Executive speaker series highlights non-traditional career pathways for grad students
Graduate students from the Ted Rogers School MBA, MScM, MHAcc and PhD programs heard about using their skills and talent to work with large organizations, lead business transformation, collaborate with partners and expand their networks at a recent panel discussion and keynote. The event, held November 7, 2023, was part of the Executive Speaker Series and featured six guest speakers.
"The panel shed light on non-traditional career pathways for graduate students, including entrepreneurship, digital business transformation, consulting, solution architecture and sports business," explained Arfa Dar, manager of grad careers and student engagement. “And, it provided inspiration and insight from industry leaders to current students about their next career steps.”
Hosted by Ted Rogers Graduate Careers and Student Engagement, the panel included Alexandra Coros (external link) , digital strategy consultant at Accenture, Abdalla Alkadhimi (external link) , associate partner at IBM Consulting, Ashwin Sinha (external link) , solution architect at Salesforce, Carlos Galvan (external link) , headwear and hardgoods buyer at Toronto Blue Jays, Kashyap Arora (external link) , economist at Labour Market Information Council (LMIC), and keynote speaker, Shoaib Ahmed (external link) , founder and CEO of SCOOTY.
Guest speakers candidly shared their experiences and expertise to answer an abundance of students’ questions. Students asked the panelists about their career journeys and which parts of the Masters program benefited them most. Students asked about how artificial intelligence impacted business transformation consultancy, advice for graduate students in their careers.
“Focus on your strengths before targeting your areas for improvement, attend as many employer and student events as possible and be easy to work with,” said panelist Ashwin Sinha, a solutions architect at Salesforce and MBA alumni.
The keynote, which focused on entrepreneurship and perseverance, was delivered by Shoaib Ahmed, founder and CEO of Canadian electric scooter rental company SCOOTY.
"At one point I had to take the leap and move from developing the business part-time to going all full-time,” he said. “After talking to my wife, she said 'we don't have kids yet, so let's go for it now,' and the next two years were crazy but essential as she provided our sole source of income and I was committed to making the business successful."
Students asked questions about the business model Ahmed used to bring in revenue during winter months and about the future of SCOOTY.
The Executive Speaker Series event was part of the Graduate Careers & Engagement Department working with MBA, Masters of Science in Management, Masters In Health Administration and PhD students, which includes panel discussions, workshops and other events. These events are offered throughout the year highlighting updated, innovative and authentic ways for graduate students to connect with employers.
