Menu

Corporate Residency MBA

Interviews with students and alumni

Archives for Aon

CRMBAs Take on Toronto – Toronto Connect 2015

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!

Toronto Connect 2015 - Sustainalytics Tour

An unparalleled experience – Jocelyn’s story

Leave a Comment

Originally posted by Scott A.E. Smith.

James Ewart is currently on his Corporate Residency with Aon in Toronto. Recently, he chatted with Jocelyn Ball, who worked for Aon on her Corporate Residency as a member of the program’s inaugural cohort—the Class of 2011. Jocelyn is now working as an insurance broker for Aon in Calgary, Alberta. She’s a star among stars from that inaugural class, who are continuing to build the program’s reputation in the business world. Enjoy!

First off, why don’t you start by telling us the Jocelyn Ball story and how you came to find yourself in the Dalhousie MBA program?

See Testimonial Video #1!

Alternatively, the answer to that question is:

I worked for two years doing environmental permitting and planning and sustainability consulting. I loved the client focus and knew that I wanted to do something that mirrored that for my long-term career. My employer at the time is one of the Employer Partners of the Dalhousie MBA program, so when I went in to discuss doing an MBA with my boss four years ago, he slid the pamphlet across the desk to me. I was curious and went to Dalhousie to check out an information session. The program immediately grabbed my attention—it promised to be different from the other MBA programs I was looking at. My undergraduate degree was done at Renaissance College (UNB) in an experiential education set-up, so the program at Dalhousie seemed like a natural next step for my education.

Originally, I said yes to another offer at a more established program and well-known school, but I never said no to Dalhousie. When I was trying to figure out where to live in the new city of the other school, something just wasn’t sitting right with me. I printed off the list of companies that recruit at both of the schools I was considering and sat down to compare them. It didn’t take long to realize that the companies I wanted to work for were recruiting at Dalhousie. Dalhousie and the Corporate Residency program were where I needed to be. I haven’t looked back since.

You did your Corporate Residency at Aon, where you now work full-time. Would you say that the experience shaped your career aspirations or did you know prior to the MBA program?

[Read more…]

Control the controllables – Tomas’ story

Leave a Comment

Originally posted by Scott A.E. Smith.

Sean Sinclair (@SeanSin3) recently caught up with Tomas Stryncl, an international MBA student and former OHL hockey player who’s currently on his Corporate Residency with Aon Reed Stenhouse in Halifax. After finishing his major junior hockey career, Tomas went on to play for the University of Prince Edward Island and represent the Czech Republic in the World University Games while completing his undergraduate studies. There aren’t many stories more interesting than his, so enjoy!

Tomas, you have perhaps the most unusual story of all the students in your cohort; please tell us a little bit about your heritage.

What’s there to tell besides the Czech Republic is an awesome hockey country and has the best-looking athletes? But seriously, it’s been an amazing and rewarding journey to where I am today. It has been a challenging road to get to the Dalhousie MBA program and to secure a residency at Aon Reed Stenhouse. I come from a spa city – Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic, a big tourist destination and home of the International Film Festival. My parents kept me pretty active in my early years, playing soccer, volleyball and hockey. While my mom, a high school principal, always put emphasis on education, my dad, an engineer and ex-professional volleyball player, put emphasis on sports, ultimately hockey. But it was my older brother’s influence that ultimately pushed me towards hockey. Then, at the age of 16, I was asked to consider Canada as another step in my hockey career. Shortly after, I went through an Import Draft into the Ontario Hockey League and there I was, with the Brampton Battalion, where I played for three years, and had the chance to play against guys like [current NHL players] Corey Perry, Mike Richards, Kyle Quincey and P.K. Subban.

Wow, you seem to have really taken a risk leaving home and moving to a foreign country at such a young age. Have you always been such a risk taker? Do you think this trait is important for future business leaders?

[Read more…]

Finding your dream job – Michelle’s story

Leave a Comment

Originally posted by Scott A.E. Smith.

For this week’s blog, we sit down for a Q&A with Michelle Ernest—a Corporate Residency MBA graduate from the Class of 2011 who’s now working in her dream job at lululemon—and let her tell her own amazing story. Enjoy!

Tell us a little bit about yourself. What is the Michelle Ernest story?

Ahh, the Michelle Ernest story. How much time do you have? A cup of coffee or a bottle of wine?

It was a glorious and sunny summer day in 1987 when…
Not that kind of story? OK, here’s the summarized version of the past few years: I completed my undergraduate degree at Acadia University in Wolfville, NS. I majored in Business with a focus in Marketing and a secondary focus in Music and Spanish. I spent an invigorating summer working for one of Halifax’s top advertising agencies and fell further in love with the wild and wonderful advertising world. I had plans to return to said agency after I graduated from Acadia. Unfortunately, 2009 wasn’t the greatest year to jump into the business world and, as my agency was downsizing, my job became no more. I decided that it was an opportune time to return to the classroom.

I always knew I would get my MBA one day; what I hadn’t expected was that that day had arrived! I loved Halifax and wanted to spend more time in the city, and had formerly worked on the advertising campaign of Dalhousie’s (then-new) Corporate Residency MBA so I already knew the program intimately. I quickly turned around my application and GMAT and was on my way to starting school, again. I knew early on from my experience with and knowledge of lululemon that my dream job would be to ultimately end up in their head office. However, I also knew that I had a long way to go before that could happen! I had finished my Corporate Residency with Aon and was just about to commit to returning upon graduation! I was excited about starting my career with Aon, knew that it was an excellent company and felt confident with my choice. I looked forward to becoming a strong business leader within Aon, hoping that the role would position me well for a possible opportunity with lululemon later in my professional life. And the stars must have been aligned that week because before I had officially accepted a position with Aon, I received an offer from lululemon athletica (the result of making my goals known, a powerful conversation, and being in a pipeline transparent to lululemon’s leadership team). It was my dream that came true, and the rest will be history.

What are you doing now? Where do you work and what do you do there?

I work for one of the best companies in the world.

I was the first to be hired into lululemon’s new Advanced Management Program, whereby high-potential individuals are brought into the company in a type of an accelerated work environment. This group of peeps has since grown to almost a dozen, and we are still and always looking for greatness (wink wink)!

I work on the Operational Solutions team as a project manager where I get to create, develop and execute special projects to make the stores more efficient and awesome, and thusly to better the company as a whole. Ops Solutions is essentially the funnel between every department at the head office, and our 191 North American stores and showrooms. I get to work one-on-one with the stores’ leadership teams—training them on new projects and initiatives, coaching them on best practices and how to utilize these initiatives, troubleshooting any operational issues that might arise, and establishing rapports and relationships. To complement this, I also get to work with many of our cross-functional departments to bridge the gap between the retail floor and what goes on “behind the scenes”.

So in a nutshell, I get to play and be creative and strategic and work with a ton of outstanding, fun, smart people. Everyday. Hellooo dream job!

Where did you work during your corporate residency? Tell us about it.

I worked for Aon Risk Services. I was a Strategic Business Advisor for Eastern Canada but worked in a unique position as I was based in Halifax, working for a group of individuals in Toronto, traveling all over Eastern Canada! I worked on two projects for Aon—one to help identify new market opportunities and another to further strengthen and enhance Aon’s existing client-relationships and accounts. It was a tremendous opportunity and I thoroughly enjoyed working with our teams across Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Although we were working specifically on projects pertaining to Aon, the skills I developed through establishing rapports with individuals, mostly via phone or email, are transferrable into any role where cross-functional relationship-building is an asset and an advantage.

What was the biggest challenge you faced during your corporate residency?

My biggest challenge actually doubled as the greatest advantage! The nature of my projects at Aon (and the geography between me and the other offices) meant that I would be in a type of a self-managing role. I knew this coming into the position, and was excited about it. I appreciate and thrive in an independent work environment, and this was great for me, but also challenging at times. There was a high level of accountability that came with many of the decisions I made, so I had to be 100% confident and make sure that each choice and decision was calculated, worthwhile and appropriately supported.

Your job at lululemon is a dream job to many people. How did you make it a reality?

And MY dream job, as well!

I’ve never been a big fan of leaving things to chance or taking the proverbial back seat. I wholly believe in myself to accomplish great things, but nothing is going to fall into my lap. I learned a long time ago that I have to make my own good fortune happen. However, despite a commitment to always being in action, I can’t take all the credit for bringing my dream into reality. As I mentioned before, the timing was perfect—a week or two later and we might not be having this conversation. I also had a great mentor who not only knew me well enough to know in which department my skills and personality would be a perfect fit, but who also took a stand for what I am capable of and what I can deliver and change in this world.

Where do you see yourself in one year? Five years?

By this time next year I hope to have become a Operations Manager in my department, in the process of preparing for a 6-month position with the Ops team at the head office in Melbourne to help train and leverage their department to support the growing Australian market.

Five years? Still with lululemon, though not necessarily in Vancouver. You might catch me back on the East Coast, south of the border with our US operations, or maybe even opening our first showroom in the Caribbean!

If you were to reflect on your experience in the Corporate Residency MBA program, how have you changed? What do you think sets this program apart? Why would you tell someone to apply?

I remember Dr. Scott Comber said once: “an MBA is about volume and production”.  Regardless of what project you’re working on or what spreadsheet you’re analyzing or case study you’re picking apart, it’s not necessarily about the type of work you are doing but the way you are doing the work. My MBA was, in two words, fast and fun. My job at lululemon is, in two words, fast and fun. Because of the way I learned to work and suceed in my MBA, I am fully prepared to thrive in this role. It’s important to work hard and have fun, but each of those is only most rewarding when complemented by the other. If you’re just looking for a three-letter acronym behind your name, go to the cheapest and easiest business school you can find. If you’re looking for an MBA that focuses on both the professional and personal side of business, open your eyes to Dalhousie’s program. Integrity isn’t a core value, but rather the foundation upon which your values should be built. Dal’s MBA—built on integrity—masters the combination of soft skills and hard skills, creates valuable opportunities to expand your network and work on real-world business cases, and does an exceptional job preparing you for what you will encounter entering the work force.

From engineering to business – Jamie’s story

1 Comment

Originally posted by Scott A.E. Smith.

For this week’s interview, we sit down for a Q&A with James Ewart—the only member of the Class of 2013 who comes from an engineering background—and let him tell his own story. Enjoy!

Tell us a little bit about yourself. What is the James Ewart story?

I’ve moved around a lot in my life. I grew up in England, living there from 1993 to 2000 before coming back to Canada. Since I’ve been back, I have lived in Oakville, Ontario, where I went to high school. Since I was always strong in science I decided to go into Engineering. I attended Queen’s University where I completed a degree in Chemical Engineering and majored in the biomedical aspect of this field. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in original research in the field of biomaterials, by completing a senior thesis project centred on a specific polymer used in controlled-release devices.

Originally my intention was to try to become a doctor or get a Master’s in Engineering, but I found as I progressed through my undergrad and various summer jobs that my skills were better suited to the business world. Hence, I now find myself at Dalhousie in the Corporate Residency MBA program.

What are your personal strengths? What sets James Ewart apart?

I would say that my world experience and my technical background give me very solid grounding. I think my Engineering education gave me a very good tool set to learn and integrate new information, not only of a technical nature but also in the world of business. I also think that growing up in Europe allowed me to better understand divergent cultures and viewpoints.

Those who know me have heard me speak at great length about my experiences as a SCUBA diver. Apart from being a very enjoyable hobby, it has taught me some very useful skills. Being able to remain calm and level-headed in stressful situations is truly invaluable, not only in the world of academia but also in the workforce. Also, on a personal level, I would consider myself very persistent, patient and driven. I always want to try and be better; I don’t believe there is a cap to a skill and one should always be striving to improve. At the same time, I understand not rushing into things and would consider the ability to not make snap decisions very valuable.

You’re the only engineer in the Class of 2013. Tell us how this background has prepared you for your MBA, as well as any advantages or disadvantages it’s had.

I think the strong grounding in mathematics gives me an edge because it allows me to concentrate more on the concepts rather than getting the mechanics right. Certain areas in the business world can be very technical and I think that coming from a technical background allows me to excel in these areas. The one disadvantage is that by spending the last several years thinking primarily about science, I did not have a strong grasp of some purely business-related subject matter. Engineering at Queen’s did include business in the curriculum but the level of detail was nowhere near a pure undergrad in business.

Tell us about your work experience. What do you want to do in your career?

My experience has been limited to summer jobs. I worked for two summers at the Molson/Coors brewery in Toronto in their fermentation department and spent last summer at a contract manufacturer for the cosmetics industry called Cosmetica.

For a career I want to leverage my engineering skills in the business world and combine those with the new skills I am learning from my MBA.

Where will you be for your corporate residency? What will you be doing there, as far as you know?

For my corporate residency I will be working at Aon Reed Stenhouse in Toronto in their risk management division.

What are your thoughts about the curriculum so far? What has been your favourite class?

So far the curriculum has been great. It has been very refreshing to start learning subjects that are 100% new to me and so far have been very interesting. My favourite class has definitely been finance. The reason: I get to utilize my mathematical and Excel skills as well as learn concepts I find to be very interesting and useful.

What extra-curricular activities have you gotten involved with? How has this contributed to your MBA experience so far?

My main extra-curricular activity has been my part-ownership in Coburg Consultants. I have found this to be a great experience because I get to apply what I learn in class. I think the ability to put concepts into practice while learning them has helped solidify my knowledge in these areas.

What would you say to an engineer who might be thinking of applying to the Corporate Residency MBA program?

I would say: go for it! Coming to business school adds a whole new range of skills that sometimes Engineering graduates lack. I think that regardless of whether you decide to go down a purely science route or a purely business route, the skills learned through both engineering and an MBA complement each other. A person who decides on a pure science route could definitely benefit from knowing how to be a more effective manager and how the science fits into the strategic plans of their corporation. I also think that someone purely in the business route can benefit from understanding the more technical nuts-and-bolts of how some companies design and manufacture products.

A unique education empowers a unique experience – Jocelyn’s story

Leave a Comment

Originally posted by Jordan Fujiwara.

Before we get in to Jocelyn’s experiences with the Corporate Residency MBA, she has a message for all the incoming students (she will be your VP Academic on the MBA Society for this year): “It’s a great time to mention that your [second year] mentors should be contacting you soon, within a week. As the incoming VP Academic, my job is to serve as an outlet for students who have any concerns about the academic side of things in the program so it can be handled through a formal process.” Thanks for the heads up, Jocelyn! In case you’re a student reading this and wondering what a mentor is, basically a bunch of the second years have volunteered to be ‘assigned’ to 2 or 3 new students. I explained it to my, uh… apprentices (?) in this fashion: “My job is to make sure that your transition into the MBA life is suitably awesome.” I think that succinctly sums it up!

Now let’s learn about Ms. Jocelyn Ball: she has lived all over the place but her family resides in Riverview, New Brunswick. She went to UNB and received a Bachelor of Philosophy degree with a concentration in Leadership. It turns out that the BPhil program at UNB is a fairly new (2000) and unique program in and of itself, with a mantra of the ‘love of knowledge’ and a focus on soft skills, global citizenship and a peppering of other disciplines such as math. “It wasn’t like learning Plato and Socrates,” clarifies Jocelyn, who says the stuff she did in her undergrad actually translated quite well into the sort of stuff we are doing in our Personal and Professional Effectiveness sessions in the MBA (see Ben’s Story for more details on PPE).

You can tell she is not afraid to take risks, even if you only look at her choices for post-secondary education: the new UNB program and the even newer Corporate Residency MBA program: “It was definitely a risk coming into this program, I think that everyone coming took that risk in that it was brand new. But the effort of the administration and people behind the program, in bringing in the right profs, the right dean, creating a cutting-edge curriculum and having a focus on experiential learning makes this program special and makes the risks worth it. My feeling about it is very, very positive overall.”

You might recall Michelle’s Story, where we looked at her work with Aon as a Strategic Business Advisor for Eastern Canada. Well, Jocelyn works with Aon as well, as a Strategic Business Advisor for (can you guess?) Western Canada! She is stationed in Calgary for the 8-month residency and has taken on a huge role: “Recently Aon acquired a new business unit, and my job is to help get them up and running. I’m scheduling meetings and creating business plans, helping develop their website. I’m also travelling to the main Aon branches in the area [e.g. Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton] and presenting the case [of the new unit] to people there. I have responsibility and ownership over this, and it’s very exciting. All the presentations we did in class have helped me be able to do this in multiple offices.”

You wouldn’t see a typical intern-type position with that sort of project placed on its task list, that’s for sure! Thankfully, the work environment at Aon seems to balance out any stress caused by such a responsibility: “We’ve kind of got it down to: you’re not allowed to work here if you’re not able to laugh at yourself. My group is lively and energetic; they pull pranks – my first week on the job the senior VP took a cell phone from a manager and hid it in the ceiling tile [fans of The Office will remember a similar scenario that befell Andy, which led to him punching a hole in the wall, I think. Jocelyn did not report any damage resulting from the prank she witnessed]! It’s an amazing environment.”

She is getting amped up for the famous Calgary Stampede, where “it’ll be ten days of partying and I will wear more plaid then than I will wear for the rest of my life!” In parting, she says to everyone: “for any experience in life you need to throw yourself into it. The more you put in, the more you get out of it. I’m a strong believer in this and it applies to this program, and it applies to life in general. I’m looking forward to meeting the new students in September and am sad I won’t get to meet them in July!”

See you all next week! P.S. Jocelyn is the co-leader of the Halifax Net Impact Chapter, along with Ben Goldberg.

Be sure to check out Jocelyn’s Testimonial Videos as well!

Our journey is a jigsaw puzzle – Michelle’s story

Leave a Comment

Originally posted by Jordan Fujiwara.

Michelle sends awesome emails. Every day I go through tons of emails, as many of you out there probably do. More often than not, when I get an email from Michelle she’s got it rigged up so the background is a pleasant non-white colour, and key words or points in her communication are bolded in vibrant colours. It’s not a big deal, but it brightens that otherwise cold landscape of e-communication. Thanks Michelle.

So what else can I tell you about Michelle? Her last name is Ernest, she’s 22 and she came from Liverpool, Nova Scotia. She studied at Acadia University and earned a BBA with a focus in marketing, and a secondary focus in music and Spanish. A colourful combination to mirror her trademark emails! If you’ve been poking around this site prior to reading this you might have stumbled upon her testimonial videos. (I forgot to mention last week that you can hear Rich speak about the program on the testimonial page.)

Currently, Michelle is developing her professional network through working with Aon Risk Services as a Strategic Business Advisor for Eastern Canada. “My position has been tremendous; so many once in a lifetime chances, like having an informal chat with the CEO or getting to meet people who are working internationally with the company. It’s like a real-life version of LinkedIn!” She says, “this program allows us to network early with employers, even if they’re not necessarily in your focus industry. You learn a lot from everyone you meet.”

Michelle, like the rest of us, embarked on the long six month academic journey before she got to where she is today with Aon. It started with the application process: “It was as easy as I could have hoped for it to be,” assures Michelle, “I’ve had difficulty with application forms before, and this one did have a lot of forms involved but the package made it so easy, the checklist was excellent!” Forms conquered with the aid of the checklist, Michelle remembers her experience writing the personal essay required as part of the application process: “It was a bit of a shot in the dark, I mean, I knew this wasn’t any old MBA program, and that they weren’t just looking for any old student. I remember thinking I had no idea what to say but then it just sort of spilled out… I wasn’t sure if it was what they wanted, but here I am! I figured if they didn’t like it then I wasn’t fit for the program anyway!” Finally, the interview: “It was fine; I had the option of doing it over Skype or in person so I went in. They gave good feedback through the whole thing; there was a good dialogue. You didn’t leave the room wondering if you did poorly or did really well!”

Presently, Michelle is very excited about the travel opportunities she will have as a Strategic Business Advisor. There are 13 different offices in Eastern Canada that she will have to visit, and she’s already been to Toronto twice! Not only will she get to meet new people but she will get to see our classmates who have jobs in places like Toronto, Montreal or Ottawa. “Every situation is unique; every day is different. It’s what I enjoy and what I thrive in. Despite similar work processes, every office requires plan adjustments. It’s a good challenge and a great opportunity for learning.”

While she can’t get into the specifics, Michelle is currently in a “preparation” stage. She’ll be travelling, as mentioned before, during her “roll-out” stage where she’ll be visiting and revisiting different offices in a support role to ensure that her mandate is on track. Success in Eastern Canada may bring her further west!

Yes, it’s been an interesting journey. Michelle takes a moment to reflect: “Being here in this position, as I look out the window at the beautiful Halifax Harbour, it’s funny to look back to all the little steps that brought me here. Like taking French [yes, Michelle speaks French as well as Spanish], a decision I made a long time ago. If I hadn’t done that, I might not be here. Everything I’ve done and everything I will do is a piece of a puzzle and it’s exciting to think what the final picture will be. Sometimes you gain pieces, sometimes they are taken away, but that’s life!”

With the Corporate Residency MBA contributing a puzzle piece or two to the jigsaw, I’m positive her picture will be something incredible. See you next week!

P.S. – Michelle, along with classmates Lars, Nick and Randel, is competing in TRUMPED, a local business skills competition that is put on by the Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary’s University (http://www.trumped.ca). After the first round of elimination, the Corporate Residency MBA team is ranked 5th out of 66! Good job guys!