"How can I make the most of my first months in the MBA?" With Lambert, Paula, & Paridhi (MBA 2025)

Kate speaks with 3 MBA 2025 students about what their journey looked like, what worked and what didn't for classes and recruiting, and what advice they have for you in the early months of the program.

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The Ivey Career Management Podcast shares practical career advice, alumni insights, and expert perspectives to help Ivey students and graduates navigate their careers with confidence.

[Auto-generated transcript. Edits may have been applied for clarity.]
Welcome to the Career Management Podcast, where we bring you stories and strategies from students,

special guests and the Career Management team. As we get set up in the studio,

make yourself comfortable and let's get started.

Today we're talking with three of our MBA 2025 graduates about their MBA journey in hopes of sharing with our incoming class of MBA

2026s what they can expect and how they can set themselves up for success early on in their MBA journey.

Um, as I mentioned, I have three very talented alumni joining me and I'd love for them to introduce themselves.

Uh, Lambert, we'll maybe start with you. Yeah. Thank you for having me today.

Uh, so my name is Lambert, and, um, I actually come from, uh, my, uh, banking background.

So before coming to Ivey, uh, I have spent, like, most of have in bank.

Uh, I came from Hong Kong originally, so I'm an international student.

There is so much to learn after I came to Canada, but thanks to the cohort and Career Management, I think I nailed it!

Uh, so I'm here now. Um, so I just completed my program, uh, and expect to join a bank again, uh, in Toronto, uh, later this year.

Okay. Thank you, Lambert. Paula, we'll have you go next.

Well, my name is Paula Fernandez. I'm also an international students, as Lambert.

I'm from Peru. My background is more about banking and payments.

I actually have seven years in those industries,

and I studied industrial engineering. Right now I'm living in Toronto

and I'm planning to start a new job soon. Okay,

and where are you starting your new job, Paula? Ff you can share. Sure, uh, at Scotia.

Okay. Thank you, and Paridhi. Yeah.

Thank you so much for having me here. Uh, really excited to, uh, share my insights,

but before that, just a quick introduction. My name is Paridhi Bajaj.

I am from India. Uh, like Paula and Lambert, I'm an international student as well.

So Ivey was practically my first time in Canada, and, uh, I am an Ivey grad.

Uh, feels weird to say that, but, uh, yes,

finally! Uh, also, before coming, uh, to Ivey, I, uh, I was an ACC and, uh, I have my, uh, professional background in M&A advisory and due diligence.

Uh, after the program, and in the next few months, I am going to be joining a bank here in Toronto.

Okay. Fantastic, and thank you all again for taking the time to join me this morning.

I know our current MBA students will really appreciate the insights from the other side of the MBA program.

Uh, the first thing I'd love to hear from you folks is just kind of a snippet of what did your journey like,

look like at the start of your MBA, and how did it look like at the end?

Did those two things match? Were there changes? And Paridhi I'll have you start.

Okay. Thank you. Uh, so to begin with, uh, I started off as the, uh, like... The beginning of my journey was a little bit anxious.

Of course, there's a lot to do in core and core is one of the most important and important elements of the program.

So you're always anxious. You want to do everything all at once.

You don't want to miss a single case.

You don't want to, uh, give up on single, uh, you know, reading or neither do you want to, uh, you know, compromise on your career stuff.

So there's a lot to do. Lot of anxiety. But as, uh, as and when the program progresses,

I felt this myself, that I found it easier to prioritize things, which is very important.

And that is how I think, uh, I became a bit more calm, and I made peace with the fact that I cannot do all the things.

Maybe I'll do the case and not, you know, one of the readings.

It's all right till the time I'm listening to my classmates in the class,

I'm learning. So I think that was one of the major transitions that I, uh, witnessed happening, uh, from my short.

OK, and what was something that helped you do that

prioritization? How did you decide what was important when?

Mhm. Well, uh, I think uh, it was after uh, the industry treks that uh, I felt very anxious because I had a lot of career stuff to do.

And then, uh, a lot of important subjects started at that time, uh,

which is where I realized that I need to probably sit down and divide my day into hours.

Uh, I did that. I tried that for a week, uh, and made a couple of tweaks within that period.

And, yeah, that's how, like... once I started doing this, once I started implementing this,

um, I did feel like, uh, I was way more calm and way more productive,

and my efforts were, you know, varying results as well.

Sure, so some trial and error there to get it right, but that that time mapping helped you figure out how much time you had,

what you needed to get done, and make-- make those prioritization decisions. For sure.

For sure. Okay. All right. Thank you. Paula,

how about for yourself? What did the start of MBA look like compared to the end of MBA?

That's a really good question. Uh, so at the start of my MBA, I think I focused on getting to know myself better, understanding my strengths,

my limit, also, um, learning how to manage the imposter syndrome. I didn't know about like, that --

the name of this, um, feeling right now.

I know that it was difficult at the beginning, because I also felt overwhelmed about trying to balance my whole life, trying to be a good student,

a good wife, um... And, um, Paula, for, for, for other students like yourself who at the beginning of the MBA didn't know what imposter syndrome was,

can you share a little bit about what that is?

Yeah, sure. I, I can actually give you an example.

Um, probably many international students, uh, will be in the same situation at some point.

Uh, I remember at the beginning of the MBA in general, maybe the first three months, something like that,

I was afraid of not communicating my ideas clearly, which limited my contribution.

So my grades for the, uh, the first month were not the best because of that,

uh, and I felt that, um, I had to take care of my words, my pronunciation,

everything in general, because it was like,

"maybe the professor won't follow me or understand my ideas", or "what happens if the professor asked me a follow up question?"

So I was very shy, very afraid. I was... "Maybe this isn't for me, how I'm going to survive?"

This is an English, uh, environment.

So I was in that position. But over the time, I learned how to become more confident and just jump into, into the the swimming pool,

uh, I guess, um, and be willing to take more risk in general.

And also, as Paridhi mentioned, I learned how to set boundaries.

For example, I won't go to this party today because I know, um, I have to be ready for, I don't know, consulting firms rounds, for example.

Uh, and I also learned how to plan ahead, sometimes two weeks in advance to have all the visibility of my responsibilities.

OK, so planning ahead and also learning to jump in.

Paula, you mentioned confidence building and that being a tricky thing with imposter syndrome

because you don't necessarily feel confident enough or "ready" or having the words just right.

What advice would you give to a student who's who's struggling to get the words just right,

or debating when the right time to jump into to classroom discussion is here?

So something that I learned maybe in the fifth month is that Ivey really helps to create a safe environment where your colleagues won't judge you.

So if you make a mistake, it's fine and being in the MBA program is the best time to make that mistake,

those mistakes in general. So I just, uh, did because I felt this is my opportunity.

Uh, so it's the right time. OK, this is the time to make those mistakes and try it out.

Yeah, okay. Thank you so much. And, Lambert, how about for you?

What did the start of your MBA look like compared to the end of it?

I just want to say thanks to Paula for starting this topic, because I can totally relate to it.

Uh, I remember at first when I started my program, I faced the same situation because English is not my first language.

Uh, it's actually my third language.

So, uh, it took some time for me to really overcome my fear and hence to to speak up in the class to make contribution.

Uh, not only the fact that, uh, English is not my first language, but also I worry

the professor will understand what I want to interpret or bring up,

but then I found the professor really encouraged, especially international student, to speak up.

Uh, if we don't raise our hand, they will cold call! And, uh, if we couldn't really, uh, like, bring out our ideas

clearly, the professors actually help us like to, uh, rephrase what we said.

And at the end of the class, they actually, uh, came to us, uh, came to me and even let me know how I can do better next time or in the future class.

So after that, you know, I start to, uh, think in a new, uh, philosophy of myself.

I just think if I want to say something, express something... just say it out. People will help me in here, especially,

we are in a very safe space here. Uh, before entering the scary space in the real world, uh, it's better to do more practice.

This is the reason why I'm here. I'm in the MBA cohort.

I'm here to learn from each other because we have a lot of talented people inside the cohort.

Um, I'm sure Paula and Paridhi feel the same.

Uh, I learned so much from my cohort, so, uh, I just feel like, um, the MBA

really... The program really transformed myself.

Probably I would say sometimes in the past, I was a little bit introvert, and then it really transform, uh, transformed me to be an extrovert.

I want to meet people. I want to learn from each other. Uh, sometimes I find out my teammates need help.

Uh, I want to share my experience to them, too. So, uh, I think this is a really, uh, good program.

Uh, because, uh, now I can see I develop a lot of different skills, especially on handling stress.

Uh, this year, I'm sure many international students, especially the current cohort,

can feel a lot of stress in the beginning, like, uh, Paula and Paridhi mentioned.

Uh, we are actually reading around 3 to 4 cases, uh, per day in the beginning

as I remember, and at the same time we knew that, uh, we have to look for jobs.

So, uh, to lead into our, like, upcoming questions or conversation,

I just want to share that, uh, do follow the Career Management guideline

and advice, and I'm going to share a little bit more of my personal experience,

how I leverage the resources that, uh, the Career Management, uh, gave me.

And, uh, it really helped me to, uh, clear up all my concerns and help me to develop a better career plan.

And this where I am today. Thank you, Lambert.

And can you confirm that we did not pay you to say that? No.

No, no. Maybe I have to pay you.

Okay. No, no, no, uh, we're, uh. I've learned so much.

Yeah, I have learned so much from from the school, from the cohort, from my alumni and the professors, and Career Management.

No, that is our job. We're always happy to support. And, Lambert, what I heard from,

I think one of the themes I picked up from what you were saying about your MBA is it was it was a lot of collaboration,

um, in terms of not just collaborating with Career Management, with your peers, with professors, but also in communication.

The onus wasn't on solely on you to say things perfectly, to get your idea across,

but to put what you had out there and the other people would would help you in that, or would co-create that with you.

Um, in the sense that it's also partly their job to learn and understand.

Um, so really, really bringing together folks to, um, to communicate together.

OK, and Lambert, was there anything else going on in your life at the beginning of your MBA that impacted your journey?

Oh, definitely. So I became a father, uh, in the beginning of the MBA journey.

Uh, it wasn't planned, to be honest. I literally knew that I...

Yeah. So, um, at first, I to be honest, I lost my direction, uh, in March, just literally once the program started,

I feel overwhelmed because there is so much going on, uh, in the academic life already,

and suddenly I need to plan for my job searching,

and I need to learn how to become a father, especially be a good father.

Uh, so there's so much to learn. But I want to say, uh, my cohort and my teammates, uh, they really support me a lot of their whole journey,

especially, you know, we have a lot of 24 hour reports, uh, in the first three months.

Uh, they really understand my situation a lot.

And, um, to be honest, because I knew that, uh, I may have to spend a little bit time, uh, dedicated to my family,

uh, so I have to, uh, pre-arrange order.

Uh, I would, I actually let me revisit;

I would say we have to really keep communication, communicating with my teammates; let them know what is going on in my family.

Uh, as long as everyone know, uh, like everything;

my situation,... Probably some of them have some other things going on.

Uh, even one of my teammates has a business. He has to manage a business back home.

So, uh, everyone has, like, different thing, uh, going on.

And if we understand each other, uh, then, uh, it's a good collaboration.

Yeah. And another thing I'm picking up from across the board here is you set your own priorities.

MBA is one of them. It is not the only one.

And you are the only person who can can think about what your priorities are and where where those priorities fall.

So thank you for that. Knowing we don't have much time together,

I'll encourage us to do a lightning round of advice for current students.

What's one piece of advice you would give to a current MBA that they can do right now,

to make their life just a little bit easier throughout the year?

Paula, please. Yep. Go for it.

Well, um, I think I love to give them two advice.

The first one is... maybe it's a cliché, but try to organize, prioritize your time, but also give visibility

to all your responsibilities because that visibility will, will help you to

don't forget nothing. And in that way, especially if you have the visibility for the next two weeks, you can plan ahead.

What is going to happen the next weekend?

Um, because I will have 24 hours report, or that kind of assignments that, um, are, I don't know, mandatory, for example.

And the second one is, um try to avoid burnout, especially at the end of the MBA.

Um. I think if you feel sad because a company didn't call you, for example,

or you feel stress because you have many things to do, not just from the MBA, um, maybe things from your life in general,

just release those feelings and find an activity that makes you feel fulfilled.

For example, in my case, I remember every Sunday I went to do hot yoga.

So that helped me a lot to maintain that balance in my life.

Hot yoga has come up with a couple of our other MBA students that we've interviewed, so this is good to know.

Hot yoga seems to be the thing. Thank you, Paula and I, I like that kind of prevention piece of "be mindful of how you're feeling",

acknowledge that, um, and do what you need to do to manage that, um, whatever it may be.

And I also like your piece of prioritization or planning ahead.

You mentioned that you have a partner and your partner doesn't just disappear for the 48 hour reports.

Um, that's where the planning can help you make space for all of the roles and all of the priorities in your life.

So thank you. All right. Paridhi, I feel like you were,

you were next up there. What's your piece of advice?

Yeah. Thank you. Oh, first things first. I think Paula's, uh, both advices were really amazing.

I totally second that, um, my only piece of advice, uh, in terms of the addition to Paula's advice would be, uh, saying yes to everything.

Uh, we are here to make connections as well. And, uh, we... like, in the MBA program

uh, we may not realize that our cohort is an important piece of network as well.

You they are just not your classmates. Uh, but they will be, uh, they will be, uh, your network throughout your life.

So it's very important to actually spend some time, make connections.

And, uh, the, the structure of our program is such that the your learning teams will force you to think critically.

They will force you to study. But at the same time, nobody forces you to make connections out of school.

You have to take time out for yourself to do that, and I think that is very important.

If someone invites you to a game, go! It's fine. Uh, if someone invites you over for dinner, for coffee? Do that!

I think, uh, one of my very first dinners was with Paula and, uh, Juan, her partner, which I still remember.

So I think saying yes to do those things is very, very important.

Having a social life is very important because MBA is very, uh, difficult to deal with if you do not, uh, in the process, make good friends.

We sometimes think about, you know, the, the standout negative moments or the things that didn't go so well.

I'm also hearing you remember that dinner with Paula and her partner from back then.

So making those positive memories and connections.

Thank you for highlighting that. And Lambert, your piece of advice.

First of all, I think as an international student

relax! Yeah, do not burn out yourself,

because, uh, I know that's a lot. Especially in the beginning of the program.

Uh, second is like what Paridhi said. Um, actually, there are a lot of different career events hosted by some career clubs and Career Management.

So do not, uh, feel pressure, uh, that you have to, uh, like, look for a lot of different networking friends by yourself.

Sometimes you go to school, actually have prepare some for you to get started.

And that is how I start my career search journey.

Uh, because before, uh, like, the Ivey Get Connected or the industry of trek

I didn't really know where to start. I didn't know what direction I can go for, and I didn't even know where I want to land at the time.

But after all these events, I start to set a clear direction that, "OK,

I want to head to the finance industry" and I start to do a lot of different preparation with the help of my cohort as well as Career Management.

And, uh, little piece of personal advice in here is that, uh, from my personal experience, I remember, uh, around, um, April or May last year, uh,

I was a bit reluctant or, um, like, I feel fear to even book an appointment with the Career Management,

to be honest, because I just didn't know what I should prepare.

Uh, do I have to prepare a lot of things before meeting a career coach?

Uh, will the career coach even judge me because I didn't prepare a lot?

Uh, then I talk with, uh, one of the career coach.

Uh, I try to reach out to him, um, and see what he replied to me.

And I find he's super kind, super helpful. Uh, so that's how I start to, uh, book the first appointment.

And their, uh, conversation went very well. Uh, and that's not about it, because I found out after their first month, the second meeting,

in the third meeting, it came back to me again as an interaction student. Uh, "do I have to book an appointment with the career coach again?"

because I didn't got any offer. I don't have any, like, direction again, I lost again, I felt lost, and, um,

I don't know whether the career coach would judge me because I don't have anything on hand at the moment.

But I just told myself in my mind again, uh, maybe just book it first and see how the career coach will will help me or any advice he would give me.

And I just book it. And it went very well because, you know, uh, I found career coach not only gave me some professional advice, really to,

uh, or my career search journey, but he also gave me some advice on how I can do better on my academic journey.

Uh, so, uh, my one piece of advice, in short, would be, uh, try to book, uh, an appointment as soon as possible,

if you are feeling lost now and, uh, try to make it regular because it really helps.

OK, and I appreciate your honesty there, Lambert. It can be scary or feel like a barrier to book an appointment with with any kind of support,

but also a coach, like you said wondering "how should I show up?

What do I have to prepare?" There really is no right or wrong time, right or wrong way to show up to a coaching appointment.

Our job is to meet folks where they're at and we know, like you mentioned.

I think all of you have mentioned, um, being an international student presents unique barriers and unique challenges.

We are here for every step of that way. Um, domestic students as well.

We know everyone has challenges, and we're here to be that helpful stepping stone no matter what the challenges.

So I appreciate you giving voice to that hesitation or anxiety.

We know you are not the only student who felt that way, and I'm glad you were able to overcome that discomfort to connect with us.

Um, I think my my last question for you folks will be, um, what was one thing that worked really well for you and what was one thing that didn't work?

Um, I think I can go. So, uh, one thing that worked in terms of the whole recruiting process for me.

Uh, actually, I would like to, like, highlight the traits first.

Uh, the only thing that is going to work is, uh, consistency and sincerity.

It... in this market, it is not 2020 anymore.

It takes an effort to land a job, and while Ivey gives you an amazing platform, an amazing career management team, the effort has to be yours.

The dedication has to be yours. I remember in in Covid, I used to wake up at 6 a.m., 6 to 7 was my outreach time, my my LinkedIn scraping time.

And then I used to go to school so that that dedication and that sincerity is something that, uh, everyone should at this point develop.

Uh, all the better. Uh, one I admire I admire you being up from 6 to 7.

I am not a morning person. Good for you. Um, set your time accordingly,

MBA 2026s, um. But. Yeah. Great job.

Back to you. Yeah. And, uh, uh, another thing, uh, that for me, uh, was starting early.

Not in terms of time, but in terms of, uh, what efforts I've put.

So, uh, I remember my first Career Management appointment,

as Lambert mentioned, was early. It was probably like, end of April or something like that.

And, uh, that is when a lot of people in my cohort were probably not going to Career Management.

I met with a coach and started working on my resume before I even started reaching out to people for coffee chats,

because I wanted to, you know, get my resume in place first and, uh, then then reach out to people.

So, yeah, starting early definitely did work out, uh, very well.

By the time Covid was over, most of my, uh, worries about, uh, my career trajectory were almost over.

So I think that really worked. Um, one thing that did not work, or probably I would say I think I could have done better was just to,

you know, focus my efforts on one thing. Ivey is a consulting-heavy

school. Uh, like, I think the three of us, uh, are from finance background here, but, you know, at one point or another,

you do tend to just sway a little bit towards consulting, and you want to try that as well.

While that is not bad at all, you should try your hand at it.

But at the same time, I felt like for myself, I think when I put a lot of effort in that consulting bit as well,

uh, and like a month later, I realized that maybe this is not for me.

Uh, I wish that I would have just, you know, put those efforts somewhere else.

So I think maybe, like, talking to a career coach about what fits well with, uh, your profile can help you grow it as well.

So what didn't work was trying to force something that wasn't matching with your interest and realizing when that was the case and saying,

"okay, consulting is not for me." Yeah. Um, and I'll add that to finance; sometimes people feel like they have to do finance or consulting at Ivey.

That is not true. Uh, your career coaches, and I think the community want you to do work that is meaningful and fulfilling to you.

Um, and that can happen outside of the the finance and consulting sphere.

Thank you for speaking to that journey and and that recognition when something just isn't for you.

Yeah. Thank you. Okay. And, Paula: one thing that worked for you, one thing that didn't work?

Um, I think one thing that worked for me was tailoring my resume based on my achievements, um, aligning it to the job description.

I also going to apply for job positions where my experience didn't match.

I felt, and I feel that this is just waste your time, basically.

Um, something that didn't work for me.

I think it's very aligned with what Paridhi mentioned. Uh, I losing my focus.

I always knew I wanted the strategy. Um, but at some point, I was attending capital market events, for example.

Um, I would love to add one more thing that didn't work for me, actually.

I also tried to reinvent myself.

Um, I have like seven years of experience in banking and payments,

but I was looking for coffee chats with people in CPG or healthcare industries for strategy positions.

But, uh, my experience didn't shine the way it does in banking and payments.

So I think if you know what you want and you know your strengths

just apply for those positions because this is one way where you stand out versus another candidates.

All right. So knowing yourself and and exploring is great.

There's nothing wrong with exploring. But again when you know that about yourself and you know where your strengths lie, I trust that.

Okay. Thank you. And Lambert, one thing that worked, one thing that didn't work for you.

Yeah, and first I want to share it's really worth to try to explore whether it works or not.

Like. Like me - I'm coming from banking industry, uh, finance, uh, at first, like, Paridhi

and Paula said, I also try to like, explore different opportunities where I can, uh, for getting to,

let's say, health care, pharmaceutical consulting or something like that.

I did try, uh, but like what Paula mentioned just now, I find out "oh, maybe it's not something that I can really, uh, try."

So I try to, like, look for opportunities within the banking industry and the finance industry again.

Uh, so that is how I, like, narrow down, uh, like, different selections or even, like, opportunities.

Um, one thing that really worked for me, I would say, uh, is the resources that I've provided, uh,

and was a Career Management provide, uh, because, you know, we we actually got a lot of resources in this school.

And, uh, I would advise every candidate or every, um, classmates to utilize all the things that we have.

For example, for myself, uh, I... you can find me, uh, in front of a Bloomberg computer, uh, for every Saturday.

Uh, you know, it's a lot of investment. It's not easy to find a Bloomberg terminal, to be honest.

But, uh, for myself, I didn't use Bloomberg Terminal a lot in the past, so I think,

okay, working in finance industry in Toronto again, uh, definitely will help a lot.

So I try to dedicate some time like Paridhi said; the effort, uh, has to be done by ourself.

Uh, but I couldn't wake up at six, to be honest, that's too early!

But, uh, I just try to dedicate some time.

Uh, uh, try to, uh, do something that could improve myself, uh, with that skill set, uh, that can help me to stand out in the field.

And I think that really works well for me. For consulting, uh, like industry, I'm sure there are, like,

way more resources as well, because, like, we have RocketBlock, uh, we have different kind of preparation

tools

And I'm sure, uh, like the Career Management is going to share more uh, later, uh, for in this year, uh, for the things that will really work for me.

Uh, it's a personal experience again. Uh, and I think, uh, probably Paula and Paridhi may relate to that, too. You know,

uh, something that didn't really work out for me was talking about the beginning of 2024,

uh, when the program start, you know, uh, I actually try to, with so-called "speeding", I try to, like, uh, connect with alumni on LinkedIn

uh, before the Career Management said. We shouldn't do it until they say we can do it, after

our resume is ready. So I kind of like, "oh, I speed," uh, I try to like, connect with different alumni.

And I found it didn't work out because, you know, I came from Hong Kong and, uh, we didn't really have a coffee chat,

uh, culture in Hong Kong, so I didn't know, really, like, what's the way to do a coffee chat?

And I make it, like, an interview style, so it's like, "OK, Paula,

this is my first question," and I prepare, like, 20 questions at least, so you know what, "Today

I have 20 questions for you, Paula, and thank you for your time." Something like that.

And it didn't really work out for me. Uh, but I want to say, uh, Ivey alum is really supportive.

Uh, they actually, like, three of them. Let me know uh, "Lambert if you want to do coffee chat in Canada,

this is not the way how it is," uh, and they actually gave me some advice, and then I wait until, uh, Career Management, uh, review my resume,

review my CV and, uh, give me some advices on how to, like, excel in a coffee chat.

Then I start to restart the process of coffee chat, start to network with different alumni or even, uh, people in the professional industry.

And it just worked really well after that. Lambert,

I have to applaud your enthusiasm though, because, I mean, you were you were ready to jump in and do the work.

Um, that being said, there... there is a... you're seeing that there were some helpful classes or perhaps coaching that could set you up better.

And we recognize for our international students, you're not just navigating like a very intense curriculum and probably another language,

but also different cultural norms around things.

And it feels like no one really teaches us these rules, "the rules you should know,"

but how do we know them if no one teaches us? And that's where coaching can come in, to

make some of those implicit things a little more explicit in, in a strengths based way.

And I'm glad you got that because again,

we know our international students there's there doesn't feel like there is a course, uh, for how to coffee chat.

Uh, and, uh, gosh, just thinking in a second language. The time and effort to

translate to try and find the right word, all of those things.

Um, but again, Lambert, thank you for giving voice to navigating what can be a very interesting process.

Um, thank you all for joining me for today.

I know our new students are glad to hear from you,

hopefully feel reassured by what's to come, and I really appreciate you folks

you know, taking the time to to reflect as you head into new and wonderful things after Ivey.

Thank you so much.