Monthly Archives: March 2011

As they say: Location, Location, Location

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The Rotman School of Management is located in the downtown area of North America’s third largest financial district: Toronto. Our location is one of the things that give us a competitive advantage over other good business schools in Ontario. Both being in Toronto and located in the core of downtown area have its perks.

First of all the City of Toronto; apart from being the provincial capital of Ontario, the city itself has a lot to offer.  It is the most multicultural city in North America. You can see many different nationalities on the streets and on the TTC-Toronto’s public transit system. You can taste a lot of different ethnic foods without having to leave the country! If you are an international student, you will not only find your own community but also will have the opportunity taste something from home. There are many festivals and events taking place in Toronto; you can check out this great blog about Toronto.

Being in the financial centre of Canada, you can expose yourself to many different opportunities in various industries. You can see many Canadian head offices in Toronto as well as offices of global companies. When you do an MBA, naturally you expect more options to be available to you. Thus location matters when you are doing your MBA.

As a business school, we benefit a lot from our location. Our school is minutes away from Bay Street-Canada’s Wall Street. Being in the centre of this highly dynamic city has its obvious advantages. We have access to many recruiters located on Bay Street who love to come on campus to interview our students or hold events at our venue. The campus is very accessible by subway; employers find it very easy to conduct on-campus interviews because they do not have to spend their entire day commuting. They have interviews in the morning and are back in the office after lunch. They find it very efficient. The same applies to the students. They can have a coffee chat with one of our alumni in between classes. Having this practicality makes networking fun and fast.

Toronto is more urbanised than the top USA cities along with Montreal.

 

New York 8.3 million or 2.7%        

Los Angeles 3.8 million or 1.3%           

Toronto 5.1 million or 16.2%                        

The unlimited events and public speaker series at the Rotman School are again due to our very convenient location. A lot of external people enjoy coming to Rotman to see the school and meet with different people. All of our MBA students can attend these events free of charge. These events are not only informative but also a good break from course work. They also develop new contacts and expand their network in the city.

As they say it is “location location location” that makes a place unique and highly sought after. When choosing a business school, it is definitely important to consider the proximity of the school to the city centre because it will give you clues about a number of things: on-campus recruitment, various events, guest speakers, networking opportunities and also it will set the parameters of your whereabouts as well for two years. Who does not want to live in the city and walk to school and interviews?

 

How do we “teach” Integrative Thinking @ the Rotman School?

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One of the many things that distinguishes the Rotman School of Management from other business schools is [Integrative Thinking]. I have been getting a lot of questions during prospective student interviews and at MBA fairs about this concept. Today I decided to write about it.

[Integrative Thinking] is a concept initially developed by our Dean, Roger Martin, based on his insight into how successful industry leaders solve business problems. Roger interviewed  more than 50 senior business people to understand how these successful leaders think. He discovered a pattern that he believed could be mapped out and taught, so that students could learn how to be fantastic problem-solvers too. Based on this insight, the Rotman School is transforming its curriculum to give you those tools. If this topic interests you, read Roger’s book the Opposable Mind . It is wonderful!

One very popular question is “How do you teach Integrative Thinking?” The answer is simple; we teach you how to think differently. At the end of the day, regardless of the type of industry you are in, you are working towards the same goal; to build, grow and sustain your business. Simply telling you how to solve a specific problem that is constraining a business’s ability to grow, for example, is not that helpful because you may never encounter that specific problem again. Business problems are rarely ever the same. So single-problem answers aren’t all that helpful. But providing you with a set of tools to diagnose a problem, to understand what caused it and then to generate creative ideas to solve it – now that is useful. That is the heart of integrative thinking.

You might be thinking about the admissions process and [Integrative Thinking]

What the admissions team is looking for in a candidate is a healthy mix of analytical and soft skills. You will need the analytical skills to crunch the numbers in the program. Like every business education, our program is revolves around numbers. Accounting and finance are not the only two functional areas that require basic math. When you study marketing, you will review profit and loss (P&L) statements. When you study operations, you will be calculating various costs such as overhead, transportation and inventory. When you study HR, you will be calculating indirect costs.

In terms of soft skills, we are looking for individuals who value excellence in whatever they take on, who are collaborative and open minded, who take accountability for their work and for whom integrity is important. We are also looking for individuals who are aiming to set the trend rather than follow the trends, and who see value in hearing diverse opinions. Your competitive edge will be your ability to balance analytical and soft skills wherever you go in life.

When you look at our curriculum, you will see that [Integrative Thinking] is woven in to the first year with an opening course called Foundations of Integrative Thinking and a closing class called The Integrative Thinking Practicum. In the second year, you can take further electives in business design and integrative thinking regardless of your major.

So at the end of the day, [Integrative Thinking] is a methodology that will be useful to you throughout your career. If you decide to come to Rotman, we will try our hardest to make you a problem-solver for the world! A new way to think awaits you.

 

Another great information session at the Rotman School

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Last night we had our final information session for our Evening program for the May 2011 intake. It was held at Rotman Central  located on 105 St George. We had a great turn out. The attendance was very high, approximately  50 people attended. They had a chance to explore this part time program further. We also had one of our current students with us. He shared his experience as well with our guests.

The session went on for an hour and most of the questions were around the [Integrative Thinking] curriculum and admission requirements. Our student did an excellent job of sharing his insight on this unique curriculum.

Attending an information session is very important while shopping for the best fit. There are few good business schools in Toronto and each of them has different things to offer. While all programs are somewhat similar, it is the extracurricular activities that make a business school unique. During an information session, you get to meet with school representatives, usually a couple of them are present in the room with you, at the end you have the opportunity to network with them and build good relationships. Rest assured, when you submit your application, they will remember you and will think that you are really interested in the school and committed. Also, it is your chance to explore the venue. Considering the time and energy you will invest in this program, it’s worth seeing the physical environment. At the Rotman School we always invite a current student to the information session. Hearing their first hand experience about the program is very helpful. Although the school representatives are very knowledgeable about the program they are promoting, I’d still say you should talk to a current student.  They are the ones taking the program and they will know more about the course content than anyone else outside of the program. You can ask all of your questions about the school, program, student support, career services and various extracurricular opportunities offered at school during an information session.

Doing your research prior to attending an information session is highly recommended. If you come prepared, you will have your questions ready and benefit from the session more. For school representatives, it is also important to chat with well-prepared candidates. You will experience a more productive discussion.

In order to choose the best education that would meet your needs, it is important to invest some time and energy in thorough research. You will see that if you take the time to attend an information session, check out rankings, talk to student ambassadors and visit the school, you will not learn more about the program, but also be able to develop a very competitive application with the knowledge you gained. There is nothing like it when you present yourself well and let the school know how you and they can meet each other’s expectations.

 

Is an undergraduate degree enough for a progressive career?

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You are about to complete your undergraduate degree and you are thinking what the next steps in your life would be or maybe your family already might be asking you to consider an [MBA] to further your education and to become more competitive at work. But when is it a good time to do an [MBA]?

At the Rotman School of Management, we require at least 2 years of fulltime work experience post-graduation. We accept all four-year undergraduate degrees from recognized institutions in any field and any job that requires a bachelor’s degree is considered to be professional experience. The reason for the work experience requirement is simple; an [MBA] is a practical degree. The focus is on the application of knowledge not on theory. While we make exceptions in some cases*, most of our students have at least two years of fulltime work experience under their belt. It helps them connect the dots during class discussions, also they take away more from the program. For our fulltime [MBA] program the average work experience is around 4 years and for our part time [MBA] programs the average experience is around 6 years.

When you just complete your undergraduate degree, surely your first job will be a junior position. Based on my discussions with many third and fourth year students, having junior experience on resume is viewed as a disadvantage. We do realize that fresh graduates do not get senior level positions and at RotmanSchool, we value your individual impact on the organization more than your title. What we look for is team work, showing initiative and good communication skills. When you get your foot in the door-any door- volunteer for diverse projects, don’t be afraid to leave your comfort zone. Show your supervisor that you are willing to take the extra mile to contribute to the growth of the organization. When you decide to do your [MBA] in a couple years, your supervisor will be one of your references. We all want them to say positive things about your work and soft skills.

Started working, then what?

Once you start working, you can start your application as well. As you know one of the requirements is to write the GMAT or GRE; we have been told that when people write the test right after graduation, they tend to get higher scores. On a side note, in the past, we accepted only GMAT, as of 2009-2010 we started accepting GRE as well.  Both tests are good for 5 years. When you consider the time and energy you invest in either of these tests, you will see that writing it earlier in the process will not only save you a lot of time but also will give you a peace of mind. You can focus on making an impact on the organization so that you can get good references. It is also a good idea to start working on your essays during your first year at work. To get some good tips for your essays, you can attend one of our Information Sessions and the Open House to explore the school and the program further!

For more information on this topic or to discuss your eligibility, you can always contact me at gumus@rotman.utoronto.ca

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*I will discuss these exceptional candidates in another blog entry.