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10 Nov 2016, 17:01
| FROM mybjourney: Of farewells and future |
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I observe that many farewells for me lately have been abrupt and sudden. I am already physically or mentally withdrawn from the place and situation by the time I am in a position to take cognisance of what I am leaving behind. It feels as if I subconsciously withdraw myself from a proper chance to pause and say my goodbyes to my heart’s content. But then, when have goodbyes seemed enough and left you satisfied about leaving? In hindsight I am mildly relieved that I choose to leave hurriedly before reality smacks me on my face. That feels easier to deal with than the big emotional wreck I turn into, clinging on to the last shred of hope that it is not all over. Today it has been two months since the course ended. I landed back to London from my internship in India two days before the end of course ceremony, and missed the Capstone entirely. My parents flew over too and I was glad to have them and my brother with me for the farewell. This has been a very special journey and it would’ve felt incomplete without my family by my side at the ceremony, for their constant support and unconditional faith in me shape the person that I am today. The rigour of Oxford MBA, packed in a year of wanting to do more things than one has the capacity for, leaves with little time to sit back and reflect. For me, to now look back to the year that was, it feels like a time warp. We were transported in a safe cocoon, challenging our beliefs and ideas each day, learning to become better versions of ourselves, in a place more than thousand years old where countless faces came and went, each carving their own journey. The year feels as fresh as yesterday, but at the same time seems like a distant memory now.  Farewell dinner, Oxford MBA 2015-16 So what next? Back to the real world, most of us are regularly asking and are being asked this question. While many peers have gone ahead to pursue their post-MBA goals, returned to their previous jobs, gone back to their home country, others have chosen to stay back in London and make their next move. With changing political and economic scenario in many countries, falling GBP, Brexit (and now USA elections), there is obviously a sense of uncertainty around in the batch that no one has definite solution to. The new batch has commenced their program <sniff> and are eager to know where we all land, prospective applicants have been approaching asking to share our experience. I hope to write more on that in future, and be more regular with updating this blog (now that being busy with academic rigour can no longer be blamed!). For now, I have moved to my brother’s place in London and working on my ‘what next’ from here. I am evaluating the tradeoffs between finding the perfect role for myself and following my original plan of returning to India after MBA. Expect to read more on the employment scene in the coming weeks, and also on a few most commonly asked queries by applicants. So long!  
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12 Nov 2016, 12:01
| FROM Xyeek: Where Has Time Gone? 10 Things I've Learnt in the Last 4 Months |
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Most MBA blogs tend to have lots of content at the start and then generally fade out in the middle. Now being 4 months into the MBA, I find myself and this blog in the same state. In short, life as an MBA student is so full-on you really don't get a chance to write. I've composed probably 20 or so half-posts in my head on my way to classes, events etc, but none of them have actually made it into |
20 Nov 2016, 22:01
| FROM From Bench to Board (Fuqua): Marketing Roles - What Companies Look For in MBA Candidates |
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Marketing is one of those functions, that if done successfully, requires a little bit of everything. In other words, it is highly cross-functional and requires a lot of different skills. In Kathryn Ullrich’s Book, Getting to the Top, Strategies for Career Success, she states that close to a third of CEOs have a sales/marketing background, which also turns out to be the biggest bucket for CEO background functions. Being somewhat new to business, this was something I did not know before or during my MBA at Duke. I think my biggest misconception back then, which many other non-MBAs also had, was that marketing equated to advertising – the kind that went on cereal boxes at the supermarket. Advertising, while a tactic that results from the development of marketing strategy, is only a very small portion of a marketer’s role, and probably the one that is the least impactful from a value-add perspective. Where marketers add more value is in developing the strategy of a brand and deciding how to position it in the marketplace. This is the strategic side – after this marketers rely on leadership and operational skills to align teams and ultimately execute the plan. As you may imagine, the newer the brand, and the more brands that compete in a market segment, the bigger the challenge to marketers. Here's my experience taking the Marketing Strategy course at Duke Fuqua. Here’s what hiring managers and commercial leaders look for in MBA candidates recruiting for marketing roles. Before you read on, here's a backgrounder on commercial/marketing roles in the pharma industry. Continue reading » |
27 Nov 2016, 18:01
| FROM Xyeek: Consulting Recruitment Opportunities at LBS |
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So Round 1 results are out for the LBS Class of 2019 so congrats to all the new LBS MBA Admits - you made it!!! If you decide to go ahead with an MBA at LBS, it will be the start of one of the most challenging, intense, fun and exhilarating periods of your life. That said since I've had a few PMs regarding school choice from admits, I thought I should perhaps do a quick post primarily for those |
09 Dec 2016, 18:01
| FROM Xyeek: Crazy Rush to the End of Term 1 |
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It's completely insane how Term 1 is already over. We have 3 exams to do over this weekend and then that's it. This week has been a crazy whirl of final classes, exam tutorials, final assignments (strategy assignments are pretty killer), more recruiting events, study, study....study. It has been an exhilarating, stressful, fun, frustrating, exciting, tiring and 1000% intense term. I confess to |
14 Dec 2016, 02:01
| FROM gmat4IMD: The best year yet!!! |
 Finally at the end of one of the best years of my life. I would rather say it has just paved the way to a completely new beginning. The best part about IMD is how close knit the peers are. Rather than saying the traditional goodbyes we all said “See you soon” as we all are waiting for our first year reunions. It was an emotional farewell to all the peers, staff, IMD campus (where we spent most of our time) and Lausanne (one of the best places to live). As we were trained in a “Real world, Real learning” environment, we do understand that life moves on and there is always https://gmatclub.com/chat and FaceTime to ensure that distance doesn’t matter. :*) In a months time, I’ll be moving back to Europe to work for the biggest e-commerce retailer in the world. Thanks to IMD. Overall, I don’t think I could’ve ever taken a better decision in my life than IMD. From the high seas to the e-commerce giant, no other B-school could’ve made this huge transition feel like smooth sailing than IMD. Thank you very much for reading this blog!!! Good luck for the MBA and an amazing future!!! 
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04 Jan 2017, 23:01
| FROM The Oxford Comma: 2016: Year in Review |
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It’s the start of a new year, so it’s time to reflect a bit on 2016 and look at what went well and identify where I can improve. Reading My target in 2016 was to read 12 books and to write about the ones that I found interesting. Writing about what you have learned improves your ability to retain information. I also get outside my comfort zone of self-improvement books and explore biographies and history. In 2016, I managed to read a total of six books (and write about three).
Writing I had neglected this blog from mid 2015 to mid 2016 at which point I had resolved to start again and get to 12 blog posts for 2016. I managed half that number and stopped just three months after I began. The blog received a total of 500+ visitors this year which was about a 50% drop from last year. The main factor that limited my blogging was that I wanted to get serious about investing and the scene in India is very different than in the USA. Hence, I spent a considerable amount of time reading and researching the topic. It took nearly three months before I settled on a strategy and I should have more time going forward. In 2017, I am targeting 18 blog posts. In addition to the PM posts, and the book summaries, I plan to start adding in a few posts about my travels. I visited Sikkim, Udaipur, Agra, Bali, and Sri Lanka this year and plan to visit many more in 2017 so that should add to the number of blog posts. Career 2016 marked my first year as a Product Manager and was fairly eventful. My team launched our first big feature (We started development in 2015, but did not ship until early 2016), expanded in size, and began an agile transformation. Even though I fancied myself as a PM who would take on a design and business specialisation, my role in the API and Developer platform team saw me enhancing my technical PM skills. It’s definitely a welcome skill, but I still have not decided if that’s the path that I want to take going forward. In 2017, one area that I want to focus more on is my managerial/leadership skills. This is an area I had not given much thought to in the past, but as the team has grown and I move into a more senior role, it will become more important.  
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09 Jan 2017, 10:01
| FROM NandoParrado: Year 1 (and 1/3) in retrospective: academics |
Happy 2017! Here is another update, 7 months later. With this pace I might add only one more post before the end of the GSB! However, I promised that I would summarize some of the key aspects of my experience, and … Continue reading →
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19 Jan 2017, 18:01
| FROM Xyeek: It's Recruitment Season! |
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Happy new year folks! I can't believe it's already 2017. So since my last post last month, I had the joy of finishing exams, spending an awesome week on the ski trek (great skiing in Val Thorens and partying!) and travelling to Iceland and Ireland over December. Oh and catching up on sleep - precious sleep that is now back to being a distant memory. Like most other MBAs planning on trying |
21 Jan 2017, 17:01
| FROM From Bench to Board (Fuqua): Book Review: The Unwritten Rules, The Six Skills You Need to Get Promoted to the Executive Level |
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Post-MBA I became very intrigued by how senior leaders navigated their career progression. It was also at this time that I realized I learned nothing about this during my MBA and needed to fundamentally teach myself this from the ground up. I started looking around for a good read on this topic, and stumbled upon John Beeson’s book – The Unwritten Rules: The 6 Skills You Needto Get Promoted to the Executive Level. I was specifically searching for a book on executive presence, but this book fit the bill. Continue reading » |
29 Jan 2017, 08:01
| FROM The Oxford Comma: The Ascent of Money |
 Written by Scottish historian Niall Ferguson, the book is subtitled “A Financial History of the World”. There is also a long documentary of the same name that the author produced for PBS and the BBC that you can watch. The book is an good read for anyone interested in how and why the major components of our financial system such as banks, credit, debt, equity etc got started. 1) Credit and Banks Without credit, only those with capital could participate in commerce as merchants typically require an initial investment to buy goods in order to then sell them and earn a profit. However in Italy, the Church had banned the practice of Usury; charging your brother interest was forbidden and this had this removed the incentive to give loans to aspiring entreprenuers. To get around this, Venice allowed Jews (whom they did not consider brothers) to give out loans to Christians. This historical fact accounts for why a large number of banking institutions were founded by the Jewish minorities. However, loan giving was problematic for a small minority owned bank. Powerful borrowers would default on their loans and turn the local populace against the minority. To counter this, the Medici family in Florence diversified into several markets and grew larger. Although, the way in which they made money was not new, they applied it on a scale that has never been seen. This allowed them to spread the risk of default and they prospered becoming rulers in Florence. 2) Bonds Bonds were made necessary by the appetite of nations for war. They allowed the financing of wars and the victors forced the losers to pay back the bonds through reparations. Because the loser could not pay back debts to its own bondholders, it was hard to borrow if you were a likely losers and Ferguson cites the role of bonds in deciding outcomes in famous battles such as the American Civil war. 3) Equity The establishment of colonies required a large initial investment. This enabled colonisers to hire soldiers, establish forts and other defences. Then over a longer period, they could get income from the colonies. This led to the formation of equities where shareholders pooled resources to come up with working capital. Since shareholders sometimes needed the money that they has invested, they were allowed to trade their holding to other investors leading to the establishment of the equity markets. 4) Insurance You may wonder why a whole chapter is devoted to insurance. Is it really that large of a sector? The answer is that the modern welfare state that accounts for a large portion in a developed country’s budget had its origins in insurance. Primitive insurance was little more sophisticated than gambling; it was bets placed on whether ships would make it safely back on harbour. Several mathematical discoveries such as probability made true insurance possible. The first was a scheme to provide pension for the widows and orphans of Scottish clergy. 5) Housing Housing and mortage are a huge part of the the financial sector. But it wasn’t always this way. For a very long time, only the elites and aristocrats owned houses while the vast majority owned rents. As democracy took hold, Governments have tried to democratise home ownership through policies such as subsidies loans, interest deduction etc with varying degrees of success.  
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26 Feb 2017, 12:01
| FROM The Oxford Comma: INSPIRED: How to Create Products Customers Love |
 Marty Cagan is founding partner of the Silicon Valley Product Group, a consulting firm that helps companies with their product strategy. Prior to that he held product roles at EBay, Aol, Netscape among others. He is a well respected product thinker and several of the ideas in this book can also be gleaned from his insight blog on the SVPG website. I had bought this book over a year ago as it was one of the highly recommended books for new PMs, but it sat in my Kindle until I finally got around to it recently. I concur with the advice about this book being an excellent read for new PMs, it covers an incredibly broad range of topics. There are more than 40 (short) chapters in this book, so it’s impossible to talk about them all, but here are the parts that resonated the most with me. Importance of product design – Even though the author was a platform product manager, much of the book is targeted towards products which have a UI and therefore there is a lot of advice on the importance of designers. He recommends doing away with PRDs in favour of high fidelity prototypes that can be tested on actual users. Startup vs Large companies – Startups that are still trying to find product market fit are places where the emphasis is on getting things out of the door. They learn by shipping and mistakes are accepted. By contrast, large companies have a lot to lose by shipping an ill thought out feature and are much more risk averse and detail oriented. Leadership by objective and roadmaps – This management style advocates giving people a goal and letting them figure out how to achieve it. Marty advocates a similar approach to road mapping. Leadership comes with a central theme and then rather than features, gives individual teams a set of goals and lets them decide what features to ship in pursuit of that goal. Role of emotion in purchasing decisions – In the enterprise the dominant emotions are greed (If I buy this, I can save money or time) and fear (If I don’t buy this, I will lose to my competitors). In the consumer space, the emotions are more personal – pride, greed, love, lust etc. Platform product management – There are three user personas a platform PM has to consider 1) Developers 2) Business head of the developers, and 3) End users. A common error is to think that since developers are the most important as they use the platform to create apps for end users. However, the reality is that the end user and the business head are much more important. This resonated with me as it was a mistake that I made. It can be hard when your passionate development team comes up with lots of ideas on how to improve the development experience. You give in only to realise later that they didn’t really make a difference to the key objective of the product.  
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05 Apr 2017, 11:01
| FROM The Oxford Comma: What Every Body is Saying by Joe Navarro |
 Joe Navarro is an ex FBI agent who was a founding member of the FBI’s Behavioural Analysis Program. He was a body language expert who he used his ability to successfully identify suspects who were lying or attempting to conceal their involvement in any wrongdoing. In this book he draws from his years of experience to list the various ‘tells’ that different part of the human body exhibit and why they do so. I enjoyed the ‘why’ much more than the ‘what’ and therefore my summary is all about the ‘why’ but I think it’s worth a quick read if you are interested in understanding non verbal behaviour. Why ‘Tells’ Exist: When our ancestors encountered danger they were typically a few standard responses. Most of us are familiar with the first two – flight or fight. The third response – freeze is unfamiliar but actually the most common response to perceived danger. The modern incarnations of these responses and ‘pacifying’ behaviours that accompany them are the reason that these tells exist. Freezing is a mechanism that our ancestors deployed to make themselves less visible to perceived predators. Today we use it when we make ourselves small or perhaps unnoticed when we feel uncomfortable or threatened. The reverse is true, we make ourselves large to show dominance. Flight is another way to escape danger. While today, we cannot run away when uncomfortable, we try to cope by blocking behaviours such as looking away, closing our eyes, placing barriers between ourselves or leaning away from people. The feet are excellent indicators here – feet pointed towards exits or preparing to leave are clear signs that the person wants to end a conversation. Fight is the final option when facing a threat. Thankfully, it’s becoming quite rare and people tend to restrain or limit themselves. Pacifying behaviours are those that people deploy to calm themselves when they are agitated. Common pacifying behaviours include massaging the neck or touching their face. Since these behaviours are employed when a person is agitated, they provide valuable clues about their state of mind.  
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11 Jul 2017, 11:01
| FROM The Oxford Comma: Emotional Design by Don Norman |
 I’m a big fan of “The Design of Everyday Things” by Don Norman so I picked up the sequel. When the author wrote DOET, he was was frustrated about the lack of importance given to behavioural or functional aspects of design. Therefore, that book is entirely composed of functional design critiques and advice. However, he received criticisms that he ignored the other aspects of design that he then addressed in this book. There are three aspects of design – visceral, behavioural, and reflective. Visceral is how a product looks, behavioural is about usability, and reflective is how it makes you feel.  Take the teapot above for example. The author notes that he loves it, even though it’s hard to use. The unique look (visceral) and satisfaction (reflective) that it gives him more than make up for its behavioural deficiencies. Reflective: It’s the third component of design that the book spends most of its time on. Norman uses the example of souvenirs to highlight the role that emotions play in our attitude towards products. For e.g. souvenirs that look cheap and have little utility value are loved as they are usually associated with fond memories. Humans have an intrinsic need to create a sense of identity. They often purchase products that reflect their identity. This is reflected in the demand for branded goods that are often similar to cheaper generic versions. Brands exploit this by attaching emotions to their brands through advertising. Hence a brand such as Rolex will associate itself with top athletes to signal high class and success.  Prior to reading this book, I had been puzzled by some of the design decisions made by Apple. For example, the mouse pictured above is usually panned for the fact that the side buttons are in fact not buttons but for design alone. After reading this book, I understood that the designers made a conscious decision to sacrifice functionality to appeal to the visceral and reflective aspects of the buyers. They went too far in my opinion, but I now understand why. Overall, the first few chapters were interesting, but the second half of the book that goes deep into the role of emotion bored me and I skimmed over most of it. It’s not a must read in my opinion.  
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21 Jul 2017, 03:02
| FROM Sheiquiroga: Before, During, and After I Land in Toronto |
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Today's topic is about my plans on what I'll do to get equipped with Toronto life. Before I fly to Toronto, I have to make sure to do the following: 1. Print a detailed list of all the goods I'm bringing with me. We need to include the brand, item, qty and estimated price of each product. Tip: Use Excel for easier computation. 2. Prepare a hardcopy of contact list with Canadian address and other important info. 3. Bring a book or an e-reader, powerbank, and earphones to keep me sane during the flight. Don't forget to download series or movies beforehand! 4. Be sure to check all the travel documents. Put all the important ones for the border security in a separate folder: proof of funds, proof of housing, proof of mandatory work for internship, proof of my study, admissions letter etc. Arrival at the Pearson Airport 1. Be sure to not look nervous and suspicious in front of the officers. Act natural. 2. Answer Customs Form, Declaration Card and E677. Be sure to declare money if traveling for more than $10,000 CAD. There will be no taxes unless you fail to declare them, in which they will seize ALL your money and you have to pay them to get it back. https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications ... html 3. Don't exchange money at the airport. Some upper years warned us that the airport's exchange rate is around 5-10% higher than the actual market rate compared to banks' 2.5% exchange rate. 4. Get a student and work permit 5. Get SIN at the airport. 6. Travel via Uber using my home country's credit card. [Because I didn't change my money!] Arrival in Downtown Toronto 1. Get keys from Campus Coop. 2. [UofT Students] Get documents from SGS office with letter of acceptance, student permit, and passport. 3. [UofT Students] Get T-Card from school at Koffler Centre (214 College St.) 1st Floor behind Second Cup. 4. Deposit money in bank. Apply for a credit card. 5. [UofT Students] Set-up Laptop with UofT's IT department. 6. [UofT Students] Purchase a meal plan. https://ueat.utoronto.ca/meal-plans (You'll get useful vouchers too!) https://www.theexchangecafe.ca/ 7. Get an Ontario Photo Card, a useful government issued ID for official identification. https://www.ontario.ca/serviceontario 8. Buy a TTC card. 9. Buy a phone plan at Fido. 10. Buy a Zero water filter jug. 11. Buy home-related/everyday materials. 12. Buy books and a printer. 13. Buy groceries at No Frills -- one of the most affordable places to buy grocery items. 14. Register for Wushu (my personal sports) at Bamboo. Places to Shop A. Books 1. Campus Book Rental - Rent your textbooks! https://www.campusbookrentals.com 2. UofT Bookstore - https://uoftbookstore.com/textbooks/ B. Clothes: 1. Artizia 2. Wait for Cyber Monday in November for great discounts 3. Winners C. Everyday materials: 1. Amazon - They deliver the next day! 2. China Town Dollar Mart 3. Dollarama 4. Get an SPC card for discounts: https://www.spccard.ca/deals 5. Honest Ed's 6. Ikea 7. Metro - 10% student discounts during Tuesdays and Wednesdays D. Gadgets 1. Wait for Black Friday! https://shopbot.blackfriday/when-is-blac ... 017-canada Black Friday Upcoming Dates: November 24, 2017 November 23, 2018 November 29, 2019 November 27, 2020  Store Traffic During Black FridayPhoto from: https://shopbot.blackfriday/when-is-black-friday-2017-canada Note: Many retailers start earlier! Line up as early as 5AM! E. Groceries: 1. Bulk Barn - 10% student discounts during Wednesdays 2. Chinatown - One of the Cheapest 3. Costco - You need a membership card and a car! 4. Gofresh - One of the Cheapest 5. Kensington Market 6. Loblaws - For premium shoppers 7. Lucky Moose Food Mart - For low carb alternatives 8. NoFrills - One of the Cheapest 9. St. Lawrence Market - Fresh but expensive Tips to Keep in Mind 1. Check out this site for free stuff! https://www.freestufffinder.ca 2. Don't bother to bring any kind of food to be sure. But if you do, be sure to DECLARE EVERYTHING. If not, you will surely face charges if the officer find some! Don't bother bringing any kind of meat, milk, and plant-based food. They will just get thrown into the international garbage.  https://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/inform ... 9648516990 3. For restaurants, be sure to tip 15% before taxes and 13% tax. Again, the menu prices doesn't include taxes yet. 4. Grocery prices should be computed Price x 1.13, which means taxes are not yet included in tag prices. 5. No need to buy excessively thick comforters if your room has a heater. 6. Watch a lot of Border Security Videos so you know what to expect and you don't appear like a criminal bringing prohibited items with you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmR6Yxz9HB4 |
21 Jul 2017, 03:02
| FROM Sheiquiroga: My Rotman MBA Interview |
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I should have done this a long time ago, but since it's MBA recruitment season, here's my experience with the Interview. Timeline October 10, 2016 Submitted my application October 27, 2016 Ms. Tara Egan Wu invited me for an interview November 10, 2016 (12:00 PM) Interview day December 2, 2016 Tara internationally called me to let me know I got accepted with scholarship. How I prepared for the interview Clothes/Appearance Have a go-to outfit for all your interviews, so you worry one less thing every time someone invites you for one. 1. A nice black dress 2. A blazer I wore this even though it's very hot in the Philippines because I still need to project a professional impression. 3. 3-inch black satin high heels I'm a very short person. I'm actually a bit scared of standing beside my North American classmates. Ha! Ha! 4. Light to moderate make-up 5. Tied my hair into a bun 6. Nice bag that could fit all my important documents 7. Silver watch 8. Silver Necklace 9. Extra flat shoes for change after my interview!  My Go-to Outfit for All My Interviews Interview Preparation 1. If you still have time, I suggest you create a set of MBA questions and answers to review. This really helped me because it made me confident that I could answer a lot of questions. I tried to memorize them, but I constantly reminded myself to not deliver the answers word per word during the interview to avoid the robotic presentation. Visit this article to prepare for the interview: 125 MBA Interview Questions 2. Know the school's website fourfold and read the student's blogs (Such as mine! Teehee!). You don't want the interviewer noticing that you never fully researched about the school. 3. Do a mock up interview with your friend. It's awkward, right? But it's going to feel a lot more awkward in the actual interview. So push yourself and overcome! 4. Prepare to bring your resume, ID, and other documents in a nice folder. 5. Enjoy the interview and SMILE!!! :D Remember that Tara won't invite you for an interview unless she sees that you are really great. The Interview Tara interviewed me in-person at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel. We ended up conducting the interview at the lobby/cafe of the area because the conference rooms were being used by QS MBA for its preparation. I must say that Tara visiting me in my country made me 30% more nearly sure to choose Rotman. We communicated via E-mail to meet up with each other, so prepare your mobile data! When I met her, I gave her a firm handshake and thanked her for this opportunity. I asked her how is she and how she finds the Philippines so far. Moreover, I also suggested some places for her to visit the next time she comes back here. She ordered a cup of tea, but I passed because my mind is so focused on the interview itself. There were a lot of questions, but what I remembered were the following:1. She let me introduce myself first. 2. What accomplishment on your resume are you most proud of? 3. In what extracurricular activities were you involved during college? 4. What do you do exactly in your position? 5. I told her I convinced my president to increase the marketing budget in the company, so she asked me how I did that and what specific things I did. 6. What are your strengths and weaknesses? 7. What are your hobbies? 8. I think she also asked what my family does. 9. Why do you feel you need an MBA now? 10. Why do you want to study in Canada? 11. What specifically about our program attracted you to it? 12. What are your motivations and career goals? 13. What are your future plans immediately after MBA? Will you go back to your country or stay in Canada? 14. Will you continue to operate your business while having your MBA? 15. What schools did you applied to? (I enumerated them but said, "But my top choice is Rotman because _____." 16. Give me 3-5 words to describe yourself. 17. What is missing between who you are now and the CEO you want to be? How are you developing these traits? 18. Why is teamwork important? 19. How will you contribute to Rotman? 20. Anything you want to say to AdCom? 21. How are you going to finance your MBA? (I think she asked this because of the scholarship.) 22. Any questions? Prepare 3-5 questions because one question feels so awkward when you are in the interview itself. Tara is very kind in my opinion, but you could really feel her professionalism, of course. I was so nervous the whole time because I don't really do great in interviews since I don't like talking about myself. Thankfully, I still got accepted! Later that day in the afternoon, I joined QS MBA fair and talks. Tara conducted her talk too. Both Rotman and Schulich presented their MBA offerings, but, at that time, I was convinced that Rotman is the one that I want because of Tara's presentation. During the fair itself, I intended to talk with her more, but she was so busy talking to other interested students that I just bid a sweet goodbye to her and told her again how thankful I am for the opportunity. Thank You Letter When I got home, I started creating my 'Thank you Letter'. Do reiterate the highlights of your interview and your magic points, so she could remember your more distinctly! 10 November 2016 Ms. Tara Egan Wu Rotman School of Management University of Toronto Dear Ms. Tara, It was a great pleasure meeting you today. Again, thank you so much for inviting me for this interview and for giving me a vivid idea of how my life would look like at Rotman. Your personal advices about the jacket and the clubs that I could join and possibly set-up gave me a clearer path to take if given the opportunity to attend Rotman. Lastly, learning more about the school during your talk at the fair gave me further insights and better perspective about Rotman's culture. I am pretty convinced that Rotman is the best school that fits my needs to succeed. As a whole, our conversation furthered my interest in joining this institution and I'm really excited to hopefully begin my journey in this innovative school, which would greatly hone my skills and confidence into designing a company that would solve our country's biggest problem. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am looking forward to meeting you again in Toronto! Best Regards, Sheila Quiroga +639353018411 When Tara called me that I got accepted, I was speechless. I really did not expect it. I'm a very pessimistic person, and I was really panicking that I might not get into an MBA for 2017. I attended my church meetings more frequently after this to thank the Lord.  Finally accepted! This treasure made me so happy.  Two weeks later, as I opened our gate, I thought I saw another bill inserted. To my surprise, I received another sweet gesture from University of Toronto. Very touching move and much appreciated! Thank you! Happy holidays everyone! So that's it! Good luck everyone and feel free to ask me questions. I'm not a professional MBA counselor, but I'll be more than willing to share my experience because I know how it feels to be so helpless! Love, Wondersuite |
21 Jul 2017, 18:01
| FROM Sheiquiroga: Rotman Pre-MBA Schedule |
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Time flies so fast, and I think someone put my July into Fast-forward mode just like that! It's only 10 days til I fly to Toronto! In preparation, I started to do Rotman's online video courses. At first, we had some problems in buffering the videos because they were in Ultra HD quality! (Okay, maybe it's not really Ultra.) And say hello to the Philippines' fastest average internet speed of "UP TO" 1 to 2 MBPS. A lot of students reported it to Rotman's IT desk, and they were quick to change the server into Youtube, in which we can easily adjust the video into a lower quality version.  This is Professor Mikhail Simutin teaching the basic of Finance. My favorite courses in the pre-MBA were Finance Methods and Concepts in Finance. My background is purely marketing and I was really longing to understand more about Finance since I know it's extremely important even if I'm not going into that track. Back in college, we took some Finance courses, but I really did not get a full grasp of what the professors were teaching. However, in the Rotman videos, the professors explained the topics crystal clear! I just fell in love with Rotman more! To those who are not a fan of online videos (those who will just fall asleep because of lack of human contact), Rotman still got your back! They prepared a wide range of in-class Pre-MBA courses including co-curricular activities, such as the Self-development Lab, Heavy Data Analysis using Excel, Resume Workshop, and Business Writing. Note: You are discouraged from taking these courses if you did well in the Self-Assessment Test or if you finished the online courses. The courses are exactly the same with the online videos. However, I'll still join here because I'm so excited to meet and mingle with my classmates!  This is my August Pre-MBA schedule! Take note that Bamboo Kungfu is not part of Rotman. Click on the image for better quality! It was a challenge to mix and match the sections in order to match my schedule while still joining all of the pre-MBA courses! If you have not enrolled yet here, here's my section schedule that would allow you to join every single course here: Section 1 SDL: Voicing Yourself (10 AM) Admin Session (Aug 8, 12:10 PM) Finance Method (10 AM) Industry Driven Seminar Business Writing (1 PM) Section 2 Business Math (1 PM) SDL Self Management (3:30 PM) Statistics (1PM) Section 3 Foundations of Accounting (6:30 PM) Concepts in Finance (10 AM) DA & BM Level 1 (6:30 PM) Business Writing (6:30 PM) Section 4 DA & BM Level 2 (10 AM) Resume Workshop (3:30 PM) More on actual pre-MBA courses soon when I arrive there! Love, Wondersuite |
05 Aug 2017, 04:01
| FROM Sheiquiroga: Actual Experience at the Port of Entry - Pearson Airport |
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Hooray! I made it to my room in Toronto! I'm going to tell you about what happened when I landed at the Pearson Airport. I did not take pictures of the process because I'm not sure whether it's allowed. First impression of Canada: EXTREMELY DIVERSE! In our line, there were Mexicans, Chinese, Indians, Koreans, Americans, and Filipinos. The scene was so beautiful!  Right after we landed The stewardess gave us a Declaration Card before we landed. I filled it up and ticked "NO" to all the questions. However, I ended up not using this card because the technology in that airport is so advanced that they have their own machine just for the declaration card. We had to fall in long lines along with different people from different countries. When a machine turns "Green" (meaning "Available"), we could proceed to use it. Please prepare your passport because you have to scan it on the machine. Then, the machine will automatically adjust to take your photo. Get the receipt and don't forget to claim your passport! Afterwards, you have to fall in line again and show the receipt to the officer who will ask you questions about what you are doing in Canada. I told him that I'm an MBA student at UofT. He, then, instructed me to proceed to the immigration first at the left side of the hallway. Keep the receipt because you have to give it to the officer before you leave the premises. There were two lines in the immigration. If you are on a student visa, proceed to the other side of the room and fall in line. The immigration officer would call you if it's your turn. Please prepare your important documents, such as passport, offer of admission, Canadian address, proof of school deposit, proof of financial capability. I heard in another counter that the officer is asking about the work plans of the student. "Do you plan to work for 10 hrs a week? 40 hrs a week?" Just prepare to answer these kinds of questions just in case. But try to relax! On the rightmost side of the room, there lies Service Canada, where you could get your SIN number. A woman will give you a small form to fill up along with your number. Just wait for your number to be called and show your documents to the person. Then, exit the room to claim your baggages. At the end of the exit, submit the declaration receipt to the officer. I tried to use the airport's internet to book an Uber, but I could not connect properly. So, I ended up going to Exit F to grab a cab for $65 + $5 tip. Exchange rate of USD to CAD is at 1.09 at the airport. Bank of Montreal's exchange rate is at 1.25. What did not happen -Officers did not manually check the contents of my bags. -Officers did not request for the list of contents of my bags. -Officers did not check whether I have money and funds with me. |
13 Aug 2017, 13:01
| FROM Sheiquiroga: Entering Through Another Province of Canada (Sasketchewan) |
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by our Filipino guest writer from Rotman 2019, Ronald Replan Congratulations, you have received your student visa from CIC! The next step is planning how you will get to Canada. Normally, your point of entry is the city where the business school is located. However, in some cases, you might enter through a different province because of the following reasons: 1. You will visit friends and family or to go on vacation. 2. The cheapest flight you found has a layover in a different airport first. In my case, I wanted to visit friends in Saskatchewan before heading to Toronto so my point of entry was Saskatoon. Your point of entry is important because this is where you'll deal with the immigration officer, the authority in-charge of deciding whether you are clear to enter the country. DOCUMENTS Besides your student visa, you will be asked for additional documents at the Immigration so have the following ready: 1. Acceptance letter 2. Proof of funding 3. CIC's letter of student permit approval 4. Immunization certificate (if applicable) 5. If you don't have a connecting flight to your final destination yet, tell your story and what you will do there in the meantime. Show the officer where you will live and when you plan to fly out. 6. Printout of important e-mail related to your schooling These are pretty much every file you submitted for your visa application. CUSTOMS TIP: If you want to simplify your entry, do not bring items that you will have to declare to customs (see below). These items are: a. Firearms or other weapons (e.g. switchblades, Mace or pepper spray) b. Commercial goods, whether or not for resale (e.g. samples, tools, equipment). c. Meat, fish, seafood, eggs, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, plants, flowers, wood, animals, birds, insects, and any parts, products or by-products of any of the foregoing. d. Currency and/or monetary instruments totaling CAN$10,000 or more * One person had to give up flower bulbs (so yes, take these things seriously!) STEPS Here is the blow-by-blow of my experience at the Saskatoon Immigration: 1. After the plane landed, I walked to the Immigration booth and I immediately said "Here on a student visa. I will take up my MBA at the U of T but I am here to visit xxx for a few weeks" 2. Immediately, the officer asked me to move to the side (I expected this because student visas are processed differently and the process takes much longer than a tourist entry). On my way to her office, I picked up my luggage from the carousel. 3. She asked me for my passport and supporting documents. It will be beneficial to you to have as many supporting documents in your carry-on as possible. I prepared everything even those they may not ask for. 4. The waiting time was about 45 minutes after which the officer came back with two pieces of paper- my student permit and my co-op work permit. These two sheets of paper are as important as the visa on your passport. You will need them to get your Social Insurance Number and when you re-enter Canada. 5. She asked what's in my luggage and I told her they were just books - then I was good to go! Love, Ronald Replan |
27 Aug 2017, 10:01
| FROM The Oxford Comma: Agile Transformation |
Last year, Freshdesk underwent an Agile transformation. Some of the changes that we adopted were as follows:
 Agile borrows heavily from the lean methodology in manufacturing and aims to avoid waste. Waste could be due to picking up features that not required, inefficient processes, communication overhead, quality issues etc. During the initial training, I recognised several similarities to concepts that I has learned during the Operations Management MBA course. My squad (teams in Agile are called squads) has made several improvements over the last year which have increased our development velocity. While some of the changes (avoiding handoffs, iterative development) came part of the process, others (continous integration, test automation) were a a result of the squad embracing the need for continous improvement. Here’s how we went about it. MAKE WORK VISIBLEWhen I began my first job, I was confused about how little I was saving. I was earning a decent amount and not making any large purchases, yet I was saving very little. I took the advice of a personal finance site and started using budgeting software to keep track of my spending. Once I did this, I was able to see exactly where my money was being spent and I was able to make the necessary changes and start saving. Agile does something similar to drive improvements. It makes work visible by ensuring that large features are broken down into bite sized user stories and tracked using a too such as JIRA. The sprint ceremonies also a vital role in in improving transparency.
 INSPECT AND ADAPTThe agile principle “Inspect and Adapt calls for squads to come together at regular intervals to reflect on how to be more effective and adjust their behaviour accordingly. This is achieved through the sprint retrospective. Sprint Retrospective – During the retrospective the squad identifies what prevented them from achieving the goals. This feedback is then prioritised and we figure out the best way to address it. It was feedback that led us to embrace continious integration, mock testing, and increased test automation. One important point here is to keep the number of features taken up each sprint down to a minimum. Only features that you think will be shipped should be taken up. Why? First, it reduces multitasking which is a known productivity killer. Secondly, “Inventory is Evil”. Having buffer, prevents you from identifying bottlenecks in the process. In lean manufacturing, inventory is compared to a lake that hides sharp rocks underneath it. Imagine that your code reviewer falls sick. If you maintain a buffer of code reviewed features, then the QA engineer would never waste time waiting for a new feature to test. This seems good in the short term, but may hurt you at a critical time. In Agile you face the delay and then introspect on how to prevent this. For example, you could set up a process to ensure that there are multiple engineers who can code review a feature. The retrospective is critical as transparency by itself will not drive change just as keeping track of you expenses by itself will not make you save more. You need to act on the information and make changes i.e. Adapt.  
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Hi Generic [Bot],
Here are updates for you:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
AGSM at UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
Tuck at Dartmouth
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