Cool things in London as of late

Last weekend I got a chance to do some more exploring. The sun finally decided to come out so I checked out some of the parks in town. I visited Regents Park and Hyde Park. I’d say Regents Park reminds me of Retiro in Madrid and Hyde, of Central Park in NYC.

I say this because in Regent’s Park, it really feels like an escape into a chilled out park with cool gardens, fountains, etc. to relax and get away. Whenever it gets warmer here (the thermometer has yet to rise above 17 degrees) I will definitely be reading and taking naps under the sun there!

Hyde Park is a ginormous park with ponds, soccer fields, gardens, etc however despite being in a park, I was very much aware I was still in the middle of the city. Not a bad place but different- and not as close to my flat- so I’ll be sticking to Regent’s Park most likely.

One of my friends is staying in this neighbourhood called Shoreditch. It used to be housing projects but it has gentrified and now it’s basically where the creative community is. As such, the neighbourhood is really funky and relaxed. My kind of scene!

In an effort to minimize expenditures, I’ve been eating at home as much as possible. However, I have found some pretty cheap and good eats around. One thing that really surprised me is English chain cafes, i.e. this chain called “Pret a Manger”. They have ready-made sandwiches and wraps that you can buy (much like what you see at convenience stores and such in North America) for about $5 CAD (cheap by London standards). Given the sandwiches were ready-made I was reluctant to buy one, thinking they had been on the shelf for 8 years or whatever, prior to me purchasing. Turns out, the sandwiches and wraps that are ready-made, were only made a few minutes prior…and are very good!! So don’t let the disgustingness of such sandwiches in North America skew your judgement. The stuff here is great.

I was also introduced to this bagel place called “Beigel Bake” in shoreditch (not sure why they spell “bagel” differently on this side of the Atlantic). There is a pretty big Jewish community here in London and a family opened up this bagel store using the same recipe for bagels you’d see in Montreal or NYC!! The bagels are AMAZING!! And CHEAP!! 50 cents CAD for a bagel…YES! And there is a person carving smoked meat in a window next to the front door of the place. So awesome. I will definitely be going there often.

Finally, after about 12am, the tube stops and is replaced by a night bus network, similar to what exists in Toronto or Vancouver. I always hated night buses in Toronto because they rarely show up and stop every 4 seconds. A trip involving 1 night bus was bad. But if you were so far away from where you needed to go that you needed to take 2 night buses, forget it. You’ll be in transit forever. So I was at first a bit reluctant to use the night bus system here the few times I have been out past 12am. However with taxis being so expensive, I figured “whatever, I’ll give night buses a shot.” There are a ton of night bus routes though and they are all numbered very confusingly. My roommate who has lived in London for 7 years, gave me this recommendation “Instead of trying to figure out the number system, just look for a bus going somewhere that sounds familiar and go there”. Surprisingly that is a VERY good system! Night buses in London come extremely frequently and only stop where the tube-equivalent stations are (instead of at every 2^nd intersection like what the TTC does). So you can actually get home pretty fast as long as you know approximately how to get home. Sweet! 

Greetings from London!

Hello guys!

I am now 1 week into my stay here in London and am settled in quite well.  Some random thoughts thus far

-My flight-

The flight here wasn’t the greatest. The plane was basically full, there were no tv screens on each seat and no chargers for electronic devices on each seat. And the movie everyone had to watch was Hugo which I already saw. So I was going to be very bored for 7 hours. Not a great start! Also, the seat spacing was very tiny. I passed out almost immediately upon takeoff but when I woke up about 1.5 hrs later, I got really, really claustrophobic. I needed some space IMMEDIATELY! Luckily, a few rows behind me was the emergency exit row where:

-There is a lot of space to accommodate the emergency exits

-The people sleeping in their seats in that row were not stretched out at all

As such, I made the floor there my temporary home. Having some room to stretch my legs and have a good lie-down helped a ton!

Also, the food was terrible on the flight. I miss KLM…

-Where I am staying-

 I got very, very lucky. Through the facebook group for Canadians in London, I got connected with someone. And not just anyone! So far, things have been awesome:

-My roommate is super chilled out like me

-She has a business background like me

-The flat is in central London

-The flat is super nice

 However because this is London (in a nice flat in central London no less), it is pretty pricey but 100% worth it in my opinion,

-Food-

As you guys know, I am a foodie. So of course, I had to check out the food scene here….SO AMAZING!!! I’ll write more about food in London on my food blog (bsgk.blogspot.com). One thing I am especially happy about is most of the food I eat in Canada is available here at reasonable (by London standards) prices. So I don’t need to sacrifice much. This was not the case when I lived in Amsterdam, where a lot of North American grocery food didn’t seem to make it there. 

-Work-

I am only a few days into my job but it is pretty cool. I will basically be doing marketing and strategy for my employer (rainmaker-gbd.com). I am also helping organize and run the Canada Day celebration here in London (http://www.canadadaylondon.com/). Given the insane demands put on us from Sep-Apr, I am pretty comfortable with the pretty demanding schedule I am sure to have this summer. Bring it on!

-The Tube-

My old boss spent many years living here so I used to tell him how I wish the Toronto subway was like London’s to which he remarked “No, the tube sucks.” I can see why he complained- every day random parts of the tube system are broken or shut down for maintenance. As such, planning alternate routes to work is super important. I am lucky that to get from my flat to work, there are several routes I can take on the tube so if one line is messed up, getting on another isn’t a bit deal.

Finally, some of my Rotman friends are here for the summer too. I already got to see one of my Rotman friends the other day which was pretty awesome. I am so excited to hang out more with them here on the other side of the atlantic! It should be a fun (but very busy) summer!  

And now a forward-looking blog post!

So this past week I finished my last exams which means my 1^st year of my MBA is now finished. Pretty surreal! I’ve done the reflection thing already so now it is time for a forward-looking blog post.

-For the prospective marketers-

The class of 2013 (i.e. my cohort) includes a lot of pretty passionate marketers (including myself) DETERMINED to make Rotman THE marketing school for MBAs. We’ve learned a lot from:

-Seeing how the Rotman Marketing Association did things this past year

-What other MBA schools are doing for their marketing-focused students

-Seeing what the corporate connections centre does and does not do for us marketing people

And how to build a better "marketing school" from this. 

Our Rotman Marketing Association exec team is amazing (full disclosure, I am one of the vice-presidents of the incoming Rotman Marketing Association executive team ;-); I can’t wait for you to meet all of us! You will do well to come to Rotman next year if marketing is your thing.

-Rotman in general-

-We were actually pretty lucky that the Graduate Business Council (GBC) this year was amazing. The events they had for us were so amazing and fun. Through this, we got to see how a really awesome GBC can work and will be leveraging this awesome knowledge as the GBC for the 2012-2013 academic year. Get ready for fun….to the max!!!

-We get a brand new building. It looks pretty awesome (right next door to the existing building). So you guys will be the first to break in the chairs, desks, etc. How delightful!

-Despite what you may think, the profs are very receptive and responsive to feedback that is given to them throughout and at the end of the semesters by us students. You guys will get the benefit of our prof reviews with a great 1^st year curriculum..

-Because I am living in London for most of this summer and then going on exchange in the fall I may not see most of you newbies until January (although I will be in Toronto mid-august so hopefully a Rotman social event ensues so I can meet you guys) but rest assured, all of us soon-to-be-2^nd-year students are a delightful bunch…You will have a blast with us!

Finally, while I am on my internship in London, I will be using this blog to blog about my experiences working and living in London. I hope you enjoy!

Ranking the Quarters of First Year

There is a rumour floating around that the curriculum is being redone for the 1^st years next year and that quarters will be a thing of the past. It won’t be 2 semester either but I am not entirely sure what the deal is. Nonetheless, today was the last day of class! So I thought I would take a moment to reflect on the 4 quarters of the 1^st year of MBA school to give you a sense of how each qtr stacked up against each other:

First Quarter

Welcome to Rotman! We were busy for sure but with careful time management, it wasn’t a big deal. This was mostly because:

-Club events hadn’t started yet

-Recruiting hadn’t started yet

-There was an even balance between quantitative classes (and not that terrible quant at that) and qualitative ones

Second Quarter

The worst of the worst. Without a doubt. Never been pushed like this in my life, ever. Why was this qtr so hard?

-Club events started up

-It seemed like there was another case competition for another major (marketing, finance etc) happening every week

-Very demanding workload across all of our classes

If you cared little about doing anything but school work, Q2 would maybe have been only slightly more intense than Q1. However, the moment you added any extracurriculars (which was a given for almost everyone at school), you got slammed with work.

While it was the worst in terms of stress, workload and sleep depravity, I think it was also the most enriching knowing I could do all of the above, do it well and come out the other side alive.

Third Quarter

The easiest of the easy. This was because:

-We had only 3 final exams

-Most of the evaluation in several classes revolved around in-class work (with little prep prior to class needed)

-Not as quant heavy as Q1 or Q2

-Few- if any- case competitions

Rotman plans this like this intentionally though. Because recruiting season is in Q3, we needed the free time to go to company info sessions, write cover letters, do practice interviews, real interviews, etc.

So when you factor the job search in, the amount of work you end up doing can end up one of two ways:

-If you get a job early in the recruitment process: You have yourself a quasi vacation this qtr!

-If you are applying for jobs for the duration of the qtr: You end up working (on school work or job applications) in total about as much as in Q1.

Fourth Quarter

If you have a job already, this qtr is about as time consuming as Q1. Without a job (and assuming you are doing interviews/job applications steadily), it is about as bad as Q2. Besides the job issues, what makes this qtr tough:

-More case competitions!

-Deliverables that are timed very close together

-Lots of assignments

What helps though, is we only have 4 exams this qtr. Huray!

So if I were to rank the qtrs, they would be as follows from easiest to hardest:

Q3

Q1

Q4

Q2

This is pretty much the consensus among everyone at our school as well. 

And now, off to study for exams!

So what’s going on, potential future Rotmanites?

Hey Guys!

My friend Paige gave a pretty good synopsis of what has been a big time occupier lately here. This and our Integrative Thinking Practicum case assignments (as alluded to in my own earlier post) have been occupying pretty much all of my time as of late. In fact I have had little time to do anything else and was severely behind the game in all of my other classes. Thankfully we have a long weekend for me to catch up now!

Nothing much else new to report. BUT I know for potential Rotmanites, you have some big decisions to make in the coming days and weeks! So I thought I would open the floor to you guys who have been reading my blog.

Is there anything you are interested to know about Rotman? Don’t be afraid to ask me really weird, obscure questions either….That was the kind of stuff I myself was looking to learn before coming to Rotman. I’m more that happy to satisfy your curiosity on ANYTHING about school…No holds barred!

So ask away in the comments boxes below!      

What the heck is integrative thinking??

If you have been on the Rotman website or read anything Rotman-related you have probably seen it plastered all over the place and you are probably wondering what it is. Most of us had no idea when we started school. This qtr we are taking a class called “Integrative Thinking Practicum” (ITP for short) in which we are supposed to take the concept of integrative thinking and practice it in case studies.

Apparently there were a lot of complaints with how ITP was being taught last year so to figure out how to fix it, who better to teach the class then integrative thinking’s inventor (and the Dean of our school), Roger Martin! So Roger Martin is teaching us a class. Despite his stature in the business world, he is actually a super down-to-earth guy and of course speaks very well. Also, thus far, I really like how the class is being structured. First we did a few cases that happened in the past, so we could see how to use integrative thinking to come up with solutions. Then, we are given a bunch of cases of situations happening right now in the real world and asked to solve them. It’s cool knowing we can use what we learn in class to make an actual real world impact.

But now to answer the question in the title of this blog entry. According to Rotman’s website, integrative thinking is: “instead of choosing one (model of how to run your business) at the expense of the other, generate a creative resolution of the tension in the form of a new model that contains elements of the both models, but is superior to each.” I dare define it in a much simpler form: creative problem solving. That’s it. Basically instead of thinking in terms of very strict set of alternatives that are common in your industry, come up with some wacky new one that suits your needs.

Because I am naturally a pretty creative guy, this is not really news to me. I think like this every day. However, for people with backgrounds working/studying in fields that are very “black and white” I can definitely see the value in teaching how to be more creative problem solvers. So, people with creative backgrounds, this stuff should be easy for you. Engineers, accountants, etc, have fun expanding your problem-solving horizons!

A happy end to recruiting season

One of the big things I wanted out of my MBA was to get a job where I can get much more strategic marketing experience, working on major global brands (ideally not in Canada). I was determined to make this happen. So I:

-Met with countless people- Corporate Connections Centre, 2^nd yr students, people in the jobs I want to do- to build strong relationships and to do resume reviews to ensure people knew me and I could give them exactly what they want

-Researched the crap out of the companies and industry I was interested in…So much so that when companies I was interested in came to campus, I won prizes for my knowledge of those companies and industry

-Learned from those who got the jobs in the areas I was interested in and those who didn’t get the jobs in the areas I was interested to get a sense of best practices (and not so great practices) and ensure I would nail my interviews

-Did countless mock interviews with the people who have or had the jobs I wanted

-Ensured that in an interview situation I would be prepared, polished and perfect

And I am a super personable guy on top of that (important for marketing jobs). You’d think this would be enough to nail the job I want, right? WRONG. I got shot down from some of the organizations I was most interested in. Knowing that even when I do everything right (according to my interview feedback), it is still not enough, I got super depressed. Like, really, really depressed. And angry at pretty much every administrator at Rotman. How could this happen??

Every now and then Rotman posts jobs in other countries. I was always reluctant to apply to them because usually those jobs go to the “rockstars” of class (you know, the people that go to school, get straight A’s, are the captain of 8 sports teams and save puppies with their free time). I am a pretty smart guy but I am by no means someone like the above. So when a marketing strategy and business development job in London (England) came up, I thought nothing of it.

The CCC emailed me though and asked me to consider applying. It turned out the job was only open to Rotman students, not the population at large, which would improve my odds considerably. So I figured I’d apply. Two interviews later and I got the job.

So this summer I will be moving to London, England to work at Rainmaker Global Business Development (http://rainmaker-gbd.com/) as the Business Development/Commercial Partnership Intern.

I can’t begin to express how excited I am!! I am pretty sure I will have zero free time but the job should be absolutely amazing. So excited for it.

So after all of the stress and frustration of the last few months, I can safely say that if I can be successful in my job search, you can! Work hard, stay focused and you will be rewarded. :-)