The big payoff

Big news! Julia and I are moving to Boston! I spent March networking and interviewing, and was fortunate to land a fantastic job with a well-known software company. The position is a great fit for me; I will be working with software developers and testers to define, design, and deliver new features for one of the company's software products. I'll definitely be able to combine my development background with the leadership and management skills I acquired with my MBA. Julia and I are both really excited about moving to Boston, as we have heard great things about the city from many people. We are both scrambling to get things organized for moving. The company will take care of my visa as well as our moving expenses, however we still need to sort out Julia's situation. It takes quite a while to get the necessary certifications to practice as an R.N. in Massachusetts, so we have began filing the paperwork to try and shorten the delay.

We have had electives for the past three weeks, but honestly, with much of my time spent interviewing and focusing on recruiting I have not devoted a lot of effort towards my studies. It is tough to stay disciplined when I am so close to finishing, and I know much of my class feels the same way. Most of us are starting to focus on the next step. Some will be traveling to Eastern Europe or China for teaching projects. Some will be starting new jobs. Others will be traveling or taking some time off before resuming their job search. It has been an intense year, and with the majority of it complete it is very tempting to disengage a little bit. That's not to say that our electives are not interesting; they are! Ivey has a world-class faculty, and this is a time to drill deeper into specific areas in business. Some people focus on finance by taking electives like Portfolio Management, Advanced Corporate Finance, and Value Investing. Others focus on marketing or strategy, and the healthcare stream takes their swath of health-related courses. For me, it's entrepreneurship. I expect one day to either join a small start-up or start one myself. In my New Venture Creation class I studied some Ivey success stories, like Police Prep and Saxx Apparel, and learned that starting a new business is not just about a great idea, it's about hard work and perseverance in the face of adversity. I am also taking Entreprenurial Manager, taught by Bob Nourse, founder of the Bombay Company in Canada. He's taught some great lessons about funding startups as well as highlighting the importance of creating the right business model.

Looking back on my job search efforts since starting my MBA, I can share a few takeaways that may be useful for those of you who will be starting soon at Ivey or elsewhere. They aren't really anything groundbreaking, and you will likely hear them from your own career manager, but at least I can attest to their validity. The first takeaway is related to job sites like Monster or Workopolis. While they can be useful in discovering what kinds of roles are out there, you will find that you will get a very low hit rate in terms of applying to job postings. I applied to quite a few postings and got virtually no response. This is partly due to the current market; I'm sure each posting gets hundreds of resumes. You will spend a lot of time on cover letters and application forms for very little return. The second takeaway is to leverage your own professional network and create as many leads as possible. Contact colleagues from previous jobs and set up a quick meeting over coffee. Find out if their company is hiring or if they know of anyone else who is. Join LinkedIn and search for colleagues with whom you've lost touch. This is probably your best opportunity to find a job in a tough market. You'd be surprised at how willing they will be to help you. From my own experience, I would say that my best job leads were generated from my professional network. So let that be a lesson for you: don't burn any bridges along the way. Third, reach out to the alumni network. I was totally amazed at the response I received from Ivey alumni. To give you an example, I travelled back to Vancouver over spring break and hoped to set up a few informal meetings with alumni. I initially reached out to four individuals in the high-tech sector, thinking I may hear back from one or two and would then reach out to more. All four responded and I was able to have a long meeting with each, either in person or over the phone. Each person was very friendly and seemed genuinely interested in my situation and how they could help. Although none were able to give me any solid job leads (having just experienced layoffs at their own companies), they gave me some incredibly valueable advice that helped me to tweak my career strategy. I am positive that in better times they would have not hesitated to recommend open positions. Finally, my last takeaway would be that it pays to be focused in your search. Your time is precious during an MBA, and you will spend a lot of it applying for jobs. Being focused means that you can deliver better quality, in terms of your resume, cover letter, and interviews. Go after opportunities that truly interest you, because your passion and enthusiasm will give you a great advantage.

We have just three weeks to go in our MBA program. I'm almost done!