Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Vote for... ME!

I've decided to run for Rotman Asset Management Association (RAMA) first year rep. The process seems a little simplified: submit a 100-word blurb describing why you think you are suitable for this position. Below is my 100-word blurb, so everyone in section two… vote for Petar!


"My experience in the Canadian and international finance sectors will help me bring great contributions to the Rotman Asset Management Association. These experiences have allowed me access to a vast network of acclaimed business leaders, whom I hope to bring to Rotman over the course of the next two years. These leaders include individuals from Goldman Sachs, CIBC, TD Securities and IBM. My approachability makes me an ideal candidate for a position which requires interacting with individuals of diverse backgrounds. Whether you are discovering the basics of asset management, or want to discuss advanced investment strategies, come find me. Vote for Petar, the one with an 'A'."

Overview of Courses

Let's talk briefly about courses. The term structure that Rotman employs is 4 terms per year (quarters), two months long each. Many courses only last one quarter while other run for two. At any point in time, students carry 5 courses. Here is a brief description of the five courses people take in the first quarter:

Managerial Economics - essentially a lightweight microeconomics course focused only on concepts that managers use in making business decisions. This course is aimed towards people with little econ experience, however, those with an econ background may still find themselves relearning concepts in order to adapt to the simplicity of the course. The lectures are engaging and studying isn't overly painful. The course will consists of four 5% quizzes and one 80% final exam.

Managerial Accounting - this course covers the most primary accounting concepts taught at the undergrad university level: constructing and interpreting financial statements and ratios. The only difference is that with the consolidation of IFRS (the European accounting system) and GAAP, the course focuses more on understanding the rationale behind accounting decisions, rather than on memorization of the rules. This adds great value to the course, but still leaves it a little dull for those who have past accounting experience (ex. CFA). This is a full-term course graded based on a quiz, midterm, final, and group assignment (second quarter).

Statistics for Managers - This course introduces fundamental statistics, and is confounded (pun intended) by unnecessary (and often incorrect) nomenclature. Essentially, take a first year statistics course and change all of the words to mean different things. The textbook lacks detail and proves to be a slow and tedious read. This is just one of those courses you have to get through no matter what it takes. A large portion of marks are allocated to a group assignment which involves finding real-life industry data and solving real-life problems. This assignment is, surprisingly, the highlight of a course which otherwise allocates marks based on quiz and exam performance.

Finally the two "fluff" courses: Managing People in Organizations (MPO) and Fundamentals of Integrative Thinking (FIT). The names alone scream "there will be no substantial content and everything will be marked subjectively". Yup. The lectures are really engaging and the professors provide an endless supply of verbal anecdotes. This means lecture time goes by quickly. FIT provides a textbook from which concrete models and content can be extracted. Still, most of the lectures consist of fun exercises and explanations of past social science experiments. MPO is similar except that it includes a participation component in the final mark. This means that in two hours 100 people try to each make a good point about the topic being discussed. What a mess! The class discussions hardly ever tread into the realm of sophisticated and the pace of the class means that not enough time is ever devoted to one topic. Many good points remained unheard or are dismissed by the prof because, perhaps, it doesn't match the agenda of the class. Both of these courses allot many marks to essays and presentations. The FIT presentation for this quarter requires students to present, in groups, their model or opinion about how CEO pay should be handled.

One paragraph cannot possibly do justice to these courses, however, I wanted to describe more the general feeling of attending the course than the content that each course covers. Any specific questions can be addressed in the comments, as usual.

PZ

The Admissions Process

I want to take a step back to reflect on my experiences with the admissions process at Rotman. As someone who has applied to many MBA schools, I can speak directly about how the Rotman process compares.

The process consists of two steps: application and interview. I'm not going to spend much time talking about the application since there is plenty of material available for reading online. In short, make a concrete point in the essays, outline clear goals, tell stories that link your past to your future, and keep it simple. GMAT scores should be in the mid 600s range and references should be written by professionals that can provide a candid look at work performance. If you are young, focus on emphasizing leadership skills and career advancement. The school looks for a final year GPA of 75, however, my personal belief is that they are quite lenient strengths are shown in other areas.

I conducted my interview over the phone since I was working in New York. Perhaps (I hope) my application stood out enough that I was a front-runner before the interview. The questions where standard MBA interview questions: Why Rotman?, Why MBA?, Why now?, What do you do for fun?, etc. It makes sense to research to hell the finer details of the school: which clubs you want to participate in, which courses appeal to you, and how you will link these things to your career progression. Mention these things in the interview. I mentioned that I salsa dance and scored big points; Rotman has its own salsa club. Lucky! The interview wasn't particularly difficult compared to INSEAD or Columbia, however, it's still important to remain confident and have good explanations for any weaknesses in your application. My feeling is that if you get an interview, you stand a good chance of making it, or at least getting on the wait list for the following year.

Timing is also of essence. I applied during the last phase of the admissions process and only received early acceptance for the following year. This goes to show that if you want to apply for the upcoming September, submit an applications as early as possible; at the beginning of the first phase if possible.

If you need additional help preparing for any schools or are unsure of the finer details of the application process, leave a comment below and I will reply., Accepted.com is also a great MBA resource.

PZ

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Student Clubs

The Rotman clubs fair held earlier this month showcased all of the student run clubs offered at the school. Though most clubs had names like "The Risk Management Club" or "The Management Consulting Club" my initial thoughts were that they would be a great excuse to go drinking with other people in the program. It was, however, when I saw that everybody at the fair was dressed in suits, that my mind quickly changed. I can tell you that most of these clubs serve the purpose of preparing students to find jobs in a particular sector of the business world.

Each club brings prominent leaders from the business community to provide presentations and networking opportunities to students. Many clubs offer activities such as case competitions, start-up challenges and interview training. Though it sounds like a little more work than drinking beer, these skills are invaluable. As somebody with immense experience with question-based interviews, preparing for role-specific and case-based interviews will improve my marketability.

Each club has a kick-off meeting which provides new members with a chance to meet executives and learn about events. Most clubs spend a good amount of time scaring members by telling them that it's almost impossible to find internships in the particular industry that the club represents. That shouldn't be news to anyone in an MBA program.


The sports teams are also competitive. As Rotman has to compete for limited spots in the larger UofT league, the faculty has to hold tryouts. I personally can't compete due to injury, but I will drop into a few tryouts to scope out the competition and provide some updates.

Long gone are the days when you can play with blocks until noon and then take a nap. How I miss those blocks.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Orientation Camp

Do you remember the Simpsons episode where Bart convinces Homer to send him to Kamp Krusty? The pamphlets make it look amazing and all of Bart's friends are going. Unfortunately, when Bart arrives at Kamp Krusty -- different story. Sort of like Orientation Camp. I'll try to be as objective as possible.

The sleeping quarters were in ruins. One large shack per dozen people meant sleeping on slabs of wood meant to accommodate short schoolchildren. The food was all generic beige in colour and provided little nutrition (fries and hot dogs). And all of this for hundreds of dollars!

Let us not miss the point of this event: socializing and networking. Some of the activities that stood out as fun were the olympics, swimming, and the evening campfires. People were allowed the freedom of deciding their own activities and mingling. However, even the swimming was constricted to a specific area of the lake at a predefined time. Sounds like my mom forgot to sign my permission slip.

My recommendation: come up for one day in your own car. The Rock Legends night was a great event. Along with the campfire, it allowed opportunity to network and have fun in one night.

Let me know your thoughts on Orientation Camp.

PZ

Monday, September 21, 2009

Technology for MBA Dummies

Looking around the classroom, it's obvious that Apple technology rules the MBA scene.  However, few people are using their Macbooks and iPhones to their full potential. Since technology is my background, it makes sense that I shed some light on a few issues:


1. Installing Windows on a Macbook.
2. Receiving "push" (realtime) emails, etc. on the iPhone.
3. iPhone: Internet, custom ringtones and useful apps.
4. Combining emails in GMail.
5. Downloading software via torrents.


1. Installing Windows on a Macbook

Ever since Apple switched to an Intel processor, the ability to run windows on a Macbook has been a few clicks away. Virtual Machines are software which can simulate the hardware necessary to run another operating system in parallel with OS X, and the steps to setting one up are relatively straightforward:
a) Obtain and install VMWare Fusion - There are many VMs for Apple machines, however, I find this one the simplest to use. You can find VMWare for purchase or download online.
b) Install Windows on your VM - You need to have a copy of windows on CD / DVD and follow the steps described by VMWare to complete the installation. This process is relatively straightforward.


2. Receiving "push" (realtime) emails , etc. on your iPhone


If you're a power user like me, there are many things about the iPhone that just don't cut it. Fortunately, there are many ways to cut corners and get this device to perform the way that we want it to. With the release of a recent OS upgrade, push capabilities have been enabled on the iPhone. In layman terms, this means that the device no longer has to ask different services (such as email) whether there is any new data (emails), instead, the external services can update (push) this data (emails) directly to the device. Phew! What does this mean? You don't have to wait 10 minutes to receive an email, but can receive it instantly. This not only makes email exchanges more fluent, but also saves on battery life, a commodity all too scare for the iPhone. So how can we take advantage of push? Well, Apple hasn't made it particularly easy yet and every service requires a custom solution. I will go into two that I think are the most important below:

a) Push Gmail : by downloading GPush from the App Store for $1.99, emails are pushed from your GMail inbox to your iPhone in realtime, and notifications appear on the device even when it is in locked mode. This is the only app I have ever purchased and it is well worth the toonie investment.

b) Instantly sync Google Calendar and Contacts : download the official Google Sync App (free) for iPhone. Available in the App Store, this software enables the two features mentioned above, and works with push data. Unfortunately, the email functionality is flawed and GPush is still required as a compliment to this package.


3. iPhone: Internet, custom ringtones and useful apps

Accessing the Internet from your iPhone is simple: connect to the U Toronto wi-fi network under the settings app and type in the same password required to connect with laptops. Then go to Safari browser and start surfing. The UofT wi-fi login page will appear, where you enter your personal username and password. Easy stuff, however, managing the connection is a different issue. The network is set up to log you after a short period of inactivity, however, your iPhone's wi-fi may still think you are connected. This may mean not receiving your push data (especially emails) on time. I suggest periodically refreshing websites so that connectivity persists, or completely shutting down wi-fi and receiving G3 data instead.

There are many amazing free apps to download from the App Store, and I will describe two below:
a) Skype - when connected to wi-fi, make free local calls and cheap long-distance calls. Imagine talking to a cousin in India from an iPhone while in the Rotman building. What's more, this is a great way to save up those scarce daytime minutes.
b) Palringo - this IM client allows you to connect to MSN, GTalk, AOL, ICQ, etc. simultaneously and send/receive push (instant) IMs from all your contacts.

Apple makes it extremely difficult to set custom ringtones on your iPhone without purchasing them from the iTunes store. If you downloaded a ringtone from another source or want to set an MP3 as a ringtone, not all hope is lost. The following CNET video provides a straightforward method for setting up personalized ringtones:

http://www.labnol.org/software/make-iphone-ringtons-with-free-itunes/4738/


4. Combining emails in GMail

The power of GMail comes from the ability to combine inboxes. This means emails from your UofT email, Rotman email, employer's email, etc. will all arrive to one GMail inbox, and conversely, you will be able to send emails from this one location. There are two steps in adding an email account to your existing GMail:
a) Set up Forwarding for the account you want to add. This is different for each email address and can get rather complicated. Fortunately, it is easy for your UofT email: simply log into your utorid management page and change the email forwarding to point to your gmail. For your Rotman email, RWorld has a forwarding function in the My Space section. Note: Rotman does not delete emails it forwards so you will still have to log into your webmail every few weeks to clean them out.
b) Set up a new account in your existing GMail inbox. This can be found under SETTINGS -> ACCOUNTS -> SEND MAIL AS. Click the "Send Mail From Another Address" button and follow the instructions.

5. Downloading software via torrents

Torrents are files anonymously posted on the Internet. They allow other individuals to quickly and anonymously download files from a decentralized location. The details don't matter. Just follow the two steps below and you should be on your way to quick software downloads:
a) Google "uTorrent" and download the uTorrent client. This software manages your downloads and is very lightweight and safe to use.
b) Visit either http://www.thepiratebay.org or http://www.mininova.org and use the search feature to find the software you are looking for. http://www.mac-torrents.com focuses on software specifically for Apple machines.
Note: I do NOT endorse any unethical downloading of software whatsoever. If you like an artist, support him or her. If you find a piece of software useful and will benefit from it, buy it!


If you have any other technical issues, don't hesitate to ask via email.

PZ

Introducing Rotman Review

Last week an email circulated around the Rotman community: Karen Christensen of Rotman Magazine was looking for volunteers to write about their experiences participating in school events and classes. Though most blogs I read online are uninteresting and comprise of posts mostly describing what the author had eaten that morning for breakfast, I felt that there were a few things I could mention that people would be interested in. When a colleague mentioned how useful he had found a blog from a previous year's student, creating Rotman Review became an easy decision.

I admit - it's already two weeks into the semester and a dozen events have happened. I'll try my best to capture as much of these events as I can remember, and would appreciate any help, whether through comments or over email. Any suggestions about topics to write about would help as well. Since it is impossible to attend all of the socials and events that Rotman offers, I will be glad to post other people's reviews. This goes especially for Women in Management Association events, for obvious reasons.

The downside of starting a blog where I mention the Rotman name is that I have to be extremely selective with how and what I write. As a student, I get access to all sorts of interesting material such as previous year's quizzes, etc. Obviously I do not want to get myself in trouble, however, I will try to drop hints where I can and expect people to follow up via email asking me to elaborate about what I write. As well, I will try to leave personal opinion and happenings as much out of my writing as possible. I understand that most people wont care and it would be more constructive to write one longer post per week explaining my feelings rather than include it in every post. We all know how busy MBA students are (read: short attention span).

Hope you enjoy this blog and hope to see some contribution.

PZ