Career Blog
Leadership Development
So what does leadership mean to you? Is it merely people with great management skills along with specific traits? This is a broad question, since everyone has their own definition of a leader. I’d like to give you some of my personal insights and advice for developing YOUR leadership skills.
An open mindset - As you develop to become a leader, learning to embrace mistakes and failure are important. Success does not necessarily come easily, and you should be clear of one thing: It’s OK if you make mistakes at work or at some point in your life. The key should be what you will do to improve upon your mistakes. Remember to never let fear of making mistakes draw you back from pursuing your goals, even if the future seems like a blur at this moment.
Self-reflection is important - Keep in mind that, ultimately, you choose the person you will become. That being said, being a leader means constantly monitoring how you portrait yourself and abiding by, perhaps, certain ethical principles to avoid being negatively influenced by fraud, bribery, and other corruptions. You can have all the success in this world, but without ethics, morals, and integrity rooted deep down within you, it’s much harder to do what’s right and you might miss out on the opportunity to have a positive impact in the world. Leaders also contribute to a positive trickle-down effect since they become role models for others.
Discover your own passion - If you pay attention to all the successful business people out there, you’ll find that passion is one of the underlying key ingredients that led them to their success today. I’d encourage you to take time to think about your own passion, and perhaps link it to your career prospect.
Getting involved - Aside from being a Career Centre Ambassador, I took on the role of an Exchange Participant Manager at AIESEC. This type of involvement helps shape your leadership development through practical experience by exposing you to challenging work environments. At the end of the day, it shouldn’t just be about getting a degree -- You need experience!
AIESEC cultivates young talents across the world, allowing students’ transition into the job market to be much smoother. If you are seeking personal and professional development and global impact, then AIESEC is the right place for you!
Here are some benefits of joining:
- You will have the opportunity to grow your professional network to develop skills that will increase your chance of employability upon graduation.
- This leads you to a new journey of self-discovery and possibility of a positive impact on others.
- Gain access to an international network and help your resumé to stand out more.
- You can do Co-op or an internship through AIESEC.
What better ways to start off 2018? Not only will you be able to go to exciting countries but your entire journey will be carefully monitored and assisted by our AIESEC members. What is there to lose? Come join us on an exchange!
To sign up for further information or an information session on AIESEC’s exchange opportunities please sign up or check out the information session on February 7.
Easy! It's Telfer's new student-run initiative that was founded by 4th Year International Management student Polly Leung. What is it actually? I'm here to tell you more!
One important thing to know is that it is a network for both male and female students to leverage. Most importantly, this is what WMN aims to do for students:
- It is here to help students to increase their confidence and give them a better idea of their desired career path through older student leaders and female professionals in fields of business.
- Their events will help students go beyond the hello with female leaders and professionals in various industries by facilitating authentic, meaningful discussions. These discussions will help you learn about women’s potential in the workplace as well as hear about the successes and the struggles they faced along the way.
- Provide various skill-building workshops that enable students to learn the necessary skills outside the current scope of their classroom.
- If you find the finance lab in Desmarais a bit intimidating but are curious to learn what it’s all about, join the WMN in exploring the lab’s resources to help you gain confidence and expand your business skillset.
- WMN also wants to build a network of primarily female students at Telfer where WMN can provide them with a safe place to support each other and give back to the community, as well as just have fun!
Stay updated and don’t miss one of WMN’s events by liking WMN’s Facebook page.
"When I had the opportunity to become one of the Co-President’s of the Telfer Human Resources Association, it was an easy decision for me to accept. In my third year of university, any opportunity I had that I initially thought “no, I can’t do that”, I pushed myself to say YES to instead. Doing this with HRA was definitely worth it. Pushing myself outside of my comfort zone is the best thing I’ve ever done! The knowledge I’ve gained from working with other intelligent and passionate individuals, as well as the confidence I now have from connecting with and speaking in front of colleagues and professionals is invaluable. Discovering how great my interest in HR is was a bonus as well!"
- Stephanie G.
HRA Co-President
Inspired by Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York, this weekly feature of the Telfer Career Blog will contain photography of individuals from the Telfer School of Management community and a corresponding narrative that gives us a glimpse into their lives.
Without noticing, the first month of 2018 is rapidly flying by us! Now, reflecting back on your overall performance in the past year, my question to you is: how well were you able to stick to the goals you had at the start of 2017? My guess is--not so well. This is why I want to share with you some strategies to help you accomplish more than you can imagine this year!
Make realistic resolutions
Ensure that your goals are attainable. Don’t give yourself goals that are extremely challenging, especially if you are not very self-disciplined. They say it’s good to start small with resolutions as they are easier to keep throughout the year. Then, you want to make sure that you set up reminders, whether you keep them on your phone or another method deemed appropriate, to help goals become easier to keep.
Set priorities, and be determined!
If you really wanted to do it, then there is always time. Give yourself a daily and/or weekly plan, perhaps, by writing it down as top priorities on your to-do list. People are usually disciplined at the beginning of the year. Yet, when personal schedules becomes extremely busy due to exams or work, you start to think goals become impossible to achieve because you are too busy. It’s like if you truly value your significant other you will spare time out of your busy routine to spend quality time with him/her. So the main idea is, don’t give yourself room for excuses to not follow through on your goals.
Say goodbye to distractions
Staying focused is important for goal attainment. Sometimes you may find yourself easily distracted by the things around you, which will alternatively make you less productive to the extent of preventing you from achieving your goals. So if your goal is to study an hour every day for each of your courses but you are aware that you can get easily distracted by your phone, then you will have to make sure to shut off your phone during those times to avoid the temptation of looking at it. Because each minute that you’ve wasted accumulates to potentially achieving one rewarding task. The point here is understand what distracts you and developing methods of your own to help you stay focused.
So there you go! These are my tips to help you become more aware of the changes that can make all the difference in you achieving your goals or not. Moving forward, I hope this little insight serves you well, not only during your studies but also in your career. Good luck!
Ever wonder what happens in the finance lab at 5:30 p.m. every Wednesday? Welcome to the Telfer Capital Markets Mentorship Program (CMMP) and Telfer Capital Fund (TCF), a program that pushes you to learn.
If you want to know the technical information about the program, you can find it all on the Career Centre website. I would like to share with you my personal experience in this program and why I think it is important that there is more gender diversity in the program as the cohorts progress.
First, back to what happens every Wednesday. If you were to walk by the lab at 5:30 p.m., you would see a group of 30 students, all professionally dressed, listening to a speaker. These speakers are the mentors that we are able to leverage long after the talks are done. Topics range from wealth management to professional and personal development. Personally, I have always learned something (or many things) from each of the speakers. These speakers are experts in their fields and each have more experiences than all 30 students combined. They also don’t sugarcoat the truth; it takes a lot of hard work and passion to be successful working in capital markets.
At around 7 p.m., the speaker leaves and the second part of our meeting begins. This is when we transition from CMMP to TCF (aka Telfer Capital Fund). We are in charge of making sound investment decisions to provide a return that will be used towards the finance lab, and therefore benefits all Telfer students. It’s in coming up with these investment ideas that, I believe, the most important mentorship is present. There are students of varying knowledge levels within the program. Because of this, we mentor each other to better our investment ideas and how we defend our choices. It truly is an incredible opportunity to be surrounded by 30 dedicated students who are always willing to help, even when they’ve finished the program.
As you can tell, this experience has been very rewarding. But one challenge that has always plagued this program is the lack of interested women. This has stumped our board of directors and leaders for the past three years. Perhaps this program is viewed as the “boys’ club” and it can be intimidating seeing 27 guys and only 3 girls. Perhaps there’s just not enough information reaching students of what this program can do for you or how we treat each other within the program. This could all be true but I hope I have dispelled some of these stigmas towards this program above. There is nothing but respect between every student and every speaker involved in TCF. However, there needs to be more gender diversity to further our thinking and create deeper discussions.
Lastly, if you are under the impression that TCF is only for students who want to go into investment banking, you are mistaken. This program will open so many opportunities, will discuss so many topics that you had no idea about, will make you think about what you’re in and where you’re going and will keep you focused on continuing to learn.
"The inspiration to create WMN came from joining the women's network at American Express when I worked there this summer. They are one of the top employers in Canada for Diversity Management, and won the award several times because they have so many networks; millennials network, remote workers network, women’s network; the list goes on. I joined their Women’s Interest Network, WIN. The interest came when I went to their roundtable series. Led by 3 VPs, a group of 20 women of all ages and seniorities had the opportunity to have a conversation. I have never found such an authentic and genuine community of people who were willing to share their vulnerabilities and hard life lessons. I was so inspired that I immediately sent an email off to the Relationship Managers at the Career Centre. Once I started it, it wasn't just me but every person I talked to opened another door for me and it blossomed from there. It is so empowering to be in an environment where you see women leading at the front lines and supporting each other. If you're passionate about something, it grows."
- Polly L.
Founder and Network Lead, Women in Management Network (WMN)
4th-Year International Management Student
Inspired by Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York, this weekly feature of the Telfer Career Blog will contain photography of individuals from the Telfer School of Management community and a corresponding narrative that gives us a glimpse into their lives.
The countdown is on! Next Thursday, January 25th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Telfer’s largest networking event, Telfer Networks, will be back for all Telfer undergraduate students!
What can you do to make the most of this networking event?
1) Do Your Research
Find out what companies will be there! Make a goal of which companies you want to network with and check their website to see if they are recruiting for any student positions. Come prepared with questions and a good sense of the company so that you can be engaging in the conversation. Be open-minded to other industries and sectors that you would normally not consider, you never know what you may learn about the company that could interest you!
2) Update Your Personal Marketing Tools
Your resumé, LinkedIn profile and elevator pitch are all tools that help define the young professional you are. Make sure they are to up-to-date, revised and strongly reflect your professional and educational skills and achievements. Check out the Career Centre’s online resources for more helpful tips.
3) Sharpen Your Overall Appearance
Practice your handshake, make sure you have a good grip and great eye contact. Dress smart to show that you can be the part, if you are having difficulty searching for professional attire check out Laurelle’s article from September. Telfer Networks will also be having LinkedIn photos taken, another opportunity to capitalize on your sharp looks. Finally, smile and be confident!
To help you prepare for Telfer Networks, the Career Centre will be hosting a variety of workshops and clinics, which include:
- Drop-in hours with Ambassadors – January 19th
- Networking 101 Clinic – January 22nd
- Making a Good First Impression (facilitated by Logan Katz) – January 23rd
- Workshop: Preparing for a Telfer Network Event – January 24th
Did you know that it takes only 7 seconds for a person to make a first impression? Not to mention, people are attached to their first impressions. Now, when you meet a professional wouldn’t you want to give them a great first impression? You have to prove yourself and one of the key ways to do so is through the image that you project. In this article you'll find the most important things that you need keep in mind to enhance others’ perception of you.
1) Dress To Impress
In a networking setting or an interview, you must dress professionally. This way you show that you are well prepared for the occasion and it will serve you well in those first 7 seconds!
2) Stay Confident
Not only does your outfit show you off, but also your confidence. Body language strongly contributes to setting a good or bad first impression. Maintain a good posture and talk comfortably and what you say will be more easily received! Also, your manner will be engaging and will help the professional open up and have a great first impression of you.
3) A Good Handshake Goes a Long Way
No one likes a sloppy handshake and it sure doesn’t support your image. Neither does a very harsh handshake. Breaking their knuckles is not a good idea. A moderately firm handshake is more than perfect.
4) Never Forget To Maintain Eye Contact and Smile :)
As simple as it gets! A smile and eye contact should always accompany the handshake. Smiling makes you look more friendly. Even throughout the conversation maintain the eye contact and smile as long as it is appropriate. For a first impression you don’t want to seem like a person that is not welcoming.
After a fantastic holiday break, it can be difficult to get back into the school mindset. From spending time with loved ones to spending time with your textbooks, it is not always a fun transition. Here are 3 tips to keep in mind to prepare for a successful second semester:
1) Keep your mind sharp
After a long and stressful exam season, taking time to relax is important. One way you can continue to keep your mind stimulated while remaining stress-free is reading for leisure. Find a good book and cozy up by the fire to keep your mind sharp and relaxed.
2) Get prepared
To get the most from this semester, you should be prepared for what is to come. Some small easy ways to prepare include; reading course syllabi to know what each course is about and what it consists of, find your textbooks, know your schedule, and ensure you have all of the supplies you need for the semester. Not only will this make you more aware of what your semester might look like, it will make the transition from holidays to second semester less stressful.
3) Plan your time
Now that your course schedule is set, designate time each week for studying and de-stressing. It is important to allocate time for studying to ensure you keep up with school work, but it is just as important to set aside time for relaxing. Keeping an updated agenda with tasks to do is one way to do this. By organizing your time effectively, you will be able to avoid stress by staying on top of your work and making time for yourself.
Hope you had a wonderful holiday and we wish you all a very successful second semester!
"In general, my experience at Telfer has been good. I found the classes from some professors quite stimulating. I was also involved in clubs and extracurricular activities that gave me the opportunity to make the most of my academic experience. I find that the activities provided by the Career Centre help students develop skills and build their professional profile. I'm supposed to go to Madrid in the winter for an international exchange. I would like to improve my third language, which is Spanish, and gain a better understanding of international markets, especially European markets with which I’m less familiar. Since my professional goal is to pursue a career abroad, I will benefit a lot from this exchange."
- Olivia T.
4th-year International Management student
TA for ADM 1700 class
Inspired by Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York, this weekly feature of the Telfer Career Blog will contain photography of individuals from the Telfer School of Management community and a corresponding narrative that gives us a glimpse into their lives.