Week 6 - Module 3 - Accounting, Microeconomics, Business Decision Modelling, Organizational Behavior, Pitch Workshop,

Despite the long title, the last week was quite managable. Either that, or I am getting used to the rigor. :) Well, truth be told, the last week was relatively easy on assignments (only 1 due last week). So, here is the summary of the week that flew by:

Accounting: Being an accountant's son, I know that accountants rank "up there" in the "boring index" (Sorry Dad!). But the Accounting class was nothing short of brilliance! In my opinion, there is only one person who can teach accounting in such a way that the entire class looks forward to the class. And that person is Professor John Moore. Professor Moore handled the Pre MBA class for accounting as well. Day one of accounting was almost a re-run of what happened in the Pre-MBA classes. In my personal opinion, it was a good re-run as it helped me reiterate most of the concepts that were covered in the Pre MBA classes. I would strongly recommend going through the Financial Accounting workbook as it really saves a lot of time and effort in the course. Professor Moore was funny, witty and I never thought Accounting could be this sexy! :)

Organizational Behavior: Organizational Behavior is basically HR. The course was taken by Dr. Shawna O'Grady. Shawna had taken our First week orientation course too. The course has some rather interesting case materials and prereads and I liked skimming through them. (Notice the word 'reading' has been replaced by 'skimming'). The best take away from the course, in my opinion, is having a conclusion statement or a finishing statement after an interview. A finishing statement would be something like "I want you to know that I really enjoyed this interview and ...." Basically, one sentence that sums up your interest in the firm.

Business Decision Modelling: I was (and am) extremely interested in seeing what Business Decision Modelling has to offer. The course is being taken by Dr. Yuri Levin. I have had the opportunity to attend only one session of his course has I was down with a flu on Saturday. So, at this point, I have very minimal input to give. I look forward to working closely with Dr. Levin as I think Business Decision Modelling will be fun.

Microeconomics: No updates from Micro econ as our classes begin on Monday.

Pitch Workshop: We had a 'Pitch Workshop' on Tuesday, conducted by the BCC. Basically the pitch is aimed at answering "I would love to work for XYZ Inc. because...". It was an interesting session in its entirety because 1. I went through the companies I was interested in, and their Org Structure 2. I now know what are my transferrable skills which I can sell to my prospective employers 3. I now realize that there is not much time for the OCR!!!

A typical pitch consists of 3 parts:

1. Intro

2. The organization you want to work for and why (mention the org structure, and the work they do, and how it aligns with your over all goals)

3. What do you bring to the table (based on your prev experience, mention your transferrable skills).

We also had a meet up with some alumni and it was a very interesting interaction. The interaction was being led by Cormac Evans, Associate Director - Corporate Relations and Student Programming. Among the many things I liked about the interaction, one was the ordering of questions by Cormac. Most of us will be approaching a lot of people with respect to job information. One of the main things in networking is asking the right questions about the job, and not just asking ANY question. In that sense, Cormac's questions were spot on, and would have impressed most 'future networks'. Questions like transferrability of skills, work pattern, basic skillsets needed and a whole hoard of others give you that edge over the other 10 people who will be with you, during the networking sessions. I will post those questions up soon. (In case I dont, please remind me).

On a parallel note, the class is going to Ottawa for Canada Day and it promises to be a day full of awesome fun. I hope I have recovered from this darned flu by then!!! :)

Time for some rest!

Cheers!