities that are very accessible.

Although most class grades are based solely on exam scores, the class culture is full of active student participation and engagement. Kaleigh summarized the learning environment by saying “students are expected to co-create knowledge.” Real-time case simulations are common in the classroom and are one tool used to ensure that students are learning practical skills. This is similar to the CRMBA program’s use of cases and situation analyses to teach problem solving skills.

Sustainable transportation is a key part of life in Copenhagen. Both Kaleigh and Renée owned bikes and frequently biked either to campus or to run errands. Renée spoke to the extensive public transportation and cycling infrastructure that are commonly used by the Danes. It was also very straightforward to organize travel to different areas in Europe. Due to the class structure being based solely on exam grades, students are able to travel flexibly throughout the semester without worrying about completing assignments. Our group of Dal students were able to visit the Czech Republic, England, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland during their time abroad!

Copenhagen has a welcoming environment for exchange students. There is even a local Danish restaurant, established by two Danish students who went on an exchange to Dalhousie, called Halifax Burger. Kaleigh was thrilled to find this taste of home, and thought the Haligonian pub complemented the friendliness of the city. “One of the most memorable aspects of Copenhagen is hygge,” recalled Kaleigh. Hygge is the warm atmosphere that is encouraged in indoor environments across Denmark. There is no English equivalent word as hygge is unique to Danish culture. It usually includes candlelight to create a warm feeling in a room. This is particularly important during the short daylight hours in winter months.

Are you interested in going on the Copenhagen exchange? Each year four second year CRMBA students attend the exchange for the fall semester. For more information on the exchange and application process please contact Tim Richard.

Welcome to Dalhousie: The Exchange Student Experience

November 25, 2014 Quin MacKenzie 1 Comment

Each year, the Corporate Residency MBA program welcomes exchange students enrolled in masters programs in business, management, and economics. These students from around the world come to study alongside our MBA students. This is a valuable experience not only for the exchange students visiting Halifax, but also for the Canadian students who have the opportunity to form friendships with and work alongside talented young professionals from different parts of the world.

This year 14 students joined us from a variety of European countries including France, Belgium, Italy, Denmark and Norway. Some students chose to come for the whole school year, while others are only with us for the fall semester. Regardless of the length of their stay, the exchange students contribute significantly to the MBA program and have a positive impact on the people they interact with.

My own experience with this year’s group of exchange students has been wonderful. I appreciate the opportunity to learn about the similarities and differences between our cultures. As I have never traveled outside of North America I had many questions for the exchange students about their home countries, cultures, and languages. I was fortunate enough to sit down and share coffee with three exchange students and discuss their experiences thus far.

Ole-Kristian Berge is a second year Master of Economics Student at the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen, Norway. Although many of his university friends from back home chose to go on an exchange to California together, Ole chose to come to Dalhousie by himself. Ole made this decision because he wanted to form friendships with Canadian students and have a better opportunity to practice speaking English on a regular basis. He also believes that Canadians tend to be “more genuine.” He said that Dalhousie gave off “quite a personal impression” when he was researching potential exchange universities.

Ole is very happy that he chose to come to Dalhousie and describes locals as being friendlier than he expected. Professors are very personable here and are willing to go out of their way to meet with students outside of class. Classes in entrepreneurship are not very common in Norwegian universities and Ole has greatly enjoyed being able to take classes in this field during his exchange. Overall he has found that the style of education here is more practical and less theoretical than what he is used to at home.

Agathe Guerin is in her final year of the Master of Business Management program at Grenoble Graduate School of Business in Grenoble, France. Agathe is an experienced traveler and has studied and lived in London, Paris, aix-en-Provence, Grenoble, and now Halifax. She describes Halifax as having a “small village feel in a bigger town” and is happy to be in Canada where she can speak English and explore a new country. Not only has Agathe toured Halifax, she has also gone on trips to Cape Breton and Quebec with some of her fellow exchange students this fall. She also has plans to discover New York City after her final exams finish in December! In talking with Agathe, it was very evident that she is an adventurer at heart and loves to explore new cities and meet new people.

Similar to Ole, Agathe is grateful for the unique opportunity to take classes in entrepreneurship while on exchange. This is a topic of interest to her as she wants to start her own company one day. Classes here focus on providing practical tools to apply in the business world and are less structured and theoretical than classes at her home university. While we were chatting, Agathe told me how different she finds the large distances between cities in Canada, as well as the differences in food. As she described the variety of cheeses and charcuterie available in France I could feel my mouth watering. There are some things that just are not the same in Canada.

Caroline Leandri is in her final year of the Master of Business Management program at Grenoble Graduate School of Business in Grenoble, France. Like Ole and Agathe, Caroline chose to come to Canada to practice her English and experience a new culture. She has enjoyed socializing with Canadian students and making new friends with both Canadian students and other exchange students. Taking excursions to other places in Canada has been a fun experience for Caroline during her exchange. These trips were memorable experiences and allowed her to see more of North America than just Halifax.

The workload and course structure is very different here because we have regular homework assignments and class projects, while in France final exams are usually worth 100% of your course grade and occur at the end of the semester. This is a big change for most exchange students, but Caroline said that she appreciates the opportunity to learn from her classmates and professors in an interactive environment. Caroline enjoys being able to contribute in class and finds the in-class discussion component of many of our MBA classes to be a unique and refreshing experience. She is returning to Grenoble in January to continue her studies in France and work part-time for Ernst & Young.

In speaking with my exchange student friends I was able to learn a lot about the benefits of visiting a new country. I am excited to travel myself and discover new places after I graduate, and hopefully visit some of my new friends.

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