David Wheeler

Originally posted by Jordan Fujiwara.

Alyssa Alidina’s story is all about stepping out of her comfort zone: and loving it. It all started when she was finishing up her BScN (Natural Resources Conservation, major in Global Perspectives) at UBC. This Vancouver native knew one thing: “I wanted to go to grad school; I didn’t want to work after my undergrad.”

The then Dean of the program, David Wheeler, was in Vancouver at one of our info sessions that Alyssa attended. “That the Dean had so much investment in the program meant a lot to me,” she recalled. In a span of six months prior to getting accepted into the Corporate Residency MBA, she wrote the GRE, GMAT and LSAT while also working part time during school and full time in the summer, but was so enticed by our program that it was the only one she ended up applying to!

Accepting the offer and coming to Halifax was her first major challenge and departure from the ol’ comfort zone. She was moving across the country to a small city she’d never lived in, with no family or friends around to help her adjust. Luckily, the orientation week for the program remedied that issue with a three-day trip to Liscombe Lodge. “We came out of [that time at Liscombe] so close, we already knew we’d be a family,” says Alyssa. This is a common sentiment among a lot of people in the program, myself included!

With 40 new friends (or family, either is applicable), Alyssa was ready to tackle the next big venture outside the comfort zone: the corporate residency. Her undergraduate background was in the area of sustainability, and she had just come straight out of it so she was naturally a little apprehensive when she interviewed with TD Securities in September. “I had no financial experience,” she admits. “I hadn’t even picked up my finance textbook yet when I walked into that interview! We were basing the entire interview on ‘fit,’ we barely talked about the job, just me and how I would fit in the organization.”

She ended up getting the job offer (Business Analyst in Management Information Systems) and was faced with another big move to a new city, Toronto, after only six short months in Halifax. Despite the unfamiliar job and city, Alyssa rose to the challenge once again and thrived. “I realized I’m one of those people that can be happy anywhere, as long as I surround myself with people and things I like. I’m comfortable making things work. I’m a little tougher than I thought, I guess!”

Indeed she is. TD tossed her right into a project that involved developing an internal business intelligence tool that she was highly involved with for four months. “After that, my boss got a promotion and his role expanded enormously. He brought me under his wing and basically got me to do what he didn’t have time to do, like attend meetings or plan meetings with clients and internal/external auditors. I also did some HR work and the business continuity plans for my team and standardized them for new teams that came along with my boss’ promotion. I was sort of a Jack of All Trades.” She also attended a sustainability conference where she got hear fellow Vancouver native David Suzuki speak about issues that she had studied in her undergrad. Busy!

Now she’s back in school, which has been yet another huge (but welcome) adjustment. “I grew to love Toronto,” Alyssa says, “and I’ll probably go back there. I’m in the part of my life where I not only can handle but crave the fast-paced life of the downtown financial core.” She will most likely go back with TD, but is not going to close the door on any other opportunities. For example, the lifestyle of a business consultant appeals to her.

“I’m just really happy. I love the program. I’m so glad I decided to do things I wasn’t comfortable doing,” she says in closing. “Never close yourself off to anything. ‘Fit’ is also everything.”

This is a truth that I think you have to experience before you can truly appreciate it. And Alyssa has experienced it in spades. See everyone next week!

Originally posted by Jordan Fujiwara.

Last year around this time, the post-undergrad scene was not looking that great to Mr. Richard Murphy. He was freshly graduated from Acadia University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Business and had just spent a few months in Europe when he returned to Halifax… and a shriveling job market. Remember that recession? Yeah.

“I thought it was a great time to go back to school, and I had always thought about an MBA,” remembers Rich, “but I thought: do I really want to do that without any management experience? It could be dangerous”. It probably also would have been quite a challenge, seeing as how many MBA programs require some work experience as part of their application. But when Rich stumbled upon this website, he was instantly struck by the fact that not only does the Corporate Residency MBA require no prior work experience, it actually encourages those freshly appointed Bachelors of What-Have-You to apply. Rich discovered that an information session was scheduled in Halifax so he made sure he was there. The experience made him realize just how badly he wanted to be in the program; the combination of hearing David Wheeler (former Dean) speak and talking to JoAnne Akerboom (Executive Director, External Affairs) really drove home the reality of the opportunity that Corporate Residency MBA offers. Chuckling, Rich recalls “I think my current boss’ boss was there too, now that I think about it.” That might seem coincidental, but Dalhousie’s employer partners are just as dedicated and enthusiastic about the program as the staff and faculty!

Without hesitation, Rich started the application process. He booked a GMAT time and filled out the forms and began his personal essay. He really started to understand his passion and desire for getting accepted when writing the essay: “I spent probably more time on the essay than anything else. There was so much more [at stake] than for something you’d write for a class.” After the documentation was submitted, Rich waited to be told if he had made it to the interview round. Clearly he did make it! Since he was living in Halifax he opted to have the interview in person. He was pleasantly surprised to find JoAnne Akerboom there as one of the interviewers! “The interview was very personal and comfortable; it felt more like I was having a conversation than just answering questions,” says Rich.

In July, Mr. Murphy joined the rest of us and embarked on the unique academic experience that is the Corporate Residency MBA. The novelty was further compounded by the fact that we were the first ever class to be subjected to the curriculum. “I was pretty surprised at how smoothly things ran!” says Rich. One of his fondest memories was the end of the day after the massive ‘Round One’ of corporate residency interviews (200 interviews in one day over 40 people!): “I had never done anything like that before.”

So where did Rich end up? He’s working in Commercial Banking at Scotiabank as a Credit Solutions Analyst here in Halifax. He just finished his initial training today in fact. He is quite grateful for his mentor and supervisor: “she’ll get me to help out on different portfolios, and is a very good teacher with over 30 years experience. She has a ‘big picture’ focus and really knows what it takes to be a successful banker. So far I’ve had a great experience and great exposure to the industry.” Rich will be entering a rotation program soon, which will briefly place him in departments such as Global Transaction Banking, Global Risk Management and Dealer Finance. Then it’s back to the Credit Solutions role! You’ll hear more about this position from Jamie McGuigan, who has an identical position in Toronto with Scotiabank. His story is coming up in the next few weeks.

Back to Rich: “I’d just like to stress the opportunity that this program provides, in terms of the quality of the education and the quality of the positions. Everybody in the class got a placement, and a GOOD one. Some other programs can sort of beef up the descriptions of their co-op positions, but not this one. I’m very impressed.”

With that, we’ll leave you until next week. Drop by next Thursday!

Tougher than she thought – Alyssa’s story

From BA to banker – Rich’s story

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