The English author E.M. Forster famously said people would fare better if they’d “only connect!” Chances are Forster would approve of the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) School of Business, which encourages its students to connect learning with industry. Through a choice of about 30 BCIT Student Association (BCITSA) clubs, students can apply what they’re studying to practical, real-world business situations.
Second-year student Jared Fedosoff is president of BCITSA’s Enactus club, which comes up with innovative entrepreneurial projects to help people in need. Fedosoff’s club is part of the international Enactus, at 1,700 universities with 70,000 members.
Fedosoff, a student in the marketing management entrepreneurship program, describes an example of a BCIT Enactus project: Lions’ Lair (think Dragons’ Den, only altruistic). “We help teach local entrepreneurs lessons that they might not have learned, and we help them develop their business plans. It’s five-week, intense business-skill workshops. We bring in industry professionals and faculty advisers. Each workshop has a specific title for the week, such as sales and entrepreneurship.
“After the five weeks, each business owner gets a chance to present to judges. Last year, it was really empowering getting the chance to work with one of the entrepreneurs and help him grow his business. At the end of it he had two more employees. We helped him reduce his costs and we gave him a proper budget.”
Projects like Lions’ Lair leave footprints that industry notices, says Fedosoff. “Enactus has 550 corporate sponsors. At job fairs companies come in and you get a chance to be interviewed. Because you have Enactus beside your name it gives you a bit of a competitive advantage.”
Inside track to a career
Dominic Laforest’s friends at other business schools don’t apply their learning until late in their four-year program. Fine for them, but Laforest doesn’t want to wait. After high school he bartended, then worked on a drilling rig. Now back at school at 30, he wants the inside track to a career. He appreciates the combined “strategy and application” of his two-year BCIT marketing management program.
Laforest, who is president of the BCIT Marketing Association, describes his club’s goal as “professional development first, then networking and a heavy emphasis on teamwork.”
“You get to meet people from different programs with everyone working together on a project. That tends to create long-lasting relationships.”
Like Enactus, the BCIT Marketing Association belongs to a larger collegiate organization. “A lot of the work we do is towards competing in different events at the collegiate conference every year. Our chapter is graded based on the business plan that we write in fall, and then we follow up in an annual report. We try to find as many metrics as possible for success and make sure we’ve executed everything we’ve planned.”
BCIT Marketing Association
Out of 150 schools competing in Fortune 500 case competitions, the club has repeatedly made it into the top 12. “The case is usually to come up with an innovative marketing campaign for a specific business problem. It’s very real, very hands-on and very cool to come up with new and creative ideas and ways to use marketing tactics. And the opportunity to present to a vice-president of Hershey’s or eBay usually isn’t something people generally see until well into their careers.
“What you do in competition mirrors what you’re learning in school. You not only supplement, but elevate that learning.”
An Olympian challenge
After graduating from high school in Moosomin, Saskatchewan, Jessica Graham had to delay further studies for two years due to a health issue. Like Laforest, Graham then chose the BCIT School of Business because of its great reputation – and because she wanted the vital value-add of real-world business experience.
Now in her third and final year of BCIT’s accounting degree program, Graham co-captains the JDC West club, which will send its debut team to compete in the national JDC (Jeux du Commerce) Business Olympics next year. Inspired by BCIT’s encouragement for students to found new clubs, Graham researched and started the JDC West BCIT chapter herself.
BCIT JDC West Team
But not on her own, she quickly clarifies. “It was an idea I had, but it wouldn’t have taken off without the faculty. They had a huge part in getting it going. The professors, not just in the school of business but all across the board, have invested in our success.”
With each school normally sending 50 students to the annual Olympics, the budget gets substantial. “Faculty have been more than willing to spend a lot of their extra time to help us find sponsorships, even over the summer.”
Graham devotes 20 hours a week to JDC West. It’s demanding but it’s worth it, she says. “You end up doing presentations in front of industry-panel judges who are potential employers. And if you’re going on to a professional designation in business, everything you learn is case-based. The JDC competition is also case-based, so students are all studying cases and getting coached by our faculty and industry professionals. To have that exposure before going into a business career is a huge benefit.”
