The orientation camp is over and I think it went pretty well. The events I ran went off without a hitch. Today (Monday) I’m still yawning at 10am—oh so tiring.
Glad to have met so many of you first years, please feel free to fire me an e-mail, post a comment, or harass me in person if you need anything. I’ll post photos in the next week or so but my laptop is on the frits right now so I can’t download any pictures off my camera. Also, a huge shout-out to the PSO people at the Casino night. Thanks for coming out. 
I have today off and am trying to use it effectively. The to do list is:
- Get my laptop fixed. I think it’s a hardware problem so I’m off to the Apple Store.
- Get a good start on job applications. Yes RIM is sending me an offer but I don’t know the details of it yet and I haven’t decided on if I’m willing to live (“full-time”) in Waterloo.
- Clean my apartment. It is a mess since I haven’t unpacked from my move back from Waterloo.
- Do some of the required reading for the first week of class.
I have decided (again this year) to avoid most info sessions. I’m still not sure if I’m shooting myself in the foot but: there are so many to go to, I don’t like fighting with my classmates for “air time” with the recruiters, and I’m not sure how effective I’ll be at saying “something that catches the recruiters attention” rather than “something that turns them off.” For example, I was told by the recruiter from RIM that asking about the NTP case is a way to get short listed into the “doesn’t get it” or “is asking canned questions” pile. She also says she remembers only “a coupple” of names out of hundreds. It’s hard to stand out in such a talented crowd that I think I’d rather just play video games. Counter arguments?
In other news, I found out that the school used one of my blog postings at the taste of the MBA. This is both wonderful and scary at the same time.
p.s. I’m thinking of giving a first year access to post their experiences on my blog. This will allow you (the reader) to see all the changes that Rotman has made between the last two years. The school is really great at listening to feedback and continuingly improving the program; I think it’s important to show this. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Any first year student interested in using my blog as a platform to share your experiences? Why? 
Hey Riz,
. Anyways, it’s good to know a 2nd year’s perspective and I appreciate that this blog was public.
I found your blog site on Google. For some reason, I thought that it was a big no-no to miss those info sessions but I’m glad to know the world doesn’t end if you don’t attend
Have a nice week!
Hi Serita,
You usually have to sign up for the info sessions so if you don’t sign up, you don’t have to go. Being able to apply for a job is not contingent on you going to the associated info session. Again, I honestly don’t know how important info sessions are to the job search (I’ve done ok without them)… like I said “I’m still not sure if I’m shooting myself in the foot.”
Thanks for reading,
-Riz
I tend to agree with you on the value of info sessions. I believe they are well intended but poorly executed. No matter whether they are “career fairs” or school-organized recruiting, the outcome seems to be the same: 8 or 9 eager students gather around recruiters all vying to ask the coveted “what’s in an average day” question. Perhaps they should blair the Beatles “Day in the Life” over the loudspeakers and avoid the senseless elbowing.
However, (there’s always a caveat to my comments) info sessions can be useful if you use the opportunity to your advantage. Instead of asking recruiters how they woke up, got out of bed, and dragged a comb across their heads, I use my 10 seconds of attention to ask where they’re getting a beer after. Mind you, at LSE I also took advantage of the fact that many of the so-called recruiters were simply LSE alumni. They were sent on assignment to “connect” with their alma mater.