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CIAN KNIGHTS
AGE: 28
SCHOOL: Shannon School of Business, Cape Breton University, Sydney, N.S.
CURRENT LOCATION: Montreal
GOAL: She’s seeking a job with a non-profit or government agency so she can leverage her business knowledge with her passion for community development
It’s a warm Monday in September, and Cian Knights has a lunch date at Toronto’s MaRS Centre, a hub for research and commercialization that neighbours the University of Toronto. It’s her first informational interview in Toronto, and the Montrealer is meeting Elizabeth Mulholland, an independent consultant who works on public policy. During the meeting, Mulholland, who has a 15- or 20-year head start on her career compared with Knights, shared tips and passed on contacts. The fact that someone with her experience was willing to spend some time chatting with Knights boosted her confidence, and now she’s busy organizing meetings with Mulholland’s contacts. “I’ve expanded my network, and I am waiting to see if any leads will present themselves,” Knights says.
Knights, who graduated in May with an MBA in community economic development from Cape Breton University, was in Toronto for a three-week networking blitz that included attending a community development conference and knocking on the doors of non-profits, social service agencies and government agencies. “My passion is empowering people in vulnerable situations,” says Knights, whose key areas of interest include social finance, microcredit and social entrepreneurship. “I would like to pursue a career in policy development.”
An MBA isn’t what Knights had in mind when she got her undergraduate degree in women’s studies at the University of Toronto. She became interested in business during a 2005 internship in Guyana with the Canadian International Development Agency, working with rural women’s groups who did small-business projects. “Being in Guyana gave me a desire to learn how businesses can play a different role at the social level,” she says. Profits from a peanut butter factory, for example, funded a food program for children in the community.
Knights is eager to get started in her career, but things have moved slowly since she started job-hunting online in December 2008, after returning from a three-month research project in Zambia in the depths of the recession. “I’ve had a good run with applying for jobs and getting them in the past,” Knights says. “I understood it was going to take longer, but living the experience is completely different. You see positions that you’re perfect for, and then you just don’t get hired. There are times when you just wonder, when is it going to happen?”
The competition is steep for positions that she’s interested in. “I’ve gotten a few interviews, but there’s such an influx of people who are applying,” Knights says. For example, for the City of Toronto’s Urban Fellows Program, a work placement for recent grads with the City of Toronto, more than 1,000 candidates competed for 15 spots.
However, Knights feels like she’s on the right track. Her meetings in Toronto have convinced her that it’s the place to be career-wise, and she hopes to move there in November. She’s also becoming more comfortable with networking. “At first it was nerve-wracking. After meeting a few people and sitting with them, I feel much more comfortable picking up the phone and requesting an informal interview,” she says. “I know that work in policy development might not be what I’ll end up doing in the next couple of months, but in the long term that’s the direction I’m looking for.” The dream job will come, she says. It’s just a matter of time.
ZACH SONNLEITNER
AGE: 29
SCHOOL: Queen’s School of Business, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ont.
CURRENT LOCATION: Bentley, Alta./Lethbridge, Alta.
GOAL: After five years as an engineer, he wants to develop a new career in strategic planning or business development
Driving to Calgary for a mixer for Queen’s School of Business alumni in late September, Zach Sonnleitner feels a small twinge of apprehension. He isn’t sure what to expect from the event, but he is hoping to meet some people who can connect him to potential job opportunities. The evening’s speaker is George Watson, former president and CEO of TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., whose career trajectory from an engineering degree to senior positions at energy companies mirrors Sonnleitner’s hopes. After the speech, the new grad nabs the exec to talk one-on-one, passing him one of the business cards he had newly printed for the occasion, with a mini-CV jotted on the back. Sonnleitner plans to follow up.
“I’m looking for work that will move me in the direction of doing strategic planning or business development,” says Sonnleitner, who graduated with an MBA from Queen’s in May. Sonnleitner’s wife, Chantelle, also went back to school in 2008 and got a certificate in art and cultural management. Between his $58,000 tuition (not to mention living and networking costs) and giving up good pay as an engineer, Sonnleitner had to take out loans to finance his MBA. Now, as they both look for work, the couple is staying with his parents in Bentley, Alta., and her parents in Lethbridge, Alta. “If I didn’t have my family, it would be a lot darker scenario. But I knew this was a possibility beforehand, and I talked to them about it,” Sonnleitner says.
After five years as a professional engineer, Sonnleitner realized he wanted to pursue a managerial route rather than becoming a technical specialist. “Given the downturn and given my background, I was focusing more heavily on the energy industry,” says Sonnleitner, whose previous experience is in oil and gas projects and power generation. “That said, I’m open to other possibilities that will let me use my skill set.” When a managerial job hadn’t materialized by mid-August, Sonnleitner realized he had to consider technical jobs again, reasoning that he could migrate to other positions once he finds the right organization. “That was a tough week, to admit that the dream job isn’t going to happen immediately,” he says. “Now my outlook is considerably more positive.”
Sonnleitner’s has a fixed routine for his job search. Every Monday, he goes through a list of company websites and searches for positions. For the remainder of the week, he divides up the applications, doing five or six per day. He regularly goes to Calgary to network, and stays on the lookout for contacts who can pass his resumé on. At the September alumni mixer, for instance, Sonnleitner met Jim Campbell, the Queen’s alumni relations manager for the western regional office, who passed on a few leads. “You want to find those people who are the hub in the spokes, and make a favourable impression, because they know so many different people,” Sonnleitner says.
Though things are tough, Sonnleitner takes heart in seeing more jobs posted now, compared to the scant pickings at the beginning of the summer, and he finds an outlet in his blog, where he documents his job search. Meanwhile, his wife has gotten several interviews, and she’s hopeful she’ll find something soon. But both of them are prepared to wait if they need to. “It’s risky, giving up your job to go back to school, but we felt that the possibility of not finding careers we both enjoyed was riskier,” Sonnleitner says.
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