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Gordon Swenson
Year of Study: 3rd
Program of Study: Philosophy Minor, Currently in arts, although I have completed many lower and upper division business courses and will be applying to the Beedie School of Business soon.
How has being involved with SFU’s CaseIT, an annual international MIS undergraduate case competition, helped you prepare for a career in MIS?
I have been very fortunate to be involved with CaseIT. As the Director of Sponsorship for 2011, this competition exposed me to an environment where MIS was brought into a much clearer, and real-world context. Seeing how essential Information Systems are to our sponsoring companies, their clients, and the companies featured in the business cases broke down disillusions that I held surrounding MIS.
What impact did SFU’s MIS courses have on your career?
Courses such as BUS 362 - Business Process Analysis, BUS 361 - Project Management, and BUS 338 - Managing Technological Innovation all threw me into the art of MIS. As a result, I am currently pursuing a technological venture in SFU's incubator, VentureLabs, which was developed throughout my term in BUS 338. I am using the usecase/UML knowledge from BUS 362 class to bridge the human and technological aspects of a business, while the the stakeholder management skills learned in BUS 361 are helping me greatly with my current position as Vice-Chair of CaseIT 2012.
How will the introduction of Business Technology Management Certificate change the academic experience for students at SFU Beedie?
With the amazing and accomplished MIS professors that the Beedie School of Business has, the BTM certificate will offer students a chance to gain a much more holistic and complete skill set that will be rich in knowledge and proven experience.
It will also help them to become a well-rounded asset to any institution or organization. The convergence of technology, throughout all disciplines, makes the BTM certificate and the project management, people, and technical skills it provides, a boundary-less asset for students and future employers.
What is your career plan or goal and what impact will the Business Technology Management Certificate have on your career?
I know that I want to become an excellent businessperson and I know that technology is only moving forward. The Beedie School of Business has great support within these programs and this is one of the reasons that I am taking entrepreneurship and innovation, MIS, and BTM courses. I feel like I am moving into the uncertain future, with certainty that this direction will lead me to a great destination.
Do you have any advice for fellow students who are thinking of pursuing the Business Technology Management Certificate at the Beedie School of Business?
If you’re thinking about it - do it.
I think that the purpose of university is to become of value to society, so that we can earn a great life for ourselves through our ability to serve our fellow people. The BTM certificate was born out of the need for a new standard of value that is necessary in the current and future workplace. These needs will not be decreasing, and the BTM certificate is a tight and simple way to hone a complex skill set, grow your value to employers, and inevitably raise the quality level of your future.
If you are creative and interested in idea cultivation, looking to hone your professional people skills, or interested to learn how to manage projects - the BTM certificate focuses both on the hard & soft skills and on both the "left" & "right" brain. There's something for everyone to thrive on.
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Nima Sarhangpour
Year of Study: 4th year
Program of Study: Management Information Systems (MIS), Management & Technology
Can you describe your experiences at the Beedie School of Business?
My experience studying MIS at SFU Beedie has been very exciting thanks to the amazing faculty and the engaging classes. I have been able to attain new skills in management and strategy while expanding my technical toolkit.
It has also motivated me to take part in extra-curricular activities such as case competitions. I have been involved with CaseIT, Beedie's own international undergraduate MIS case competition as Director of Technology in 2010-2011, and more recently as the Chair for 2011-2012. Furthermore, I was able to take part in an MIS case competition in Singapore thanks to the support of the school and faculty.
How will the introduction of the Business Technology Management Certificate change the academic experience for students at SFU Beedie?
The introduction of the BTM certificate will provide the students an incentive to dive into the field of technology management and receive recognition from the industry. Through courses required for the BTM certificate, students will be able to better gap the bridge between people and technology; hence, creating opportunities for employment in nearly every industry and field.
What is your career plan or goal and what impact will the Business Technology Management Certificate have on your career?
My career plan is to work in the technology consulting industry and use the skills I have attained through the BTM certificate to help business of all sizes realize the benefits of employing technology to improve and automate their existing business processes or re-engineer them with the help of technology to make them more efficient.
Do you have any advice for fellow students who are thinking of pursuing the Business Technology Management Certificate at the Beedie School of Business?
My advice for fellow students considering the BTM certificate is to go for it! It doesn't matter whether you are coming from an accounting/finance or human resources background, the BTM certificate will allow you to become much more valuable by combining technology with any concentration.
There is a common misconception that the program involves "programming and coding"; however, by taking courses such as BUS 361 (Project Management), BUS 362 (System Analysis and Design), and BUS 462 (Business Intelligence), students will realize how they can employ technology in any part of the business.
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Awin Ye
Year of Study: 4th Year
Program of Study: Joint Major in Business Administration and Computing Science with concentrations in MIS, Accounting, and Management & Technology.
Can you describe your experience of studying MIS at the Beedie School of Business?
My experience of studying MIS at the Beedie School of Business has been a blast. I met lifelong friends and connected with fantastic MIS professors.
I have also been heavily involved in various student clubs on campus; I was the president of Management Information Systems Association (MISA) and editor-in-chief for the BBA Yearbook. In between classes and club involvement, I also participated in the co-op program. I had the opportunity to work as the Project Management Support Officer at the HSBC Software House for 8 months and I also worked as a Staff Accountant / Analyst in Deloitte for 4 months.
What is the highlight of your time at the Beedie School of Business?
The highlights of my undergraduate experience at Beedie are the regional, national, and international business case competitions I have participated in over the past four years.
In Canada, I competed in the JDC West Business Case Competition in the MIS and Business Strategy divisions and at the Inter-Collegiate Business Competition (ICBC) in the MIS event for two years.
Internationally, I represented SFU at the APEX Business IT Case Competition in Singapore where my teammates and I won the prize for the "Most Innovative Solution," and I was also a proud finalist at the Citi-Bank International Case Competition (CICC) in Hong Kong. Currently, I am training for the Thammasat Undergraduate Business Challenge (TUBC) that will take place in Bangkok, Thailand.
How will the introduction of the BTM certificate change the academic experience for students at SFU Beedie?
The BTM certificate is a great bridge between the academic world of the university and the industry world that students will enter after their graduation. After talking to directors and executives in big companies in Greater Vancouver such as Deloitte, ICBC, Telus, Bell, and City of Vancouver, I noticed an increasing need for people who have a deep understanding of business, but who can also communicate with technical personnel. The BTM program will not only make BTM students more employable, but also provide them with the necessary training and experience to prepare them for their jobs.
What is your career plan or goal and what impact will the BTM certificate have on your career?
I plan to start my career at Deloitte, the world's and Canada's biggest professional services firm, in their Enterprise Risk Services department. I will be helping with IT Audit and internal control, while I also pursue my Chartered Accountant (CA) designation during the first few years.
This will give me great exposure to different companies in their operations and IT infrastructures and it will allow me to get a better idea of what I would really like to do in the long term. I think the BTM certificate will increase my knowledge and understanding of how businesses operate in general, and give me transferable skills such as time management, organizational, leadership, and communication.
Do you have any advice for fellow students who are thinking of pursuing the Business Technology Management Certificate at the Beedie School of Business?
Step up and take initiative to participate in or lead business competitions, school projects, or student clubs. This will not only expand your existing network in the industry, but it will also improve your transferable skills that are highly valued in the industry.
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