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Dalhousie Students Tackle Toronto

Tuesday, May 05, 2009 : Halifax, Nova Scotia

In the last week of April 2009, a group of students from Dalhousie University’s MBA, Commerce and Management programs tackled the challenge of job hunting in Toronto by traveling there to meet potential employers face-to-face. Organized by Management Career Services (MCS) the Corporate Tour of Toronto provides opportunities to view companies from inside their boardrooms, introducing students to a wide variety of professionals giving them insight into the workplace culture and opportunities.

“Employers are incredibly accommodating and top executives take the time to meet our exceptional students.  Within hours of these meetings, students were being called up by employers with invitations for formal interviews. Collectively, the group met well over 80 business professionals during the employer tours alone,” said Robert Wooden, Career and Recruitment Specialist, MCS.  “Our group of 27 students visited 14 companies, held a mock interview exercise with 10 HR professionals and met with alumni over the two day visit.”

An evening alumni reception provided exposure to an additional 85 alumni with graduates from 1972 through to 2008 in attendance.  The reception room was buzzing with energy as current students networked with the alumni to make connections that could lead to the all important first job in their new careers. 

“The tour was extremely valuable to students as it allowed them to ask employers the tough yet most important questions on their minds as they prepare to enter today’s dynamic job market,” said Nathan Wolters, 4th year BComm Co-op.

"Aon is proud to partner with an outstanding educational organization -- Dalhousie. Our relationship has grown and deepened in recent years. We have been fortunate to hire well qualified, talented and motivated graduates. In our opinion, Dal has become a key source of young talent across our geographies, and we look forward to doing more together to increase the intake of new employees. The Dal/Aon partnership represents a best in class win-win," said Chuck Wilson, Executive Vice President & Leader - Eastern Canada and Aon Global Canada, Aon Reed Stenhouse Inc. "We were very pleased to be able to host Dal students during the Corporate Tour and strengthen our partnership.  Our partnership with Dal began in 2007 when they hosted the first ever Aon Risk Tournament.  It was such a success that Aon went on to host three more tournaments across Canada.  We are happy to announce that we will be coming back to Dal in the fall of this year for another tournament."

“We continue to be thrilled with the response to this trip. While it is a huge amount of work to make this happen, such comments make it all worthwhile.  This tour would not have been possible without the great efforts of the Management Career Services team,” said Anna Cranston, Director, MCS. The Dalhousie Faculty of Management’s MCS offers specialized career development services to the students and alumni of programs offered by the Faculty of Management. They also assist employers recruiting for co-op, corporate residency and full-time positions. They have established a country-wide reputation for producing highly prepared interview candidates through innovative services and programs.

Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Management, which includes programs in Business, Public Administration, Information Management, Marine Affairs and Resource and Environmental Studies, offers a holistic and values-based approach to management education and research. The mission of the Faculty is ‘to become the acknowledged centre of values based management in Canada, with an international reputation for developing private sector, public sector and civil society leaders who manage with integrity and who get things done.

About Dalhousie: Dalhousie is a comprehensive, research-intensive university with more than 15,500 students. In The Scientist magazine, it was recently named the best place to work as a scientific researcher in Canada.

Media inquiries, contact:
Colin Craig, Faculty of Management, 902.494.3610, colin.craig@dal.ca