Student Spotlight – Noah Innes

February 12, 2020 Management Career Services Leave a Comment

For this week’s edition of our student spotlight, Noah Innes, a 3^rd year Bachelor of Commerce student shares his experience.

Originally from Halifax, Noah chose Dalhousie’s Commerce program for the mandatory co-op and the opportunity to gain valuable work experience during an undergraduate degree.

Over the last Fall, Noah secured his job with InterTalk Critical Information System as a Marketing Intern. InterTalk is a company based in Dartmouth that makes and sells and sells radio dispatch consoles. He was attracted to the job because it was a completely new position in the company which means the scope of development was huge. In his role at InterTalk, he was responsible for managing their social media, writing press releases, and maintaining the website.

While talking about managing a heavy workload, Noah said that his strategy to an effective work term search “is to get started early, preferably by using connections and networking, before the academic load picks up. I also have decided to only invest time applying to positions I am extremely interested in”.

Noah’s short-term goal is to find a third co-op position that allows him to build upon his current business acumen. His long-term goal is to find a full-time job in a marketing or customer related role with a large multinational company.

Tips of the week from Noah:

Ensure you take the time to personalize each cover letter, even if it may seem not to be worth the time investment.
Network as much as you can – the old adage ‘It’s not what you know, it’s who you know’ is actually true.
Maintaining a good balance between your social and academic life is critical for your happiness while doing a university degree. Get your work done first, then you can have a fun time without any responsibilities hanging over you.
Ensure your LinkedIn profile is up-to-date and has as much detail as possible.
Leverage your shared connections on LinkedIn and ensure all connection invitations are sent with a personal memo.
Maintain your connections throughout your degree – that means meeting for coffee chats to update them on your academic progress. You never know when one of them may have a hiring need down the road.

Do you want additional tips on your resume and cover letter? Book an appointment with your CRS to learn more.

Book via myCareer or pop in to Management Career Services at Room 2100 in the Rowe Building.

Student Spotlight – Henry Locker

January 22, 2020 Management Career Services Leave a Comment

Henry Locker is a third-year Bachelor of Commerce student who recently completed a four-month co-op in Vietnam as an Asia Representative. Originally from Halifax, he chose Dalhousie’s Commerce program for the mandatory co-ops and the opportunity to gather a real work environment while exploring multiple industries. “The co-op program is very reputable and unique with 3 staggered co-op placements. This gives me the ability to test the water in many industries” said Henry.

Henry used his networking skills and reached out to friends’ families to find this job. Over the last fall, Henry secured a self-developed job with Confederation Partner in Vietnam, an international finance and service company. Confederation offers many methods for high net-worth individuals and their families to become dual citizens in Canada, USA, European Union, and the Caribbean Islands. He was attracted to this job because the work was inspiring, and he enjoys the satisfaction that this service offers. As an Asia Representative, he performed a variety of different roles, finding the appropriate location for an office at an appropriate price and working with the marketing team to market the company to prospective clients. He was a keynote speaker at 8 seminars with attendance ranging from 30 to 100 people.

Henry spoke to us about his transition, saying “The biggest difference between working in Canada and Vietnam is that Its very common for a workweek in Vietnam to consist of Monday through Saturday 8am to 6pm, and it’s common for most people to even bring work home with them. Even the communication preference is different, most people used an instant messaging app instead of email.”

After Graduation Henry is looking to do his MBA at Dalhousie and continue to explore options in different Markets. To follow Henry’s success, follow him on his Instagram @henry_lockyer .

Student Spotlight: Blair Miller

January 14, 2020 Management Career Services Leave a Comment

Blair Miller is a fourth-year Bachelor of Management student who has completed an 8-month work term at a digital marketing company, Blender Networks. Originally from Halifax, he chose this program at Dalhousie because he believes that this program would provide him with a great opportunity to learn more about varying professional fields in the business world. The most pertinent factor that led to his decision to do an internship was that he wanted to know what working in the real-world was really like and which field(s) he is truly interested in.

Upon starting his internship, the company had agreed to involve him in many of the different aspects of their business so that he could be exposed to as many different areas as possible. This helped him figure out his interests. His official job title at Blender was Ad Operations Intern, which involved the optimization of Ad campaigns. However, he was involved in many other tasks such as market research, search relevancy optimization, and content development. Blair’s favourite part about working for Blender is the small community and open-workspace type of atmosphere. The bosses are close with all of their employees, leading to a great manager-employee dynamic.

Blair has learned multiple things from the internship program and being on a work term. “The internship program itself is incredibly useful in teaching skills regarding how to network with people, how to organize your resume, how to navigate an interview, etc. All of the teachings are extremely practical and super helpful for when you are actively looking for employment in the workforce.” Specific skills that he has developed by working involve: competencies in using advertising platforms, analytical skills for Ad campaign optimization, communication skills for contacting brands and other potential partners, and organizational skills in terms of managing his time effectively to complete the different tasks he was assigned.

“I would absolutely recommend the internship program to other students. The experience gained from the program is essentially priceless. Seeing as most university students are still trying to figure out what they really want to do in life, while navigating the difficulties of obtaining a degree, working an internship is an invaluable tool to help sort things out. Not to mention the experience will look incredible on a resume and you are paid for the duration of your work term.”

A major tip that he would give to students who are pursuing an internship is that reaching out to family, friends, and family-friends for job opportunities is almost a must. Just as he said, “someone in your life knows somebody, who may in turn know somebody else, that could put you in contact with the right connections that lead to eventually securing an employment position”.

In his spare time Blair still trained and competed for Dalhousie’s Cross-country and Track & Field teams. He was also enrolled in an online class and was studying to take the Law School Admission Test in order to get into Dalhousie’s combined JD/MBA program after graduation. For the long-term career goal, he wants to start his own business, as he has always been passionate towards entrepreneurial ventures.

Student Spotlight: Olivia Fitzpatrick

April 9, 2019 Management Career Services Leave a Comment

Our Student Spotlight features a student who has truly set an example for how to make the most of a co-op. Olivia Fitzpatrick, a 4^th year Commerce student majoring in Marketing Management, has recently accepted an offer for full-time employment with her former co-op employer, Dash Hudson, a local company that focuses on helping businesses grow their brand through Instagram.

Olivia is from Bedford, Nova Scotia, and was drawn to Dalhousie and the Commerce program because of the opportunities available to gain real-world experience before graduation through work-integrated learning and experiential learning opportunities. She has achieved this by not only completing the three required co-op work terms, but also by opting to spend a semester studying abroad in France in her third year and by participating in the Rowe School of Business’ Israel Exchange this past year. On top of that, she is also a heavily involved member of the Dalhousie Community.

“Once at school, I got involved with anything I could. I’ve held various roles in The Dalhousie Commerce Society over three years as well as an executive position in the Rowe Women in Business Association for the past two years. […] I really just threw myself into whatever the school had to offer.”

After spending her first co-op work term at an accounting firm, Olivia realized that marketing might be a better fit for her. When it came time to begin her second work term job search, she knew that she wanted to try something completely different. At the time, Dash Hudson was still in the start-up phase of its operation. She found the prospect of working for a growing business to be very appealing, especially with the added responsibility that it would involve.

She joined Dash Hudson in the fall of 2017 as a Brand Strategy Intern on the company’s Demand Generation team. “My first role in Demand Generation really taught me a lot about hard work – it was a hustle to get all of my work done each day and it was at a time in the company where co-op students had the opportunity to take on a lot of responsibility, which I loved.”

Even before she had completed her first co-op with Dash Hudson, she had already taken the initiative to develop a new co-op position with the Sales Division and become that team’s first intern. According to Olivia, the company culture helped encourage her to pursue this possibility. In her words, “Dash Hudson is a company that not only supports, but also encourages you to constantly grow and develop your own ways to contribute to the overall company growth.”

On her second and final co-op with Dash Hudson she was able to gain a lot of hands-on experience and a greater understanding of their customer process.

Olivia didn’t approach her final co-op with the intention of securing post-grad employment, but rather she focused her efforts on learning as much as she could in her new role and also on better realizing her own strengths and weaknesses. While her post-grad plans were unclear at the end of last summer when she wrapped-up her work term, it was ultimately her proven dedication to her work, and to the organization, along with the strong relationships she had built with the team’s senior leadership, that would open the door to creating a self-developed full-time opportunity.

“When I heard through my old boss at the company that they were opening a UK Office in January 2019 with one employee, I knew I absolutely NEEDED to be the second [employee]. I reached out to the CEO and my old boss (who, by this time, I had known for over a year and a half) and they agreed to let me pitch my new position to them. Fast-forward to roughly three months later: we’ve created a job description together and I am set to move [to the UK] in July!”

Olivia’s new role will allow her to draw on and apply the skills and experience she earned over her two work terms with the organization.

“My new job title is UK Brand Strategist, so I will be mainly working on all things necessary to grow Dash Hudson’s UK brand presence. This includes everything from marketing and events in the UK to leading generation and sales development. Basically, anything that needs to be done to get Dash Hudson’s name out there in the UK!”

While her new role will come with a significant amount of responsibility compared to her co-op experience, Olivia feels confident in her ability to fulfill the role.

“I think they ultimately chose me for this role because they’ve seen me put in work from the start. As someone who has been with the company since it’s relatively early days, my enthusiasm to go after this role on my own really proved to them that I was ready to take it on. It’s a big responsibility and I think I’m most excited about the fact that they’ve trusted me with this opportunity to really take ownership of this role.”

Although it clearly took an abundance of different attributes and skills to accomplish everything that she has thus far, Olivia has identified the key trait that has defined her success – hard work.

“Be the co-op student that is willing to go beyond what is asked of you and take on more responsibility. Also, don’t be afraid to take initiative. Employers recognize that and it will open doors for you in the future.”

Are you looking to take control of your grad job search and optimize the outcomes? Check out the variety of full-time and grad job opportunities posted under the Career Services section of myCareer and book an appointment with your Career and Recruitment Specialist to receive one-on-one advice and support.

Student Spotlight – Lauren Zvaniga

February 12, 2019 Andrea McKay Leave a Comment

For this week’s edition of our Student Spotlight, Lauren Zvaniga, a 2nd-year Corporate Residency MBA student from Mississauga, Ontario, shares her experience on the Toronto Connects Tour that took place last month and also offers some advice to current students about networking and meeting with employers.

Lauren’s focus for her CRMBA has been in marketing, with a keen interest in the creative aspect of the profession, due to her undergraduate degree in Theatre. Lauren completed her residency with BMO Financial Group in Toronto as a Marketing Coordinator in their Credit Card Lifecycle division. During her time there, she realized that a career in Marketing was the right fit for her.

In Lauren’s words, “I fell in love with the job – one that challenged my MBA-critical-thinking side and one that tickled my artsy-creative side. The biggest thing I learned about myself at BMO is that marketing is, in fact, my dream career.”

Looking ahead to post-grad employment, she has accepted an offer to return to BMO as a full-time employee, beginning in June. Nonetheless, Lauren still wants to continue learning about other career options, which is where the Toronto Connects Tour came in.

The Toronto Connects Tour is a career development event for 2nd-year CRMBA students that includes a networking luncheon with the MBA program’s Board of Advisors, an alumni discussion panel, and a networking reception with MBA alumni and employers. In addition, the students on the Tour are required to coordinate at least 3 one-on-one informational interviews that align with their career goals and do a reflective practice on their experience afterward.

Lauren decided to book informational interviews that would help her understand what it’s like to work in procurement as well as what it’s like to work at an advertising agency. She met with the Director of Procurement at HelloFresh, the Director of Planning at Jungle Media (“I told her about my dream to work in marketing at IKEA and as it turns out, IKEA has been her client for many years!”), and a former colleague from Loyalty One, a Client Marketing Specialist. These meetings were made possible by tapping into both her personal and professional network.

“For many people, I think the idea of networking seems like an artificial way to meet someone when in reality it is an awesome opportunity to learn. My networking philosophy is that if you approach every meeting and networking event trying to learn, you won’t come across as that desperate, ‘give me a job!!!’ person, because that’s not your goal. Networking is an ongoing, lifelong activity you do to grow your network and your understanding.”

The biggest challenge that she faced in arranging the meetings was trying to get to each one on time since they were so spread out across the city.

Lauren recalls that “this was one of those ‘easier said than done’ lessons I learned the hard way. By the time 5 p.m. rolled around, I was completely exhausted… having spent 8 hours running around the city, drinking coffee at every meeting, actively listening and asking meaningful questions.”

Regardless of her scheduling challenges, Lauren found each meeting to be incredibly valuable and informative about the career paths she was most curious about.

“I love meeting new people and learning about their career paths and aspirations. I learned that many of the things I like about marketing apply to procurement: strategy, relationship management, problem-solving, etc., and that agency work requires long hours but it is an extremely collaborative and creative field to work in. Most importantly, I learned that there are opportunities for me to explore outside of marketing, and I am never stuck in one role.”

When asked to sum up the advice she would give to students who have yet to organize their own informal interviews, Lauren shared the following:

Planning out a calendar is important, but also draw it out on a map!
Wear a watch – you won’t want to take out your phone to check the time because it can be rude.
Think of what you really want to learn from this person before you meet with them – you’ll ask better questions and get better answers.
Even if you have a job lined up, take advantage of an opportunity to grow your network!
Remember that you’re not “just a student right now”, you are an ambitious, curious, passionate young professional and everyone that agreed to meet with you wants to meet with you.

Regardless of your short and long term career goals, arranging informational interviews can provide key insights to help you achieve them. Don’t wait for the next networking opportunity to present itself – create the opportunity for yourself like Lauren did. Ask your Career and Recruitment Specialist for tips on how to incorporate informational interviews into your job search or career development strategy.

Employer Spotlight: Steph Bigford with Smucker Foods of Canada

January 9, 2017 Allison Auld Leave a Comment

Steph Bigford is a Dalhousie alumna currently working for Smucker Foods of Canada. Steph majored in Marketing Management and actually completed her final co-op work term with Smucker Foods of Canada, which lead to a full-time position where she has worked since she graduated in 2013.

Currently the Brand Manager of Grains Baking at their head office in Markham, ON, Steph absolutely loves her job. Her responsibilities include brand management for products such as Robin Hood Flour, Robin Hood Mixes, Golden Temple, and Five Roses Flour. Steph manages the strategic priorities and campaign executions for these brands as well as the development and creation of new Canadian commercials, new product launches, a partnership with the We Organization, and Robin Hood’s social media platform. Smucker Foods of Canada is a consumer packaged goods business that is family-owned and publicly traded. Regardless of its large size and multinational presence, the company has done everything to retain its family feel, something Steph credits as being a big reason she enjoys her job so much. With various products across North America, you may have heard of many of their brands, such as Folgers Coffee, Bick’s Pickles, as well as their signature Smucker’s Jam.

Smucker Foods of Canada has posted two marketing co-op opportunities for students looking for a position in summer 2017, based in Markham, ON. The positions will be focused on a specific brand/portfolio of products and are great opportunities for any budding marketing student looking for a job that offers team support and that pushes you to achieve the best results. Responsibilities will include business and marketing analytics, communicating with creative agencies, helping to create and design brand plans and sales presentations, and bringing new innovation and communication strategies to market.

If brand management interests you, make sure to check out the job posting now live on myCareer (job ID 59003). But hurry! Make sure to have your application completed before the job deadlines on Sunday, January 22.

GM of Canada’s Advertising Integration and Launch Manager shares his success at Dalhousie and passion for Canada’s Next Top Ad Exec

January 15, 2014 Andrea McKay 1 Comment

Meet Paul Bailey. Paul Bailey is the Advertising Integration and Launch Manager at General Motors of Canada Limited. He’s also a proud Dalhousie University Graduate. In 2003, Paul completed his Bachelor of Commerce (Major in Finance) and in 2005 he completed his MBA (Majors/Concentrations in International Business and Entrepreneurship). Upon graduation from the MBA program, Paul worked at Dalhousie University’s Norm Newman Center for Entrepreneurship prior to moving on to a career at General Motors of Canada. Through Chevrolet Canada’s partnership, Paul is working closely with the Canada’s Next Top Ad Exec program to ensure that students are making the most of their education as well.

Paul is a passionate advocate for experiential learning opportunities at all levels of education. From his time at Dalhousie, Paul co-authored a submission to the Canadian Association for Co-Operative Education that detailed best practices associated with Entrepreneurial Work Terms and the experiential learning opportunities that those work terms present to students. As an experiential learning competition, Canada’s Next Top Ad Exec is a natural fit for Paul. He believes that Top Ad Exec offers a unique opportunity for students to gain much needed real-world experience. Further, he emphasizes that this program allows for meaningful interaction with the today’s leading companies and the leaders of tomorrow.

Click to watch a video about Paul’s involvement with Canada’s Next Top Ad Exec.

In his current role, Paul is responsible for the coordination and development of integrated launch initiatives for new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles coming to market. This year, Top Ad Exec participants get to step in Paul’s shoes, and develop a marketing and communications launch plan for the all-new North American Car of the Year, the 2014 Corvette Stingray.

The first phase of submissions are due on January 27th. For 2013/2014, the grand prize is a 2014 Chevrolet Camaro, in addition to several scholarships and seven paid internships to be awarded from General Motors of Canada, PepsiCo, Canadian Tire, McDonald’s and yconic.

So… If you want your chance to win a Camaro and work alongside industry leaders in an internship this summer, what are you waiting for?! Get working on your Phase 1 submission! To learn more about Canada’s Next Top Ad Exec and to register, visit http://www.topadexec.com or contact your Canada’s Next Top Ad Exec Campus Account Manager for Dalhousie, Duane Davis at d.davis@dal.ca.

Reps from the Top Ad Team visited the Rowe building this week.

Student Spotlight: Zoe Bourgard

February 6, 2013 Amy McLellan

Second year Corporate Residency MBA student, Zoe Bourgard completed her 8-month residency as an Allocation Analyst with TJX Canada (Winners/ HomeSense) in Mississauga, Ontario. Zoe credits her achievements and the launch of her career to Dalhousie’s CRMBA program.

“I graduated from St. Francis Xavier University in 2009 with a degree in Marketing. Excited to launch a career in my field of expertise, I was quickly humbled by the challenges I experienced securing an employment opportunity with limited work experience. Discovering the CRMBA program at Dalhousie was one of the best things I could have done. Although candidates could expect a rigorous curriculum, the program also offered a lengthy (and compensated) work term and extensive networking opportunities that would surely be beneficial in the launching of my professional career. Over the last 2 years I’ve developed a range of leadership skills and am confident that I’ll be successful in any endeavor I embark on.”

Category: Bachelor of Commerce