Rowe International Students Report On Halifax Chamber of Commerce Annual Fall Dinner!

December 5, 2014 Management Career Services Leave a Comment

On November 13^th, 2014, the Halifax Chamber of Commerce hosted its Annual Fall Dinner. Hundreds of guests from the Halifax Business Community gathered at the World Trade and Convention Centre to celebrate the successes of the community and inspire ideas for the future. Five international students from Dalhousie’s Rowe School of Business were invited to attend this fabulous event, which featured Dave Carroll, CEO of Big Break Enterprises Inc, who spoke about “Customer Service in the Age of Social Media”. To say thank to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce for generously hosting our students, a few of them wished to share their appreciation and thoughts on the evening:

Han Fu – Corporate Residency MBA, Class of 2016

“I would like to say thank you for inviting me to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce dinner. As an international student, it is my first time attending an event of this kind. My host was Darlene from Dream Industrial REIT. She was very nice helping me to get involved throughout the event.

One important reason for me to continue my graduate studies abroad is to explore the world from a different perspective. I am therefore very appreciative for being given this valuable opportunity that gives me a glimpse into how the business world works here in, and beyond, Halifax. A brand new journey has started and I am ready! ”

Sean Liu – Bachelor of Commerce, Accounting, Class of 2016

“I’d like to say thanks to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce for offering such an awesome opportunity to international students to get in touch with local businesses and professionals. And I would also like to thank KPMG for hosting me during the event. I couldn’t think of a better way than this for us to build our network, exchange ideas, and get a glimpse of the industries we are interested in.

It was also a great pleasure to meet with Mark Parkhill, Partner of KPMG; Steve Moore, Tax Partner of KPMG, and Elizabeth Brouse, Senior Manager Market Development at KPMG, to share each other’s stories and most importantly, their career experiences and their understanding of recent industry trends. I am glad that I had this valuable chance to sit next to them to discuss the development of the Halifax business community and to discover a path towards future success.”

Tongfei Wang – Corporate Residency MBA, Class of 2016

“It was really a great opportunity for me to network and experience real Canadian business culture during the Halifax Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Fall Dinner. I really enjoyed the valuable experience of meeting different business people from various industries, which gave me a chance to listen to their experiences as well as gain new insights and share mine at the same time. I also appreciated the Halifax Chamber of Commerce’s special consideration for students and for young professionals. This is very critical to the sustainability and further development of the business community. Overall, it was really a great experience for me.”

Chenyu Yang – Corporate Residency MBA, Class of 2016

“The event gave me a perfect opportunity to get in touch with local business professionals. As an international student with a keen desire to start my career here, I think this event is a really rare opportunity for me to get involved.

Joyce Carter, CEO of the Halifax International Airport Authority, was my host at the event. I would say it was a perfect experience for me to sit down with her and talk about my career plan and the local business environment. The vision of the senior business leaders is something we can’t learn in class. Also, Joyce introduced me to a lot of professionals during the reception, which is an excellent first step for me to build my relationships here. ”

Alumni Spotlight: Alexandra Thompson & Brian Macinnes

November 24, 2014 Management Career Services Leave a Comment

Alexandra Thompson and Brian Macinnes are currently acting as Operations Director and Creative Director (respectively) at Wardrobe Apparel in London, England; however, their success story started at Dalhousie where they both graduated from the Bachelor of Commerce program before taking their talents abroad. The idea to start a clothing company occurred to both of them while in London. Alexandra writes:

“A life changing conversation took place on the rooftop at Harvey Nichols in London on my way back to Canada. We clicked creatively and Brian soon joined me as a founding partner and our Creative Director.”

“I currently run the business full time, so having a partner like Brian helps us continue to focus on big picture items while being able to run the day to day. I have to be a jack-of-all-trades, but Brian can focus on items that can’t happen on the day-to-day schedule.”

As Wardrobe Apparel prepares to launch in Vancouver, Alexandra credits their early success to experiences they both had during their undergrad at Dalhousie:

“We both credit Dalhousie Commerce for putting us together in the first place. The skills we gained working with our classmates have made us better partners. Coming from the same Commerce program we have a similar skill set in terms of how we work together and we understand concepts that came from our shared professors, not a text book.”

In regards to becoming successful in whatever you’re career interests are, Alexandra has some valuable advice:

“Networking, you must learn this skill and hone it. Go to every event you can; charity, black tie, industry specific. Meet people, be genuine and it will amaze you who you meet and how they will be a part of your journey. Also, have confidence in yourself. Believing in your story and having confidence makes people want to be a part of your journey. No one wants to work with anyone that lacks confidence or conviction.”

For more information on Wardrobe Apparel, visit their website.

Alumni Spotlight: Gray Little

October 15, 2014 Andrea McKay Leave a Comment

Gray Little graduated from the CRMBA program in May and currently works for Procter & Gamble (P&G) as an account manager. Although Gray now works in marketing, his focus while on his corporate residency with BMO Capital Markets was on the banking sector.

At BMO Capital Markets, Gray was assigned projects that pushed him outside his comfort zone; something that he claims was very valuable and helped him become successful after his corporate residency was over:

“BMO has a great culture, I accomplished a lot and made some great connections. I was given the opportunity to have a lot of responsibility and to learn new skills, especially when I was given tasks that were out of my comfort zone. Although challenging, those experiences helped me gain confidence, take initiative, and recommend changes while working on projects.”

“Participating in the CRMBA program will lead you to great things. Even the smallest skills you learn will affect your professional career. For me, it was learning how to develop a strong elevator pitch. On Interview Day, it was my pitch that caught the attention of BMO.”

“Your corporate residency will help you step outside the box and feel more confident in the workplace. More importantly, it will give you a good idea of what you want to focus on with your career. It will help you realize what you are good at and what profession you truly want to pursue.”

Using the skills he gained while on his corporate residency, Gray later attended a P&G information session on campus where he spoke with P&G representatives. By showing initiative and networking, Gray was able to have a good conversation with the representatives which increased his interest in working for P&G. The conversation he had during the information session lead him to apply for a positon at P&G online. Gray was hired soon afterwards.

Through the career development skills he gained during his corporate residency and the valuable company insights he received during the P&G information session, Gray has become a strong member of the P&G team.

For more information on career opportunities with BMO, visit the Career Opportunities page of their website.

For more information on career opportunities with P&G, visit the Careers page of their website.

“An Incredible Opportunity” – Halifax Corporate Tour Winter 2014

March 13, 2014 Management Career Services Leave a Comment

Friday, March 7 saw 30 engaged students from Dalhousie’s Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Management Programs take part in the Winter 2014 Halifax Corporate Tour. The tour was divided into two tours because of its popularity as a great career exploration opportunity. Eight local organizations representing different industries were visited over the course of the day. It was a fantastic experience for those students who took part in it.

Tour One participants at CEED.

All of the students met shortly after 8:00 am to get a briefing on the day’s activities. The early start was necessitated by the first visit scheduled at 9:00 am, but it didn’t put a hamper on anyone’s enthusiasm. The eight organizations visited were CEED, Colour, Labatt, NTT Data, PwC, RBC, T4G, and TD Bank.

The participants were impressed by the reception they received at each of the organizations. They were treated to networking and presentations by representatives from different positions within each organization. Representatives ranging from senior management, recruiters, front line employees, Dalhousie alumni, and in some cases, Dalhousie co-op students all took the time to meet with them. The hour and a half at each stop passed quickly, but it was great to get a taste of the culture, physical work environment, industry challenges, and varied career paths of the people they met.

Group shot of tour participants at Colour.

Tour Two participants at Colour.

Yiran Chen, Bachelor of Commerce student said, “The Halifax Corporate Tour gives me much more than I expected. This is an incredible opportunity to learn about the companies and to show them our personalities as well.”

Yiran Chen at CEED.

MacKenzie Dundas, Bachelor of Management student said, “Overall an amazing opportunity-would recommend to everyone in this program.”

MacKenzie Dundas at T4G.

To discover more about the Halifax Corporate Tour student experience watch our You Tube video, and check out our Facebook album and search #HfxCorpTour on Twitter.

Interested in participating in a corporate tour? Registration for the Toronto Corporate Tour is open until 4:00 pm on Tuesday, March 18, and there are still spots for the Accounting and Marketing streams. For full details on the tour and registration, visit our website.

Spotlight: Taylor Thompson

December 11, 2012 cr549421

Is the experience and/or skills section of your resume lacking? Feel like you have limited connections to professionals? Getting involved in your campus community is beneficial as you search and compete for employment opportunities.

Getting involved and taking on new responsibilities has certainly proven to be beneficial for 3^rd year Commerce student, Taylor Thompson. Participating in extra-curricular activities since his 1^st year, Taylor began as a member of the Dalhousie JDC Central team, and is currently Co-Chair of the 2013 Planning/ Host Committee. He has also worked as a Resident Assistant and been an active participant in the Residence Charity Face-Off.

This type of involvement proves your abilities to employers; showing enthusiasm, dedication and leadership. Start a new year off right! Volunteer opportunities (of all commitment levels) are advertised on myCareer or contact your Career and Recruitment Specialist to learn more.

Join Dalhousie’s Networking and Career Fair

November 28, 2012 cr549421

Join us on Tuesday, February 5, 2013 in the McInnis Room of the Student Union Building for the annual Networking and Career Fair hosted by Dalhousie’s Career & Leadership Development Centre team. The fair will be open to students from 11am to 3pm.

This is a great opportunity for students to communicate directly with employers about jobs and career opportunities, whether full-time, summer, experiential, or part-time. It also provides an excellent platform for employers to identify talented and skilled individuals ready to enter the workforce.

Participating employers will also have the opportunity to hold on-campus interviews beginning at 1:00pm on the day of the event, as well as on Wedneday, February 6th from 9:00am to 4:00pm. Register and setup your account on our website at www.myCareer.dal.ca. Once you have set up an account, and it is approved please register for the Networking and Career Fair by logging in and selecting “Event Registration”.

The registration fee for the event is:

Corporate Businesses & Government	$350
Non-Profits	$175
Summer Camps	$85

All registrations received after January 20, 2013 will to include a $50.00 late fee.

If you have any further questions or require additional information, please contact Roshika Manning at recruit@dal.ca.

How To Make Your Office Holiday Party A Joyful Event

November 26, 2012 cr549421

Seize the opportunity. View the holiday party as a chance for one-on-one time with colleagues, your supervisor and/or any other senior management. Social functions such as these are a great way to build a stronger network and enhance your career.
Participate. Take the opportunity to show you are a good team player and fit for the company. Although most social functions are not mandatory, these things are considered by employers when assessing you for future career opportunities.
Restrain yourself from massive consumption of beverages and food. Even if others are doing it, you are responsible for your own impression. People always notice those who overindulge.
Be aware of the guest policy. Avoid the awkward moment of bringing a friend or partner when the event was for employees only. Confirm that guests are allowed before inviting anyone to accompany you.
Consider your attire. For an office social function, it is okay to dress up a little more than what is worn for your average work day, however you still want to ensure you appear professional. Avoid clothing that is too casual and/or revealing. When in doubt, check with your colleagues for what is appropriate.
Be Inclusive. Remember that not everyone celebrates Christmas, so to be safe say “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings”.
Show appreciation. A lot of effort goes into planning social events, so extend a heartfelt thank you to the event planner(s).

Remember, while office holiday parties are a social function, these are still your co-workers. Be professional and avoid saying / doing anything that you’ll regret the next work day.

To learn more about what is coming up during the winter 2013 term, check out the attached handout and/or visit the myCareer events calendar. As always, if you have any questions pertaining to your co-op/ internship and/or overall career development please contact Management Career Services at mcs@dal.ca or 902.494.1515

Happy Holidays!

Student Spotlight: Andrew Quinlan

November 7, 2012 cr549421

Do you feel like the experience section of your resume is lacking? Worried that your competition has more to offer? Third year Commerce student, Andrew Quinlan has found a way to increase his involvement and develop his professional capabilities by participating in Case Competitions outside of his academic and co-op work term schedule.

Andrew initially got involved with Case Competitions by participating in a social team event. Since then he has participated in the JDC Central Case Competition as Co-Captain, as well as the Dalhousie Business Ethics Case Competition as Chairperson.

“Participating in Case Competitions have been an incredibly valuable experience. I have developed vast leadership and project management skills, and have made connections to many talented people. Regardless of what year you are in, or what your interests may be; I encourage other students to become involved and participate in Case Competitions. There is so much to be gained!”

Student Spotlight: Jenny Weatherston

October 10, 2012 cr549421

Even before returning to campus to start her 2^nd year in the Commerce program, Jenny Weatherston has already secured a job for her winter work term. How did she do it? During her summer vacation, Jenny contacted people in her network; including a family friend who worked at an accounting firm that hired co-op students. A few emails and an interview later, Jenny had secured her first co-op job.

“Networking is an essential in finding a co-op job opportunity. The MCS Workshops really helped me with networking, preparing my cover letter and resume, as well as preparing for the interview. I would suggest starting your search as early as possible. It is very nice to come back to school and concentrate on my midterms, as opposed to trying to find a Co-op position.”

« Previous Page

Archives for Networking