February 2012

For Business Students, by Business Students

LAZY FAIRE RESUME 101 LA FAVORITE delightfully sweet what you need to know

February 2012

AILEENA MINHAS The SoB’s HR Honcho

RUZE FASHION the

Business of Greeting Cards 1

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Editor’s Note

Editor’s Note Karolina Zheng Editor-in-Chief kzheng2@ualberta.ca Lance Chung Content Editor lance1@ualberta.ca Ryan Jayatunge Design Editor rjayatun@ualberta.ca

Lazy Faire Team Content

Alex Manolii- Senior Contributor Braden Lauer - Senior Contributor Breanne Pisani - Senior Contributor Eileen Lee - Senior Contributor Paul Lopushinsky - Senior Contributor Sally Au - Senior Contributor & Creative Director Matt Crowley - Senior Contributor Bonnie Truong - Senior Contributor Kirsten LePage - Senior Contributor

Design

Emily Wong - Creative Director Jeff Mah - Photographer & Creative Director Jenny Troung - Creative Director Matthew Alexander - Creative Director Nitasha Happy - Creative Director Shirley Guo - Creative Director Tony Chiang - Creative Director

Passion is something we all have but is unique to each and one of us. It is what pushes us to strive to do our best and what motivates us to keep going. Passion is this month’s theme for Lazy Faire as we explored what others are passionate about. In this issue we explored Mary McPhail’s travel experience in the BEA’s newsletter, recent graduate Angelo Talamayan’s passion for entrepreneurship as he started Ruze Fashion and Greg Overholt’s, Executive Director of Students Offering Support, enthusiasm in helping to make a difference.

For this month’s community spotlight we interviewed the delightfully sweet La Favorite Pastry Shop and went behind the counter to learn more about what they do and why they do it. Last but not least, we are highlighting the passionate, involved and hardworking, Aileena Minhas, as this month’s student spotlight. As class assignments and impending midterms have already begun, good luck in your studies and have a happy Valentine’s Day! - Lazy Faire Editors

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February Table of Contents

Academics

04

06 07

Arts & Sports Business

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Student Life

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Follow Us!

CALENDAR

COVER LETTERS & RESUMES

12

RUZE FASHION

10

UAHRMA MENTORSHIP CONFERENCE

14 15

BUSINESS OF GREETING CARDS

16 17

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: LA FAVOURITE PASTRY SHOP

18 19

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: AILEENA MINHAS

08

SUSTAINABLE CAMPUS

09

STUDENT’S OFFERING SUPPORT

13

BEA NEWSLETTER

Lazy-Faire Magazine

lazyfairemagazine.blogspot.com 4

www.bsaonline.ca

@lazy_faire

Calendar

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

February

Wednesday

1

BSA Anti-Burnout

Thursday

6

7

8

12

13

14

15

16

19

20

21

22

23

26

27

28

29

RMBS

MISC Database Deathrace

RMBS

RMBS

3

2

5

EDGE Business Competition

Friday

EDGE Business Competition

9

BEA Nation to Nation

5

4

EDGE Business Competition

10

11

17

18

24

25

UAMA Wine and Cheese

BSA Speaker Series BSA Cohort Event 2

RMBS

Saturday

RMBS

Academics

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Resume 101

By Alex Manolli

As the second semester begins, many business students in

their last semester start thinking about their life and work after University while others are looking for a job during the summer months. In order to do so, putting together or updating our résumé is a necessary activity. This is very fun and exciting for some people. For the rest of us, we have no idea where to start - how do you know if something should be included? Who would you even ask?

We had the chance to meet with Melanie Tymofichuk, the Cooperative Education Coordinator at the University of Alberta and one of the many great individuals at the Business Career Services Office, found on the 2nd floor of the Business Building (Room 2-21). We talked about the resources that Business students have at their disposal through the Business Career Services Office, as well as some general tips and strategies that job-seekers will find useful. Enjoy!

Lazy Faire: Give us a quick overview of what the Co-op office does and perhaps what services are available for business students.

Melanie Tymofichuk: Well a lot of people think of us as the CoOp office, but we’re actually a lot more than that. We are the Business Career Services office so our mandate is to serve all students at the Alberta School of Business. The career services side of our office is available to any current Business student – we have job postings, we do résumé and cover letter reviews, we have a mock interview program that we’ve run in January and September, and obviously students can come in for general career counseling. The second part of our office is the Co-op side, which is more of an intensive career development program where students do twelve full months of work experience that is full-time paid and career related before they graduate.

LF: How important is having a successful résumé to getting an internship?

MT: The résumé is an important part of the package. It’s not the only thing, so a great résumé alone will not get a student the job. A résumé is part of the process, as there are a lot of other factors that are involved, including the cover letter, the student’s interview skills and the job-searching skills of the student.

LF: What are the general problems that you find when a student comes in for help?

MT: One of the biggest things is making sure that you proofread résumés and cover letters. That is probably the one thing that can guarantee that a student’s application will be put in the “No” pile by the employer – spelling mistakes, as well as problems with grammar.

In general though, in terms of students looking for career opportunities or summer positions, sometimes students will wait too long to come in and see us. We would like students to come see us as early as they can, throughout their university career. A lot of students will come after they’ve written their final exam and say, “Now I’m ready to start my job search,” but in the mean time they have missed out on a lot of opportunities. So starting early and being proactive are some of the best things that a student can do.

LF: What is the first step for someone that has to work on their résumé?

MT: The first step in putting together your résumé would be to take a look at the handbook that we have. It is available on our website or it can be picked up in our office. In it, there are lots of tips on how to properly write a résumé, and it includes a sample résumé as well. Students can take that and get started on the right path. After that, we encourage students to bring in their

A Gateway to 6

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Academics résumé to our office for a review and we’ll give them a lot of feedback so they can go back and make it as good as possible.

LF: What other general tips and strategies would you suggest?

MT: One tip would be to pay a lot of attention to your application package and make sure it is an accurate reflection of your skills and abilities, and that it’s customized to the particular job being applied to. Students will often have one cover letter that they send out to all potential employers. Employers are smart – they know this is something you are sending to everyone and they pay more attention to application packages that are customized to the particular job. As well, it is very important to start the job search early.

When it comes to business-focused job searches, students need to expect for it to take a lot of time and work. They’ll be sending out a large number of applications.

Some students will only expect that they have to send out three or four applications, but when you’re applying for business jobs, it’s more likely that it will take a much larger number than that.

LF: What kind of things make a résumé stand out?

MT: There’s two parts to it. One is the general structure and organization of the résumé. Employers, especially at a first glance, may only spend 30 or 60 seconds on a résumé. Therefore, it needs to be organized in such a way that it is very easy for them to find information. A résumé that looks cluttered, or has large blocks of text, might discourage someone from looking at it.

Also, I think sometimes students try too hard to find a really fancy way of doing things or saying things that makes them stand out, but will often overlook the basics – making sure the content is there, good grammar, good spelling. This is a reflection of their communication skills and attention to detail.

LF: There are new trends out there when it comes to résumé

presentation (i.e. infographics). What are your thoughts on these trends?

MT: We don’t generally follow résumé trends when we give advice to students because we have found that they come and go.

Instead, we actually go to the employers that recruit from the School of Business and ask them what they are looking for. This is what we base our advice on. Employers are looking for something that is easy to read, that has good content, demonstrates great communication skills and conveys complete information about the person.

One point, however, is that the type of job that students are applying for will affect the kind of résumé that is expected from them. For example, a finance student would most likely need a one-page résumé, which is different from the standard of two pages that we usually recommend. This is because finance employers are looking for students who know how to concisely express themselves.

A marketing student, however, would have more flexibility in terms of the appearance of their résumé. In this case, maybe including something that looks a little bit different might have a bigger impact than an accounting student, where an employer probably would not put as much stock into creativity.

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Some of our students are applying to jobs not only in Alberta and Canada, but also in different parts of the world, where the standard is completely different. There are things that employers would expect on a résumé from a student who is applying for a position in Europe or Asia that would not be expected in Canada. It is important for a student to look at what is expected for their particular industries. While our advice is aimed at Business students as a whole, there are some nuances that students need to be aware of.

Opportunity 7

Student Life

SUSTAIN SU: Sustainability Services for Students SUSTAIN SU is a division of the Students’ Union here at the UofA. If you haven’t heard of it before, the group provides students with many opportunities to be more “green” and environmentally aware on campus. The risk of our landfills reaching capacity has always been an issue; just last year the city collected over 200, 000 tons of residential waste. However, there are many ways you can contribute to reducing waste. Every little bit counts! SUSTAIN SU offers educational presentations where students can learn about what environmentally-friendly programs are being offered on campus and how to get involved.

One of the most successful green initiatives currently being offered to students is the e-waste recycling boxes. Located at every Infolink booth on campus, students are able to conveniently dispose their batteries, ink/laser jet cartridges, cell phones and other small electronic waste articles. These items are then taken to one of Edmonton’s eco stations for proper disposal. Just last year 1105 ink cartridges and over 300lbs of batteries were collected from this program, resulting in less toxic waste in our landfills! In addition to this, every cell phone collected is sold for $1 per phone to Pitch-In Canada, a national non-profit cell phone collection program. These generated funds are then channeled back into funding for SUSTAIN SU’s other initiatives!

Along with this, SUSTAIN SU also offers Eco discounts, where participating vendors offer students discounts on food or beverages when they bring their own cups and containers to reduce waste. These discounts include:

25 cents off at Juicy, Java Jive, Cram Dunk, Edo Japan, and L’Express 20 cents off at Subway and Marco’s Famous 10 cents off at Taco Time The discounts stated are for vendors located at SUB but feel free to ask the vendors at other locations. Most coffee places on campus offer discounts to people who bring their own mugs.

With exams coming up, coffee will most likely be a vital part of your routine. Why not save some money while refueling for the day?

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By Eileen Lee

Also, if you’re looking to hold an event and need some supplies, SUSTAIN SU’s reusable dish program offers up to 700 dinner plates, 200 appetizer plates, and 200 cups available for rent to anyone on campus for free. To take advantage of this program, simply contact sustain@su.ualberta.ca with a request at least 48 hours in advance. Since May of 2011, the program has been successful in renting out 11, 000 dinner plates, 17, 000 appetizer plates, 3, 700 cups, and 92 pitchers. Not only is it a lot of money saved but also waste prevented from reaching our landfills!

Along with these great initiatives, SUSTAIN SU also has many other projects such as their Bike Library (which opens in early April), the Campus Community Garden, and Naturalization Project. If you’re interested in some more information on the club’s current activities, visit their website, found under student services at the Student Unions main page.

Student Life

On the World Stage: Students Offering Support By: Bonnie Troung Students Offering Support (SOS) is a student led, social venture where student volunteers in universities across America work to teach their peers before exams and help raise grades.

For a $20 donation, we review the material on an upcoming exam for 2 to 3 hours and give students a take home package to help them study. Within each university chapter, the funds raised are used to build educational development projects in Latin America. Volunteers not only fund the project, but have the opportunity to travel to their partnering community in Latin America for 2 weeks, at their own expense, building their project that they had fundraised throughout the fall and winter terms.

Lazy Faire: How do you decide which projects to undertake?

Greg Overholt: We work with a host of NGO partners who support the local communities surrounding the 10 countries we work in across Latin America. They know all the communities in the area and which are in need of an educational project and submit a project proposal to SOS. Once approved internally, our chapters choose from the list and start the trip planning process.

LF: There is no SOS chapter at the University of Alberta yet, how can one of our students get started?

GO: All it takes is 1-2 dedicated student leaders who are looking to have a huge impact and gain exceptional leadership experience. For those interested, they apply through us at the SOS Head Office. After an interview process, those who are selected will work with us at the head office to get the campus club launched at the U of A! For an example of the impact you can have in your first year, the University of Calgary chapter, for

example, started this year by a second year student and they fundraised over $4,700 by 500 student volunteers in the fall!

They are planning a trip to Honduras and 12 students are confirmed to go this August. And I know this can also happen at the U of A, it just takes the right person.

LF: What are the benefits of becoming involved with SOS? GO: There are tons of benefits. I realized when I started SOS seven years ago, there was nothing like this. In one year, you can have the impact of helping hundreds of your peers, which raises thousands of dollars, get to see the results that summer on an outreach trip. There are lots of wonderful organizations out there, but I have yet to see any that can create the same impact and provide the same experience. You are running a social venture - a business on a whole different level.

You get the experience to develop as a leader, gaining realworld experience and a great global perspective. We also have great national partnerships and programs to support SOS volunteers, from outreach scholarship programs to partnerships with companies like KPMG and Manulife Financial, who regularly hire SOS volunteers for full-time and co-op placements.

If interested in starting UofA’s chapter of Students Offering Support, e-mail humanresources@studentsofferingsupport.ca with a resume & cover letter.

If looking to find out more, visit SOS online at www.studentsofferingsupport.ca or www.facebook.com/StudentsOfferingSupport 9

Business

The Human Resource Management Student Conference

By Breanne Pisani

When? March 9th &10th

Where? Sawridge Inn

Cost? $70 early bird registration

For those of you who may be interested, here’s a little more information about what you will be getting in to!

What exactly is it?

The Human Resource Management Student Conference has been developed for third and fourth year student leaders interested in career and personal development in the Human Resource and Management field. The conference includes keynote and seminar speakers, workshop sessions, a round table event and networking reception. The conference provides students with a tremendous opportunity to learn about various issues that affect professionals, encourages students to network with speakers, sponsors and other conference delegates, and introduces students to several different areas of professional development. This year, the scope of industries has been broadened and includes representations ranging from oil and gas all the way to government.

How will it benefit you?

This conference will provide you with opportunities to learn more about HRM and will allow you to gain exposure to corporates who are working in the field. It covers every aspect of HRM, from recruitment through to consulting.

VP Conference, Casey Fillatre

The best part?

The networking sessions. You will get the chance to mingle with students from other schools, individuals involved in academics, and professionals from the industry. It’s a great way to make contacts, which may open up many other opportunities for you!

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VP Conference, Annie Nguyen

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Arts & Sports

Ruze Fashion is reusing vinyl and transforming it into

an artistic, funkified, one-of-a-kind product by juxtaposing different posters across all the different visible surfaces, and packaging it up into a sleek accessories line - satchels, wallets, and laptop cases. It’s one of those products that make you think: Andy Warhol would definitely like one of these. And Angelo Talamayan, along with his partner Nathan McQuay, call this new fashion statement Ruze. You can think of it as a “rouse”, as in an awakening of a vivid new fashion, or just say Ruze like its a “re-use”, as in rescuing vinyl that would otherwise take 70 years to decompose in a landfill!

Talamayan had a nice little setup when he graduated from the Alberta School of Business in 2010 with an accounting major. After going through the accounting recruitment process, he had even selected his favorite firm.

But something about it just didn’t feel…right.

Instead of taking the safe route (like all his accounting training had trained him to do), he drove to the airport, got on a plane, and flew to Europe. Needless to say, his parents weren’t so impressed.

It wasn’t that Talamayan didn’t like accounting; in fact he really enjoyed numbers. It was that he had this dream - and that dream was entrepreneurship. “Look, I say this with caution...But do what you want to do [when you graduate]. It’s a time when you have nothing to lose.” Inspiration came in Europe. Some landscapers were using old vinyl posters as tarps to strap down their supplies. That’s when he started thinking, “vinyl is useful.”

It is super study, lasts a long time, looks really cool, and is being thrown out like garbage. Like a snowball rolling down a hill, Angelo’s ideas started to grow.

Back in Canada, Talamayan had the idea to use vinyl to create laptop cases. It was then that he began the search for manufacturers. While the solution of outsourcing to China seemed

Details of RUZE Launch:

Location: Lucid Lifestyles (10406-82 Avenue) Date: February 11, 2012 @ 8pm After Party: Accent European Lounge (8223 104 St.) All products are 25% off for this event. There will be creative contests and a ton of giveaways.

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By: Matt Crowley simple, it turned out to be anything but. The problem is that nothing is simple when you start your own business. “No matter how difficult you might think something is, it is always 10 times harder.” As it turned out, China did not want to work with one small person with a wild idea - a dead end.

Then Talamayan started talking to his friends back in the Philippines (where he had grown up until 17). It turned out that he was able to successfully source a manufacturer that was willing to work with him through mutual friends (ah, the power of networking!) But it wasn’t even smooth sailing from there, “The first prototype was so rough. It almost wasn’t worth it to pick it up.” Maybe it was the accountant in him talking to the big-picture guy: details matter. Seven prototypes later and Ruze Fashion had a product line. The product is now just days away from its official launch in Edmonton with its products on the shelves in several stores within the city, Calgary, and Vancouver. It’s officially a launch party, but according to Angelo, “It’s really a chance for us to thank our friends and family who helped us make this happen. It was a huge undertaking and we couldn’t have done it without them.”

Angelo is welcoming everyone from the School of Business to come out and check out their new products. Drinks, DJ’s, activities, and some funky fashion! It’s happening this February 11, 2012: As far as a little word of advice for Angelo in regards to a fastapproaching graduation, “Get into what you really love. What you are totally passionate about. I love getting up at 2am to go on Skype to deal with my business there. It’s kind of weird, I know, but that’s what I like.” Oh, and maybe just one more quick word: “Always be grateful for the people you meet in business. They are the ones who are your friends now will continue to be in the future.”

Business

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Business

The Business of Greeting Cards

By Braden Lauer

W

ith all the love and affection that goes around on Valentine’s Day comes thousands of curious little cards. Greeting cards are at every “big box” store and are shoved onto almost every present you have ever received. There are thousands of types of greeting cards and millions of funny little quips written inside. With a product so widespread, it would appear that the profitability of a business in greeting cards would be huge. Lazy Faire took the time to examine the industry and break down the business of greeting cards.

There seem to be only a few up sides to being in the greeting card business. The vast demand in the industry is the most apparent opportunity. Regardless of gender, age, country, or level of income, people buy greeting cards. Because the item can be used for almost any occasion, greeting cards have a giant consumer base, which drives the overwhelming demand that characterizes the industry. Customized and homemade greeting cards have also seen an increased demand and supply as consumers move away from the mass-produced cards to the more personalized homemade counterparts.

“Greeting cards command a very low price and have a relatively short life cycle, yet require a fairly high expenditure in ad14

vertising and marketing to acquire clients.

One would need to sell many greeting cards in order to absorb the required initial marketing, packaging, and advertising expenditures,” says Mark Deo, author of The Rules of Attraction and CEO of consulting firm SBANetwork.org.

The business of greeting cards, though it may seem profitable, has many threats associated with it. Over saturation is the most concerning issue in the industry.

Because the demand for cards seemed so high, more and more small firms entered the market, and large firms increased their output. The harsh competition in selling greeting cards has put a very negative effect on the price of cards and profitability of the industry as a whole.

Marketing yourself in the industry is another pressing issue. The big players in the industry are able to position themselves well inside the big box stores and take advantage of giant displays and mar-

keting practices. This puts up a big barrier to entry for outside firms who want a cut of the action. The initial investment is huge and competing is next to impossible. Inventory is also not easily reusable and does not have a “remainder value” like the market for books. Companies in the greeting card business are not able to hold onto inventory for very long and must produce completely different cards almost every month.

Technology is the last big factor when it comes to greeting cards. The handmade or printed cards that we have become so accustomed to are being replaced by E-cards. These Ecards are a convenient, online way to give someone a greeting on a special occasion, and are usually a cheaper and more convenient for a consumer to use. Though this is a threat for some firms it can also present a unique opportunity for others. Companies must market themselves by expanding into the new medium and gain market share.

There are a few opportunities and countless threats to doing business in the greeting card industry today. Even though the industry, as a whole, is quite profitable, it is next to impossible to break in as a new player and reap any of the available benefits.

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Tell us why you or someone else should be highlighted

on the cover and with an interview for the the APRIL ISSUE! Email us at lazyfaire@live.ca telling us why!

Deadline: Friday, March 2, 2012 Check out www.bsaonline.ca for more details

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Business

With sweets and candies flooding the shelves of every department and drug store this month, Lazy Faire decided to get

an inside look at a business where delicious treats are in style all year long. At La Favorite, pastry chef Tan shares some insight into the success of his wedding cake and pastry business, where his high regard for customer satisfaction and his passion for pastries have helped him develop a management style that is sweet for everyone involved. Bon appétit!

The Business of Cakes Tell us a little bit about La Favorite and your role here.

It’s a very famous bakery that’s been around for over 25 years. It has a very high quality product, especially for weddings. I was just the pastry chef at the beginning and then when the owner retired, I took it over. I’ve worked in the baking business since 1985, and I still do everything from scratch. Other bakeries don’t always do it like that. You need to have talent to do that, but you get to bring up your own idea and just do it for yourself.

Making everything from scratch does sound like quite the challenge! What sort of training have you had?

I took school from NAIT, but I had worked in baking before. Another bakery sent me to do an apprenticeship a long time ago. Probably about 12 years ago.

Over the years, when have you found is the busiest season for customized cakes?

The busy season is in the summer with all of the weddings. In May, June, July, and August mostly. After the wedding season, from November up until Christmas it’s busy too. For one wedding cake only, if made directly it will take me about an hour or so to do the whole wedding cake. By directly I mean if you have it baked already and you just need to decorate it.

Usually, I’ll have about 6 or 7 wedding cakes a week.

A Gâteaux for Everyone What characterizes the majority of your clients?

This is just how it has come to work out. I don’t do it for wedding groups. We did that before but now it has changed. Now, when customers come to us and they want me to do exactly what they want, I will do exactly that. It’s not all customized though because some desserts and cakes we don’t carry, or even sometimes the pictures they bring in are from the United States and aren’t of real cakes, but only of fake cakes! We have to explain to them that it is a fake cake only for the picture. And we certainly don’t do fake cakes here!

Apart from these custom projects, what are your most popular desserts?

The most popular and number one dessert – and the one that I recommend to all of my customers and they just love it – is a whipped white chocolate mousse and a truffle of white chocolate. And that’s for the whole year long.

Edmonton’s Favorite

By Kirsten LePage Pastry Shop Community Spotlight

La Favorite Pastry Shop 16

Business

It sounds like you really put an emphasis on establishing a relationship with your customers. What else do you do to maintain strong, positive customer relations, especially during the stress of wedding planning?

Well, all customers are different. When we set up the appointment to deal with how they want it, number one we have to see the picture of what they like or they have to write down exactly what they want. If it looks good, and if we can do it, then we say yes. Most customers just want something simple, but elegant and that works well. But then some of them just don’t know! They want everything at one time and pick up different pictures: “I want this there, that there...” In my experience, often what they put together is just ‘busy’, and we have to explain that to them. You don’t always know what you are really seeing when you come up with a wedding cake. I have tell them first to see if they agree or not and then go from there. Altogether, we think they’re a little picky, but when the cake’s ready it is always perfect. I try to do something for all my customers and they are always happy afterwards.

A Passion for Pastries What first attracted you to begin this business under La Favorite?

Basically, I am very happy. If I opened my own, brand new bakery it would be very hard to get new customers. This place already has the name on it; everyone already knows it, we’ve just changed the ownership. At other bakeries in the city, when people take over, they change both the owner and the product. That wasn’t a good idea for me. I love to keep the way they (La Favourite) are original so that all of my customers keep coming back. And I know they worry about this. They say, “Oh no! They changed the owner, they must have changed the products!” But I have to tell them not to worry about the change. It has been 25 years and they (the products) are going to stay where they are! If some of them don’t sell, I might have to cut them and add something on it. But I don’t change the menu.

Where do you expect to see your business in the near future?

Actually, I just opened 2 locations so far because it’s very hard to get people to work here and take care of it. I could open more, but if you can’t find the right person then it is best to just stay where you are for now.

Do you have any advice for students at the Alberta School of Business when it comes to running your own business or taking over the reins of a previously owned business?

If you really want to take care of your job, when you miss something you have to change it and do it the right way, not just walk away, get upset and leave it for the next day, because then who’s going to take care of that? That’s not my style. I like to leave the boss and everyone happy, not just myself. I always put this out there: If the customer is happy, then I am happy. The reason I do that is because I have to do it for my style. It doesn’t matter how much the boss pays me. I put all my heart down to let everybody know what I did for them.

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Business

Aileena Minhas

By Paul Lopushinsky

Passion is one of the most important aspects in one’s life. It

leads people to follow their bliss, taking chances, and making a name for themselves. Using passion as the theme for February, Lazy Faire looked for someone in the SoB who demonstrated these qualities. Aileena Minhas, the president of University of Alberta Human Resource Management Association (UAHRMA), and currently studying Human Resource Management as an after-degree, is a perfect example of someone who is passionate in her work. Lazy Faire recently caught up with her to learn more about her, after-degree, and what it means to follow your passions.

Lazy Faire: You did a bachelor degree in Arts before coming to the School of Business to major in Human Resource Managment. What did you do in your previous degree and why did you decide to do an after-degree?

Aileena Minhas: In my previous degree I majored in sociology and economics, and I really enjoyed sociology as it was a stepping stone towards HR. I always knew I wanted to be in business doing HR. The reason I didn’t come in right off the bat was because I did Student Works Painting and my grades weren’t the best as I focused on that. By the third year of my Bachelor of Arts degree, I could get into business, but I figured I would just finish my degree and then get an after-degree in Business.

LF: Tell us about the UAHRMA. How did you first get involved?

AM: In my first year of business, UAHRMA had an annual general meeting, and I decided to go to that because I wanted to get involved in HR where I could put my foot forward. They had 18

a position open for VP Communications, so I decided to apply. The year taught me to get more involved; going to RMBS was definitely a great motivator. This year I decided to take the presidency role and it’s been such a learning curve. UAHRMA is all about creating those networks for the HR professionals, the students and, overall, the HR community. We have a mentorship program that is very beneficial and we have an HR conference in March that I would highly recommend.

LF: Tell us a bit about this conference AM: The conference is March 9th and 10th and we are going to be having industry speakers from all different industries, from all different specializations of HR. I feel that most people don’t know a lot about HR. There is compensation, consulting, recruiting, training and development, and so forth. We bring all those different types of backgrounds to the conference and provide breakout sessions, where people can go off and learn.

It is also a great networking event!

LF: As president of the UAHRMA, what goals do you hope to achieve with the student group?

AM: I’m really working towards building our membership pool, so recruiting is an important goal. HR is not huge in regards to the amount of people studying HR at the School of Business, so it’s really hard to get the students out and involved. I’m hoping to see a difference in the conference, in regards to attendance.

I feel that the club overall has a better representation in the School of Business this year.

Business

LF: You are very involved in many student groups beyond the UAHRMA. Tell us about some of the other groups that you participate in.

AM: Last year, I was only involved with UAHRMA. This year, I broadened my involvement and am part of Alberta Energy Challenge (AEC), in which I am delegate relations. I am involved with Five Days for the Homeless, in which I am student relations, and also JDC West OC, in which I was part of the athletic portfolio and was director of flag football.

In my previous degree, I was not involved in any student groups.

Arts is so big and I just felt that there was nothing to get involved in or was not aware of what was being offered. It was more or less go to class and go home, or go to the library to study.

LF: You take part in a lot of activities around the University.

What other kinds of activities do you do away from campus?

AM: I am a huge athlete. Right now, I am playing on a women’s basketball team and a co-ed recreational soccer team. I’ve been with the soccer team for about five years now and it’s a bunch of great people - we have a lot of fun. I tried playing for a women’s

I am just happier when I’am busy, it is just how I am

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soccer team as well, but I don’t think I can just play with women (laughs). Lets not forget I learned how to play golf and flag football this summer! More or less outside of school, it’s athletics.

LF: How do you manage to balance your time, being involved in so many groups?

AM: Honestly, my phone is my best friend. The calendar on my phone helps me out so much. Being busy is rewarding though.

If I’m not busy, I don’t know what to do with myself and begin to overthink things. I am just happier when I’m busy, it is just how I am.

LF: What advice would you give to students who are considering doing an after-degree?

AM: Meet with an advisor! Be sure you want to be in this afterdegree, be passionate about it, and get involved with something in that after-degree. Me being involved in UAHRMA and finding a Coop job in HR definitely solidified what I want to do with my life.

LF: Where do you get your passion to be involved in so many activities?

AM: Honestly, I always think I’m building towards my future.

Being involved in UAHRMA is beneficial, with the speakers that we have come in, or the networks that I’m developing for myself. Being given these opportunities, why wouldn’t I take the chance? Why not take that risk and do something that is outside your comfort zone? Being a part of Alberta Energy Challenge, and working for a small environmental company in the oil and gas industry for my Coop, I learned so much about the industry.

It was so interesting that I realized I wanted to learn more. I love learning, the knowledge that I have acquired and the experience has been great thus far.

LF: Tell us about your coop position, what you did there, and the value you gained from it.

AM: I worked for Layfield Environmental Systems Ltd. for an 8 month coop term this past summer & fall. My title with the company was Human Resources Assistant and my main responsibility was recruiting. Everyday was different and unique because being in HR you can’t expect the same thing everyday.

I received a lot of hands on experience with the company that was very beneficial to my learning. I did everything that was involved in the recruiting process, from screening rèsumès to the final step of onboarding the new hire. I also recruited for our offices in Vaughan, ON & San Diego, CA. It was definitely a challenge recruiting from across the country, but I learned about all the different dynamics and employment rates and adapted appropriately. One other key responsibility was re-creating the employment section of their website, which was launched during the Christmas break! I learned a lot about company culture, deadlines and the importance of punctuality & first impressions.

HR sets policies and HR is the change agent of a business.

LF: Why should students get involved in student groups, and the UAHRMA? AM: I think students should get involved with student clubs because it’s not just an academic or fun experience, it’s actually a big mixture between both aspects. You will learn so much about yourself and garner amazing skills that you thought you never had. You will definitely put yourself out there to meet new people, to make new friends, and go through experiences that you wouldn’t in a different faculty. For UAHRMA, we bring different types of industries together and it’s not just for HR students.

For example, we have the Government of Alberta behind us, we have Servus Credit Union, ATCO, Deloitte, HRIA and IPMA to name a few. Therefore we have different companies with different industries that are looking for Accounting, Finance, HR, OM, Marketing and so forth. The mentorship program that we have is awesome and the conference is definitely a great place to network. I feel that UAHRMA not only encompasses HR, but the entire School of Business.

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