October has been a good month for blog writing ;) As you can probably tell, I’ve got a lot more time on my hands these days. We’re currently in the GLOBE module studying economics, technology, and demographics amongst other topics and it is definitely less intense then the first 5 months. I find myself free most nights which has given me time to watch some t.v.; something that I haven’t really done since I’ve started the MBA.
Lots of news to report! First off, I’ve decided to take up a job offer from IBM!! I still can’t believe it myself. I’ll be working as a consultant in the telecommunications sector of IBM’s’ Global Business Services division, and yes that means that I will be leaving Nortel after six years of service ;( As many of you know, I am a Nortel loyalist and it was an extremely tough decision for me to make. I’ve loved every minute of my career at Nortel and its company that is very close to my heart. Many things have changed over the last month at Nortel and I feel that IBM will be a good move for me both from a career progression perspective, but also from a security perspective. Working as a consultant in the telecommunications sector will give me a first hand look into the business operations of our primary carriers in Canada including BCE, Telus, Rogers and others. Having spent the majority of my career in the technology and networking side of telecom, I am sure that it will be a wonderful learning experience for me to work to understand how the carriers operate and the business issues that they face day to day. I feel like the consulting position is a good fit for me as it aligns with my strengths, and I feel that it will allow me to enhance and fine tune the skills I will need in order to achieve my long term goals (to become an executive one day). Geeta and I will be moving to Toronto in May! Its kind of nice having a job locked in six months before graduation, and I think its proof that Ivey has a great brand/reputation and that there are always jobs out there even in a bad economy.
I thought I’d mention something about negotiations while I’m still on the topic of accepting a job with IBM. I recently completed a negotiations elective course in the MBA program and learned a number of invaluable tips. Despite not doing very well in the course from a grading perspective, I did find it very useful. I attribute my offer negotiation success to the some of my key takeaways from that course as follows: firstly to hold your cards close to your chest (i.e. not being too eager to give away too much information about what you want), being patient (i.e. taking a couple days to think about offer/counter-offer), knowing your starting point/resistance point/low point and a best alternative before engaging in talks, framing your case positively, and using a number of negotiation tactics including the ‘flinch’ techniques and ‘vise’ technique. I won’t elaborate on all of that because I don’t want to ruin the course for prospective students, but I will say that I was able to negotiate a better package as a result of my negotiating efforts. Furthermore, during the course itself we had to partake in an offer negotiation simulation with a classmate and we also got to watch our Ivey recruiting director, Sharon Irwin, engage in a simulated job offer negotiation with some lucky volunteer classmates. Both of these exercises were very valuable. What worked most effectively in my case was my patience, the fact that I had a job in my hand (at Nortel; which gave me ability to negotiate confidently), and understanding my value/being well-researched (Vault message board site rules!). The toughest part of the negotiation was when I wanted a one level promotion above where they were coming in at. I didn’t like the level IBM was bringing me in at based on my experience. This negotiation point was a deal breaker for me if I didn’t get them to go one level higher, and I had to really fight for it. I had to justify my position by positively framing my prior experience, and by sending in additional information including a more detailed resume. Ivey’s recruiting office typically has students put together a one page ‘business resume’ that makes it very difficult to squeeze in all your experience in. The ‘business’ one page format resume is great for many MBA jobs, but in my experience I found that tech companies typically preferred the two page detailed resume. Anyhow, I am very pleased with my negotiations and I’m happy to be joining IBM!!
I haven’t really mentioned the market turmoil all that much so I thought I’d comment on that. The stock market has erased 42% of Geeta and I’s portfolio over the last month. It hurts and our spending habits have been affected! I just count my lucky stars for not investing my tuition money ahead of the MBA ;) Prior to the MBA, Geeta and I sold our rental property in Ottawa in order to finance my MBA (amongst other reasons including a string of bad tenants). I decided to keep most of that money in cash on the advice of a very good Ivey finance professor (thanks Prof. Hatch). Some recent good news is that the LIBOR rate spread (the spread between the Central Bank interest rate and the rate that banks lend to each other) is coming down, which is an indication that the liquidity crisis is hopefully being resolved by the interest rate cuts and bailout $$ injected by the world’s governments. Now we just have to deal with that pesky recession that we’re in ;) I have a feeling that markets are at their lows and I’m envious of anyone that has the cash to jump in now. We recently had a special class on the credit crisis (delivered by Prof. Hatch), and I find myself far more knowledgeable about what’s going on. The other day, I flipped on CNBC and found myself understanding the economics lingo of the credit crunch…which was really cool. Ever heard of “jingle mail”? That’s when someone forecloses on their house (i.e. decides to go bankrupt and abandon their mortgage) by mailing their keys to the bank…hence the ‘jingle’ of the keys in the mail ;) I guess excess ‘jingle mail’ is part of what started this mess.
I recently participated in the CIBC Run for the Cure. It was my first time fundraising and doing something for a good cause. I ran 5km for breast cancer. Who knew that it would be so fulfilling? I felt good about the whole thing and I know that I will continue to participate in more events like this in the future. The Ivey Circle team raised over $2700 for the cause. If you haven’t done something like this before, I promise you that you’ll feel good about yourself after you do it.
On a side note, we’ve recently been talking about AIDS in Africa a lot in class. In particular, we’ve learned about how severe this pandemic is and how 30% of the African continent has AIDS and will die in the next 20 years. This is wrong and we must do more as a generation to rectify the situation. Bono is one of my idols and I particularly respect the work he has done to raise awareness on the issue. He is using his celebrity and power to lobby governments to open their wallets and minds to work around the political corruption in many African countries and to ensure that help is reaching the people. Bono was recently interviewed on CNN. What blew me away were the facts about how the work everyone has been doing over the last decade has made a difference….something we don’t hear as much about. How has the world’s efforts helped Africa over the last decade? Debt cancellation (i.e. rich countries cancelling the debt of poor African countries) has resulted in 29 million more African children in school! In addition 2.5 million Africans are now on AIDS/HIV drugs as result of initiatives like the ONE campaign and Project Red. It is estimated that $25 billion would put almost every African in school, would eradicate malaria, and dramatically increase clean water supplies. That’s not a lot of money considering the combined $3.1 trillion that the U.S. and the EU have recently announced as part of the credit crisis bail out. I know that money is not the entire solution to this problem; dealing with political corruption in Africa, and educating the people are also keys to this puzzle….but I’m blown away with the progress and I’m more confident that we can help beat this issue down. Check out Bono’s CNN interview @
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14lXAy_9vKc .
Last Friday was the Indian festival of Karwa Chauth! Karwa Chauth is a fast practiced by Indian wives around the world to ensure the well-being, prosperity and longevity of their husbands. Based on the website http://www.karwachauth.com/ , it’s also a festival that provides an opportunity for all married women to get close to their in-laws. Having been married for four years now, Geeta (my wife) has taken part in this festival four times…thanks for wishing me long life honey! On the day of the festival, Geeta didn’t eat all day until the moon comes out. When she sees the moon, she does a little prayer with me and then opens her fast. It’s really fascinating to take part in the festival (especially since I was born in Canada and haven’t done a lot to keep in touch with my roots). I never knew much about the festival until I was asked to explain it to some of my peers at school the other day. Of course the first question I got was why the men don’t have to do the same thing for their wives….good point….I guess its just tradition ;)
That was a long one! Until next time…
Sacha
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