Originally posted by Jordan Fujiwara.
Farhad Quassem was a touch skeptical about our program when he was first applying. He was wary that Dalhousie’s global reputation wasn’t as domineering as some of the elite North American b-schools; indeed, he had offers from some of them but ended up here instead. What drove his decision? It was a combination of the right price and the “deal sweetener” (as he puts it) of the paid Corporate Residency.
As we shared a delicious artichoke and spinach dip at the Pogue Fado, I had to ask Farhad his opinion of Dal and the program after being almost 9 months into the 22-month program. He said, “The workload was intense, the profs exceeded my expectations by miles. Maybe Dal isn’t yet considered a top-tier school, but this is a top-tier program.”
Farhad is one of the students in the program who does have a fair bit of work experience. The bulk of it lies in the IT field. He received a BSc with a Major in Computer Information Systems from the University of Windsor and has since worked as software designer/developer, a support analyst at a bank, an e-marketing analyst, a project manager and was once even a door-to-door salesman. Farhad was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh and has also lived in Saudi Arabia, as well as in Canada.
So why an MBA? “This is more of a transformation than just a degree to me,” explains Farhad. “I’ve always been interested in finance and politics… personality-wise I’m more of a Machiavelli than a Caesar so I’ve decided to focus on finance [he winks]. Essentially, finance is the root of everything. If you want to do anything from curing cancer to creating the next blockbuster album you need money, and the money has to come from somewhere.”
Farhad’s Corporate Residency certainly will help him realize his future career in finance: he’s currently working as a Financial Consultant for the City of Halifax, reporting to the Manager of Finance and Budgeting for the City. “I valuate capital investment proposals from different business units in the city. The other day I was looking at a proposal for a new central library. I’m heading up a few big projects, such as a developing a document and knowledge management system.” This system will be implemented to help ease the blow of 40,000 people retiring over the next five years in Halifax. Farhad explains that these soon-to-be retirees know a lot of stuff, but a lot of it is in their head. The challenge is to get that knowledge and preserve it so the people who eventually fill those gaps can manage their roles more smoothly.
I asked Farhad what he saw himself doing in the next few months. He smiled and said, “I’m on the patio of Your Father’s Moustache [a popular pub, for you non-Haligonians] surrounded by beautiful glasses of European beer.”
To which I replied: “I meant at work!”
“Oh! Well. the City has a deficit for the 2011 budget, and I’ll help in recommending service level adjustments, tax rate adjustments, and internal efficiency retooling to help reduce it.”
Seemingly, the transformation from IT whiz to financial guru is going well. Farhad confirmed this, adding that the networking he’s been doing has been incredible. “The program itself, with its interview prep sessions, the networking sessions and even just our social mixers has given me a huge confidence boost. Now I’m comfortable sharing a beer with senior executives in different businesses and just chatting and getting to know them… building my professional network.”
On top of all this, Farhad made the “shotgun decision” to write the CFA exam (Chartered Financial Analyst). Good luck, man!
I asked Farhad if he had any general wisdom to share. This is what he said: “If you can realize that humility and confidence can coexist, and let the program do its thing then you’ll learn a lot more than if you try to force it to fit you. If you’re just in it for the piece of paper, then it’ll be a good piece of paper, and an expensive one, but that’s it. I knew there’d be situations when the program would be overwhelming, but a part of the process is to learn how to deal with that feeling and how to overcome it. Succeed there and you end up stronger.”
We’ll see you next Thursday! (Or sooner, since I’m starting to publish shorter “in-between” blogs now).
Also, remember to check out our Twitter feed and become a fan of our Facebook page. There’s also a Facebook group for the new class of 2012.