Ivanhoe Cambridge

Sector: Retail Management
Company: Ivanhoe Cambridge
Name of Interviewee:
Lorna Park

Title: General Manager

Ivanhoe Cambridge

Ivanhoe Cambridge is a global property owner, manager, developer and investor specializing in shopping center developments. With properties worldwide (both wholly and partly owned) the company is involved in some of the most lucrative shopping centers in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia.[1] See http://www.ivanhoecambridge.com/en-CA/HomePage/index.aspx#/en-CA/Shopping/ShoppingCentresWebsites for a list of their properties. In Victoria, Ivanhoe Cambridge owns and operates Mayfair Shopping Centre, located at 3147 Douglas Street. The services Ivanhoe Cambridge offers in this location include general management, accounts, marketing, maintenance, and customer service.

Lorna’s Career Path

Meet Lorna Park, General Manager at Mayfair Shopping Centre in Victoria, BC. Lorna had an unusual start for a business sector employee—after attending the University of Calgary in the Department of Education, she left for Montreal to pursue a dancing career. Tired of being a starving student (I know we can all identify with this!) Lorna later returned to Calgary to earn some money working as a floor coordinator for an oil company. One of her duties in this position was to coordinate the access cards on her floor, which interestingly enough led her to her next career move. As she learned more about the company that provided the cards, Oxford Development Group, she decided it was much more appealing to her than her current job, and asked about positions available there. Soon she was working doing move-in coordination for Oxford Development Group (a competitor of Ivanhoe Cambridge).

While working at the Oxford Development Group, Lorna continued to follow her passions, and would help the marketing director with projects she was interested in. Because of this initiative and hard work, she eventually promoted to building manager in the management centre. At the age of 23 (!!!), she left Oxford to be the General Manager at Ivanhoe Cambridge, a job she has enjoyed ever since.

Lorna believes that the most important part of her personal and professional development was the people she met along the way. We’ve all been told on numerous occasions that networking is important, but for Lorna it has been her key to success. The networking that she did and the mentors she had truly helped her achieve her goals. She notes that who you know is sometimes more important than what you know.

A ‘Typical Day’ for Lorna

Lorna is a very busy lady who uses an efficient and comprehensive agenda system to keep her on track. Her organizational system is her bible, and would impress even the strictest CAAP teacher. On a daily basis, she balances meetings with staff, conference calls, ad proofing, mall walk-throughs, business lunches, and issue resolution. About five times each month, she is responsible for handing in reports relating to issues such as sales or marketing. Because Ivanhoe Cambridge is jointly owned, there are two sets of partners that she reports to (which keeps her very busy). Just recently, Lorna was showing the German partnership group, CGI, around the shopping centre.

Experiences at Ivanhoe Cambridge

Both the best and the worst experiences that Lorna has had at Ivanhoe Cambridge generally relate to the people she is working with. She finds that developing her staff, and watching them grow in their careers is the most fulfilling part of her job. Daily interactions and the friendships that develop are also very rewarding. She also greatly enjoys problem solving, either on her own or working with her team. However, when things go wrong (when the problem cannot be solved or staffing issues are particularly challenging), an otherwise positive experience can cause stress.

Company Structure

Like the previous companies interviewed for this blog, Ivanhoe Cambridge is a very large company requiring a hierarchical structure. The organizational structure is clearly laid out on the company intranet, allowing all employees to see their position within the company, and identify who they can go to for help. Tight-knit groups willing to support each other develop at every level. The following org chart represents the company structure around Lorna:

Company Values

Ivanhoe Cambridge strongly believes in respect and integrity, and this is clearly seen at all levels of the organization. Lorna is proud to say that these core values adopted by the company are not just “lip service” but are actually followed and are integral to the operations of the company. When hiring, Ivanhoe Cambridge looks for respect and integrity in its candidates, as well as flexibility, confidence, kindness, a customer service orientation, and, most importantly, a strong ability to work in teams. While it is now necessary to have a college or university degree to work at Ivanhoe Cambridge, personality is more important than education. So, it is very important to let your personality shine through when you are writing your resume for this company, and even more so in your interview.

Starting out at Ivanhoe Cambridge

Once shortlisted at Ivanhoe Cambridge, prepare for a competency based interview. Then, after your interview is over, prepare for another! (If you’re applying for a key position, that is). When choosing someone for a key position, Ivanhoe Cambridge interviews each candidate by several different members of the organization. This allows them to compare notes and impressions about the candidate to ensure that this person works with the whole team. Psychological profiles (established through tests) are also often utilized to help identify whether your personality is truly suited to the work you’ll be doing. Sorry, studying won’t help you here!

Once you are hired, you will go through both training and team building exercises to incorporate yourself into the workspace comfortably. To further this training, Ivanhoe Cambridge encourages employees to take courses and use books throughout the course of employment. Every Tuesday morning, meetings are held to update the staff on company news, and Pizza Fridays give everyone a chance to relax a bit and be updated on the news of coworkers. Lorna has also stressed that Ivanhoe Cambridge understands that its employees have a life outside of work, and attempts to allow really focuses on creating work-life balance.

For new graduates looking for a starting position, there are a wide variety of options available in the various departments of Ivanhoe Cambridge (as opposed to there being particular starting positions in which all entry level people start). Each department has at least a few levels of advancement, as defined in the company org chart. To give current employees a competitive advantage, all jobs are first posted internally. Only when no suitable candidates are available internally are the jobs then posted externally. Every external position is listed on the website, all internal positions on the company intranet. If your goal is to be Lorna Park (or as close as you can get—General Manager), you are encouraged to spend some time working in all of the departments. This provides better grounding for the variety of tasks you will need to do.

Hidden Benefits

All full time employees of Ivanhoe Cambridge are eligible to receive bonuses tied to their own performance, and the performance of their work center, department, and region. There is also non-monetary recognition to acknowledge the little extra things that people do around the company. Dinners, awards, and gift certificates are used to make people feel special and appreciated.

Working at Ivanhoe Cambridge also allows for a level of freedom that is not found at all companies. What Lorna enjoys the most about her position is the ability to set her own hours—within reason—and to be mobile around the centre as opposed to being “tied to her desk.” Employees are also able to occasionally work from home when they need to, another important factor creating work-life balance.

Travel & Other

Because Ivanhoe Cambridge is a global company, there are many travel opportunities for which all employees are eligible to explore. Travelling for conferences or to meet with foreign partners is the most common (for example, to visit the German partners who recently came to Mayfair). Work positions are available in other countries such as China, Europe, Brazil, and India at the company’s other shopping centre locations. Lorna herself is currently preparing for an upcoming trip to China (Ivanhoe Cambridge is providing language lessons and cultural training).

Advice to Graduating Students

Learn whatever it is that you want to learn, and never be afraid to go after things that you want. As Lorna both tells us and shows us by her own example: “If you want it, go for it!”

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[1] Our Company, 2007, Ivanhoe Cambridge, http://www.ivanhoecambridge.com/en-CA/HomePage/index.aspx#/en-CA/OurCompany (accessed November 22, 2007).

AbeBooks

Sector: High Tech
Company: AbeBooks
Name of Interviewee: Hillary Samson
Title: Manager of Interactive Marketing

AbeBooks

Victoria based AbeBooks is the world’s largest online marketplace for books. The company lists more than 100 million titles, and has over 13,500 sellers.[1]

Why work at AbeBooks? The company, unlike many others in the high-tech industry, has a fascinating product—books! For those who have a passion for books (as do the authors for this blog), Abe allows you to combine your interests. Its online business model appeals to technology buffs and book enthusiasts alike. This is not to say that you have to have in-depth knowledge of books for every position in this company, but it helps!

Another reason to work for AbeBooks: It is privately held and highly profitable. The management team can think long-term (it doesn’t have to worry about quarter to quarter results for shareholders) and is profitable in part due to this flexible approach. However, in the eyes of the current employees, it is the company culture that makes AbeBooks a great place to be.

Hillary’s Career Path

Meet Hillary Samson, Manager of Interactive Marketing at AbeBooks’ Victoria office.

Hillary began her career with an undergraduate degree in English from the University of Western Ontario (fitting for a future career with a company dealing in books). At this point in time, Hillary did not know her career path would lead to her to Marketing. However, she did know that she wanted to be involved in the high-tech sector, as this had always been one of her interests. Coming to Victoria, Hillary landed a position with Swans Hotel & Brewpub in Sales and Marketing, and eventually returned to school to receive her MBA from UVic. After a challenging attempt at starting her own magazine business, Hillary was hired at AbeBooks in a temporary position. This temporary position eventually grew into an offer for permanent employment.

Her first position at AbeBooks was in the bookseller community, essentially involving customer relations with one of Abe’s target markets—booksellers. She has also been involved as a Product Manager, a more technical position dealing with projects and customer relations. Last April Hillary became Manager of Interactive Marketing, her current position at the company.

In Hillary’s opinion, the most important prior experiences in her life leading to this career include:

Her MBA: Hillary received her MBA from UVic in the Entrepreneurship designation. The analytical skills and knowledge that she acquired during her MBA education have been applicable in all of her experiences since.

Athletics: As an Undergraduate student, Hillary was heavily involved in athletics (rowing, etc). The hard work and tenacity required and learned for sports carries through to her career in business and is an important part of Hillary’s success.

A ‘Typical Day’ for Hilary

Hillary noted that she is extremely lucky that she can spend a significant amount of time working on developing marketing strategies, as well as implementing those strategies for AbeBooks. However, there are other tasks that she must complete:

• Reading and responding to email take up part of Hillary’s day, typical for employees of an online business. AbeBooks is a highly email-oriented company and most communications with customers and within the company are done this way.
  

• Managing her three staff members is also an important part of her day. Because of the highly dynamic nature of an online business, things change by the day. Hillary and her staff meet often to prioritize work and discuss changes or new projects.
  

• Finally, staying on top of the competitive market analysis and staying informed about industry trends is very important, and can account for a large portion of her time.
  

Experiences at (and before) AbeBooks

In her career in general, some of the best and worst experiences in Hillary’s career happened when she started her own magazine. In the end, this business was not profitable and Hillary left it behind. This, of course, was a difficult experience due to the stress involved in running—and losing—a company. However, it was one of Hillary’s most important learning experiences in her life, and the lessons that she learned there have stuck with her since.

According to Hillary, the best experiences at AbeBooks are the times when she can connect directly with the customers, including conferences and discussion groups. As part of her position, Hillary needs to keep in touch with her target markets, both sellers and buyers of books, and thinks that this is one of the most enjoyable parts of her job. Also, AbeBooks recently went through a re-branding exercise (re-evaluation of the brand and brand image of AbeBooks, and determination of how to best achieve the ideal brand for the company) which they are currently in the process of implementing. Hillary found this to be an incredible learning experience for her and for the company as a whole. Finally, the dynamic and interesting people with whom she works contribute to all of the experiences that she has had in the company.

Some of the less pleasant experiences that Hillary has experienced at AbeBooks are those times when projects don’t go as smoothly as planned. Some end up taking longer to plan and implement than expected (for example, a database redesign that took three years), others don’t have the results that were hoped for. This can be very stressful and time-draining for everyone involved.

Company Structure

AbeBooks is not a flat company. Its 125 people are arranged in a hierarchical structure, much like other medium and large scale companies. Having said that, there is a lot of interaction between staff, managers, directors, and the CEO, and communication is very open and informal. Hillary works under the Director of Marketing with her three staff members in the Interactive Marketing team.

The basic structure:

Company Values

AbeBooks has four company values written into its company mandate:

• Innovation
• Integrity
• Trust
• Customer Focus
  

These characteristics are what your potential employers at AbeBooks are looking for, so demonstrate them in your resume, cover letter, and interview. They are also looking for people who are creative (especially in the marketing departments, but in others as well) and have technical and/or metrics skills (useful for all positions in the company). Hillary also stressed the importance of being self-motivated. In this workplace, there will never be someone looking for your shoulder to tell you what to do. You are expected to make your job your own, and take initiative to get things done. Finally, and you’ll hear this one everywhere you go; you need to be able to work in a team. The projects at AbeBooks are done in teams, and although you’ll need individual drive to succeed, you’ll also need to work well with those around you.

Starting out at AbeBooks

Once you've made the shortlist for AbeBooks, you can focus on the all-important interviews… that’s right, multiple interviews. Also, because of AbeBooks' team approach to everything, expect to be interviewed by a panel. Case studies are common in these interviews, and you will be asked to work through them logically. This is the time to remember all that you've learned about revenues, costs, and other case-study concepts.

As a new employee, your days will be quite structured. There is a three week training process for entry-level jobs, and everyone at every level takes part in "CS Survivor" (spending a day listening in on customer service calls). Team building exercises are also available, for example volunteering days at Habitat for Humanity. The yearly pub crawl, golf tournament, and Christmas parties may also interest you.

There are several opportunities for advancement (as well as lateral movement) once you are on staff at AbeBooks. All jobs are posted internally to the company; some jobs are only posted internally to encourage internal movement. For this reason, the org chart changes almost daily as people move around the company and experience the different positions offered. However, at AbeBooks you cannot rely on the natural progression of positions (staff supervisor, manager, etc) that in some companies are inherent to doing a good job. At Abe, movement is based on self-motivation and initiative—you have to work towards and apply for the positions you want on your own.

Hidden Benefits

As an entry-level staff member, you can look forward to some great yearly bonuses, tied in to both your individual performance and that of the company as a whole. As a mid-level manager, bonuses come quarterly rather than yearly, and are based on your team's performance. All employees are eligible for "fun awards" that recognize what a great job you're doing—for example, the "your co-worker rocks" award.

In Hillary's perhaps less-than-neutral but very enthusiastic opinion, AbeBooks has the "best benefits of any private company." Medical, dental, chiropractor, optometry, etc. are all very well covered for staff members. Also, there is a $25 per month allowance for employees to spend on fitness memberships, and the company will pay for your bus pass or, if you walk or bike the company will just give you the money that you would have spent on bus passes or parking.

Most excitingly, there are two fruit days and one donut day per week! Also (typical of the high tech sector) there is a foosball table and massage chair in the spacious, open planned office. Oh, and stock options too! AbeBooks seems to know that to us students, every little bit counts.

Travel & Other

Because AbeBooks has an office in Dusseldorf, Germany there are opportunities for travel between the two countries. There are departmental meetings, teambuilding exercises and 'summits' that employees, sometimes even those in entry level positions, can attend in Germany. As a manager or senior manager, there is travel involved to bookfairs and other conferences around the world—Hillary was recently in New York for one such event.

These international learning opportunities are accompanied by other internal learning at AbeBooks. For example, the company will pay for any book that you might want to read ordered off of the website (within reason, we assume). As previously mentioned, there are seminars available to employees, as well as "brown bag" sessions where employees attend presentations to learn about the other departments and their current projects.

Advice to Graduating Students

Be passionate about what you do. At AbeBooks, the employees have a passion and fascination with books and high-tech sector that keeps them happy and makes them productive in their careers. This ties in to Hillary's early comments about self motivation. Her advice: Give 100% and make your job into what you want it to be.

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[1] Company Information 2007. AbeBooks, http://www.abebooks.com/docs/CompanyInformation/ (accessed November 17, 2007).

KPMG Victoria

Sector: Accounting
Company: KPMG
Name of Interviewee:
Derrold V. Norgaard, CFP, CA
Title: Office Managing Partner

KPMG

KPMG LLP is the Canadian member firm of KPMG, a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services.

Why is working at KPMG different from other accounting firms? KPMG is the largest accounting firm in BC and on Vancouver Island. Unlike smaller firms, KPMG has the ability to invest in many different areas of accounting and provide a variety and breadth of work for its employees. It is also able to set the standards for pay and benefits offered to its employees here on the Island. Because of its size, the structure has more bureaucratic processes (there is a KPMG way of doing things), so other, smaller companies may be able to handle issues with more flexibility. However, in the past the processes and training that this large company can provide have provided a start for many current large and small company accountants.

Derrold’s Career Path

Meet Derrold Norgaard, Office Managing Partner of the Victoria KPMG office. Derrold began his accounting career with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Simon Fraser University. Although not a “straight A” student in high school or University, Derrold landed co-op positions in small accounting firms in Abbostsford and his hometown of Chilliwak. After graduation, his work experience from the accounting co-ops helped him to find a position at the UK based firm of Peate Marwick Mitchell, one of the “Big 8” accounting firms at the time. Starting out in audit practice, taking his UFE (Uniform Final Exam), and moving into tax accounting, Derrold used his experience at Peate Marwick Mitchell to gain experience and travel around the world. The Peate Marwick Mitchell soon merged with another accounting firm, Thorne Ernst Winney, and eventually became KPMG.

Starting as a staff accountant, Derrold was promoted from senior accountant, to manager, to senior manager, and finally to full partner 10 years later. Currently, as the managing partner, he is involved primarily in tax practice (his area of specialty), but also leads the enterprise practice division of the company.

According to Darrold, there are several prior experiences in his life that most benefited his career:

1. Academic Studies: His experience in highschool and University developed his ability to learn and his love of learning. As an accountant, he is involved in an “industry of continuous learning,” where things are changing by the minute, and where you are expected to acquire that knowledge you need for the job. This ability, he says, is one that will get you the farthest as an accountant.

2. Co-op Terms: Derrold believes that it is thanks to his co-op positions at small accounting firms that he, a small town Chilliwak guy, was noticed and hired by one of the “Big 8” firms in the world.

3. Audit Experience at a Large Firm: Working at a large firm allowed Derrold to experience a breadth of industries, working on many different projects in different areas of accounting. Because he did not have to specialize at the beginning (as you might with a smaller firm with a smaller scope), Derrold avoided pigeonholing his career and gained knowledge on a broad range of accounting areas.

4. International Travel: Derold taught in Asia, traveled to the Middle East and Europe, and saw firsthand the reach and diversity of international accounting.

A ‘Typical Day’ for Derrold

On the phone (¼ of his time): Handling client questions on accounting and tax matters.

Seeking out new work (¼ of his time): Finding new clients, or new tax accounting services for current clients.

Managing staff (¼ of his time): Finding and training employees, and keeping the current employees happy.

Actually doing accounting work (¼ of his time).

Experiences at KPMG

In Derrold’s opinion, the best experiences at KPMG are meeting the many different people (both internally as co-workers, and externally as clients) that you are exposed to in your job. The articling period while working towards a CA, or “boot-camp” as he calls it, is a stressful time but also is a bonding experience for the people experiencing the work load together. Along with the stress of passing the exam there is the formation of friendships and teams amongst you and your co-workers.

Throughout your entire career as an accountant, you will meet some of the most influential entrepreneurs and business people, be involved in teaching, and have the opportunities to travel around the world. These are the best experiences that KPMG has to offer.

The somewhat less pleasant experiences you will have as an accountant at KPMG include the competitive pressures, hard workload, long hours, and meeting client demands. As a business that sells ‘hours,’ accounting is very demanding on your time. At first, this pressure may be reduced by the firm’s help with scheduling and time management. As time goes on and you are expected to handle this yourself, this aspect of the job can become more and more stressful.

Company Structure

KPMG’s company structure is hierarchical, as is the case with many large firms. However, with a growing number of partners (from 500-650 in a given year) and senior managers (~1000) and a lessened need for ‘grunt workers’ due to technological effecincies, Derrold described the top of the pyramid as expanding to form a more “rectangular” shape for the company.

However, KPMG is not just for accountants. If you are aspiring towards a career in Marketing, Human Resources, or even Engineering, KPMG has a position for you too. See the career page on their website for more details (http://www.kpmg.ca/en/careers/). The general structure of KPMG is as follows:

Company Values

We’ve mentioned that the accounting industry is constantly changing, and the ability to learn is crucial for success within it. One thing that KPMG is looking for in a potential candidate, for this reason, is the ability and interest in continuous learning. As a Chartered Accountant, and especially as a KPMG employee, you will be required to spend a certain number of hours a year on professional development. For this reason, they offer a surprising number of educational opportunities:

• Mentoring and Coaching
• Weekly training sessions (some mandatory)
• Internal Courses (also offered to external professionals)
• External Courses
• Web-based courses
• Programs to reimburse employees for advancement of education

Another competency that KPMG looks for in its recruits is empathy. Accounting is also an “industry of problem solving,” and an accountant must care about the client’s problem enough to be able to find creative solutions. Thirdly, honesty and integrity are a must have for potential candidates. You need to be able to speak honestly, and cannot be afraid of the difficult conversations that come up. This may sound all too familiar, but being transparent and honest is crucial for an accounting firm to avoid lawsuits and scandal (think Enron).

Starting out at KPMG

Now that you know which competencies to stress on your resume and have landed an interview with KPMG, expect to answer behavioral questions. The interviewers at KPMG are all accountants with work experience at KPMG, and as such know what type of qualifications, skills, and more importantly people to look for.

Newly hired employees begin with job assignments that last from 1 to 3 weeks each. As a part of a team, they will be tasked with a certain element of the job (ie. checking that all of the liabilities on the balance sheet are correct), and may spend blocks of time away from the KPMG office at the client’s place of business. (Don’t worry; you will have help from your team, generally headed by a senior accountant and manager, in determining the correct processes.)

Hidden Benefits

Aside from a great pay structure, there are many benefits to a career with KPMG:

• Flexible hours for a work-life balance (and flex days, as mentioned in our Ministry of Finance entry)
• Personal care days aka “mental health days” (7 days per year)
• Medical and Dental
• Community days (1 day per year dedicated to a charitable cause)
• Sabbaticals
• Concierge Program (they pick up your dry cleaning!!!)
• Fitness program (reimbursement of ~$1000 per year for fitness memberships or equipment)
• Mentors and performance counselors
• Encore Program (gifts of $20 to $5000 given from employees to their co-workers for doing a good job)
• Social committee events

Travel & Other

There are many opportunities to travel at KPMG. Employees have the option of utilizing the “World Tour Program,” where they are sent all over the world on a short term, project basis. This allows them to travel the world, one project at a time. If you really want international experience, you can sign up for the “Global Mobility Program.” This is a longer term program, where you can spend up to a few years working abroad (but you do have to come back eventually!). Combined with travel for everyday business (Derrold had just returned from Toronto days before our interview), these programs give you a lot of opportunities to see the world.

Advice to Graduating Students

Be empathetic. Accounting firms know that you have the academic ability to be an accountant (you’ve made it this far in the process!) But it is very important that you demonstrate empathy for their clients, and that you have the drive to meet their needs and provide creative solutions.