MBA students work on national research project

(Posted from VIU news)

Four Master of Business Administration (MBA) students from Vancouver Island University are working on a nationally funded research project to help one of Canada’s oldest First Nations communities improve living and working conditions and stimulate the economy.

The students are in Aklavik, located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories on an MBA internship.

“We’re helping the community of Aklavik develop an economic sustainable development plan,” said VIU student Abdulkader Mahairi. “The population of Aklavik is about 600 people with over 90 percent Aboriginal people - Inuvialuit, Gwich’in and Métis. It’s a great learning experience.”
The students secured $166,000 in funding from MITACS ACCELERATE (a national program that supports graduate research), the government of Inuvaluit, Billy Archie Contracting and Consulting and the Government of the Northwest Territories.

“What an amazing international experience for these learners,” said MBA program coordinator Brook Pearce. “Team members include Edwin Kolausok of Alkali, Abdulkader Mahairi from Saudi Arabia, and Arvind Chauhan and Gaganjot Singh, both from India. This team really encourages us in the MBA Internship Office. They are living examples of our MBA internship vision – to inspire professional excellence and self leadership.”

Team members are rotating shifts back and forth between their research head-quarters in Nanaimo and the communities of Aklavik and Inuvik. “We’re identifying community needs/desires and taking an inventory existing community, human and social, infrastructure and economic development (business) resources and opportunities,” said Mahairi. “We are analyzing socio-economic practices and available technologies, and government policies related to advancing Aboriginal and northern development. Finally, we are identifying gaps in resources.”

The information will be used to develop the final plan to assist the community in advancing towards its socio-economic goals for the benefit of community stakeholders and the Northern Arctic.

The idea for the internship came about in 2008 when VIU MBA student Edwin Kolausok was approached by people from Aklavik at the Aboriginal Business Conference in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Kolausok attended the conference on invitation of the Northern Aboriginal Business Association to photograph and write articles of the event.

There he met key Aklavik business people, elders and government leaders who expressed an interest in completing a comprehensive cooperative community economic development plan for their community members. He brought the idea back to his MBA cohorts, set up a research team and applied for funding.

Mahairi said the plan could also act as a pilot project for exploring the role of traditional economic activities in remote communities in today’s modern world.

“Aboriginal people in Canada have faced extremely harsh oppression in the past - politically, economically and socially, making them among the most impoverished people in Canada,” added Mahairi. “But with Treaties, settled comprehensive land claims, education and economic development they are emerging to embrace their inherent potential of once again becoming socio-culturally and economically self-reliant.

“Partnerships are critical to successful economic development outcomes and the First Nations and Inuit people of Canada can re-establish their socio-cultural and economic inherent rights, which will in turn advance Canada as a nation that is compassionate about equality in sharing the economic and social development of our nation.”

The plan is expected to be completed by October 2009.

The project involves several partners including MITACS-ACCELERATE (a national internship program), Aklavik Community Corporation (the local Inuvialuit government), the Aklavik Indian Band (Local First Nation government), Hamlet of Aklavik ( Local governing council) Billy Archie Contracting and Consulting, the Government of the Northwest Territories and local leaders, elders, business people and community members in general.

The Accelerate Program is made possible through the support of the Government of Canada, the British Columbia Ministry of Small Business, Technology & Economic Development, the Manitoba Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy & Mines, the Newfoundland & Labrador Ministry of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, the Nova Scotia Ministry of Labour and Workforce Development, the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges & Universities, the Quebec Ministère du Développement économique, Innovation et Exportation and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Advanced Education, Employment and Labour.

MBA Students Enthusiasm Builds VIU's Reputation of Excellence

$4,500 is going to the Child Development Centre thanks to the enthusiasm, determination and creativity of VIU's MBA learners.

The benefits of this outstanding group of student's actions is not only to raise funds for this worthy cause however.

The enthusiasm, so aptly demonstrated at the Silly Boat Regatta festival in Nanaimo last Sunday, also happens to be the ingredient that employers across the country are seeking in every new hire they make. It is the hallmark of those self-leaders striving for excellence and refusing to give up the power to determine their own fate.

"This activity encompasses what the MBA is all about; on your feet thinking, strategy and developing confidence," said David Pincock, one of the MBA student leaders. David's involvement and enthusiasm was very apparent throughout the event, and well before the crowds formed at the tents. Pincock met and spoke to an impressive 40 CEOs and business leaders to rally prize contributions and awareness of the event and the cause.

So not only did our MBA learners stretch their legs and practice their business skills in a fun environment with real people and results that will have a lasting and significant impact, they also added to their list of accomplishments and gave a local boost to the degree they will soon receive.

People noticed the efforts of VIU's MBA students; people who count in the job market. "Sponsors such as Air Canada were very impressed with our work ethic and internship possibilities may be possible after follow up with those people, " said Sean McCarthy, another of the MBA student leaders who personally impressed the Air Canada representative with his megaphone announcements of the prize that Air Canada had generously donated.

Will this lead McCarthy to an internship or job opportunity? Perhaps, but we do know that the profile of VIU's MBAs was significantly raised -and that our MBAs understand that the door of opportunity opens only to those who knock on it.

Thank you to the leaders and inspirers of this event.

Surprising Opportunties for MBAs

What opportunities are out there for an MBA these days?

Many new MBA grads are asking this question and the answer may surprise you.

To paraphrase an experienced, highly successful business person and MBA, the best thing you can do is forget about your MBA -nobody is hiring a piece of paper; they're hiring a PERSON -with a particular attitude and skill set.

This is not to undervalue MBA learning. It's simply to state that an MBA toolbox is only as powerful as the PERSON who weilds the tools.

The correct question therefore is; "How do I become the right person for the opportunities that are out there?"

In fact many of the success stories that are told by Executives and recent grads at VIU's Executive Hour presentations carry the thread of how the path they followed demonstrated that they were the right person for the opportunities that presented themselves (in opposition to the opportunity being right for them, a small semantic difference with a vast difference in results!)

The story of Sid, an MBA grad of 3 years now is a perfect case in point.

Sid's attitude and orientation toard work was evident from the beginning where, a fresh Commerce grad with a focus in Marketing, he worked in a major bank as a temp hire processing investment applications.

Demonstrating an excellent ability to handle routine and repetitive tasks, Sid was kept on as a filing clerk in the back office of the bank. This also, not surprisingly, he handled beyond expectation and was promoted almost immediately to higher levels of responsibility. 2 1/2 years later Sid had landed in a comfortable position and had a flouishing career in the bank.

Then Sid decided to further his studies with an MBA in Canada. He entered a 1 year condensed program with an internship. Sid attended internship prep classes and diligently participated in all of the employer speaker engagements at the University. At one of these engagements, he met with a wealthy local entrepreneur. An unpaid intership opportunity arose with one of the entrepreneur's companies. With the same attitude, determination and attention to detail Sid had utilized to climb the bank's corporate ladder, Sid now impressed the entrepreneur.

Completing the internship, Sid was immediately offered a job with a new start up the entrepreur had begun. The job didn't pay well, but it did provide Sid with an opportunity to further hone his skill set as a business analyst, and he stuck with it for just over a year.

In the meantime Sid's landlord had suggested that he should talk to her cousin who worked for Ernst and Young. Sid's immediate reaction was not to bother as he was an MBA not a CA. In spite of this he decided to connect with the contact and see what he could learn. Through an informational interview, Sid learned that E & Y actually provided a great number of services to clients that didn't require being a CA. Hitting it off well with the E & Y contact, she insisted that he be introduced to one of the partners at the local office.

Before meeting the partner, Sid did his due diligence. In addition to what he learned at the informational interview he scoured the internet for more clues to what the company did and how his background skill set would be relevant and attractive to them. When he finally met the partner he was only asked a single question; "Tell me about yourself". What ensued was a strategic conversation in which Sid managed to weave in several stories of his experiences that were directly relevant to an entry level role with E & Y.

Sid was offered a job with Ernst & Young shortly after and 2 years later is now in the same role as the landlord's cousin who he interviewed a couple years earlier.

The striking point about Sid's story is that he approached each phase of his career with exactly the same openness to learning and dedicated enthusiasm. He didn't wait around for the right opportunity for his skills. Instead he took the opportunity that was before him and followed through with it -until the next opportunity presented itself.

While looking for MBA opportunities don't forget to notice the plethora of opportunities right in front of you, even if they don't have an MBA stamped all over them.

The Most Powerful Networking Technique in the World

Technology has given job seekers the power to create a resume and send it out to hundreds of employers with the click of a button. This is both a blessing and a curse.

For one thing, it means that employers are more flooded with resumes than ever!

Also, the power to send out resumes with ease can give job seekers a false sense of empowerment. Yes, you are submitting a ton of resumes, but the question is, "Are you connecting with your audience?" "No" to this question means your resume may as well be digital fish food.

In fact sending massive numbers of resumes out is an extremely ineffective job search strategy. Even if you are an expert at interpreting job postings and great at tailoring your resume to the posting, you would still be lost in a sea of competing resume headings fonts and bullets.

(If you're sending out mass resumes, you're probably not even tailoring and therefore you're not doing much more than helping to exercise the employer's delete button.)

Here's where the most powerful networking technique in the universe comes to play. Networking, and specifically the technique of informational interviewing, helps in two different ways. First of all, it helps you gather information about the job allowing you to create a tailored resume and cover letter that will blow away any other applicants that haven't taken this step (i.e. almost everyone!). Secondly you become a known entity -not just another piece of paper screaming to be read.

Much like a journalist interviewing a person to get their story, an informational interview is a chance for you to get the story of the person in the job, industry and/or company you want to work in.

If only you knew someone in the job, industry and/or company you want to work in!! The fact is, you don't have to. What do people love to talk about more than anything? If you guessed, "themselves" you'd be correct! People love to talk about themselves so much in fact, that they're usually willing to do it with complete strangers.

Let's say for example that you want to apply for an Account Manager position at the bank. All you would need to do to arrange an informational interview would be to walk into the bank and ask to speak to an account manager. Since everyone who walks into a bank is a potential customer, you will be greeted and an account manager will soon appear before you. Poof, a second ago you didn't know anyone, now you do.

Let's walk through this example further to make sure that having secured the informational interview you now masterfully get the most out of it. Be honest with the person and tell them that you are there in the hopes of speaking with them for 10 - 15 minutes about their position with the bank (and stick to this timeline unless the interviewee is enjoying themselves so deeply that they wave their hand at your polite insistence that "surely you've taken enough of their valuable time".) Now, ask your questions, listen carefully and take notes!!

Ask your questions; for goodness sake don't blab on about yourself; you'll lose their attention and not learn anything. Listen carefully; imagine that every word that dribbles out of their mouth is gold. Take notes; collect the gold for later use.

At the end of the interview, ask the $10,000,000 question, "Is there anyone else you know who I should talk to?" Essentially you're asking them if you can tap into their network. If you don't ask they won't offer!

After the interview, follow up with a thank you note and put it in your calander to follow up with another email or note in a couple weeks. If you don't follow up, all you are getting out of the meeting is some information. If you do follow up you are building your network -which is what you need to do to get jobs, find customers, make friends, do any kind of business, live, breathe, die with peace of mind ( the latter not a guarantee but couldn't hurt).

Stay tuned for the next exciting blog post from Vanvouver Island University's MBA Internship team entitled: "Why Terrified Employers Look for Any Reason to Screen You Out"

Amazing Connections

The People Who Drive Business

No matter what business person I'm talking to, their business invariably comes down to one thing: people.

It might seem obvious, but many, many people act as if business is primarily about other things, like knowledge, education, savvy moves, creativity. These things are good, but all emerge from the foundation of people. What good is knowledge if it's not recognized? How does your education help you if the people around you aren't educated (and therefore don't believe you!)? What's savvy if no one agrees it's savvy? Is a failure ever given the title of creative?

To the point, job seekers, and internship seekers need to take the point deep into thier hearts and consciousness: business is all about people. It follows then that a key to internship and job searching is connecting with people, making a good impression and then following up consistently (note all three of these steps).

There are lots of tools out there now to do this - Facebook, LinkedIn; but in my experience the best way is the old fahioned way, talk to them, shake their hands, buy them a coffee!

It doesn't even matter if you've just arrived in a new country a don't know a single person. Providing you follow a few universal rules of ettiquette, you have absolutely no excuse for not being able to build a great network of contacts.

The network of contacts you build will be the people who mentor you, give you leads, get you jobs, become your clients, become your friends, and best of all - they are the people who introduce you to new contacts.

Stay tuned for the next Blog post on the topic of "The Most Powerful Networking Technique Known to Mankind".