Professional Outlook Winter 2013

Introduction 03 2012-2013 RUAS Team Featured Articles 04 ICAO 05 KPMG 06 Deloitte 09 Robert Half 10 PwC 13 CMA 16 CGA

2 Ryerson University Accounting Society

Wesley Ranford Lawerence Morra Achieve Associate Achieve Associate

Events Amanda Montebello

Krystle Alfarero Alex Luu Manoj Oommen Samantha Loboda Michael Picard-Vu President Vice President Director of Corporate Relations Director of Finance Director of Operations

Amanda Sebastiano Flavian Mohanraj Kevin Ng Cuong Pham Nancy Sandhu Director of Events Director of Marketing Director of IT Achieve Co-Chair Achieve Co-Chair

Samia Ahmed Kyle Shea Hilloire Le Olivia Giammarioli Kevin Li Director of Education Achieve Associate Achieve Associate Achieve Associate Achieve Associate

Info. Tech. Usama Zia

Second Year Rep. Manal Alvi

First Year Rep. Gabriel Alamag

Ryerson University Accounting Society 3


http://mycareer.deloitte.com/ca/en


View from the other side: Inside the mind of your cor-

porate recruiter

Do you know the secret of how you can stand out from the rest in an interview? Be yourself.

That's something no one else can be. As a recruiter,

that's who I am interested in getting to know a little

better in the interview. I am sometimes asked if there

is one type of personal brand that really stands out. My

answer is no. A personal brand is just a reflection of

the individual's personality. The truth is that at PwC

Canada, we value diversity-which isn't just about cul-

tural backgrounds and gender. It's also about different

skills and strengths, perspectives and personalities. So

I’ve interviewed people who can clearly articulate ex-

actly where they want to go in their careers and how

they want to get there-and they impress me. But I’ve

also interviewed candidates who are very honest about

not being 100% sure and really want to investigate and

try different things out before they decide-and I can

admire that too.

That being said, there are certain attributes that tend to

stand out for me: curiosity, passion, confidence and

authenticity. A candidate's sense of curiosity often first

comes out in an interview when I can see they are well

prepared. They've really thought about the role they

are applying for and truly understand it. If they're ap-

plying for CA role, for example, they know what qual-

ifications they are hoping to obtain from the firm.

They have also researched our website, talked to other

students who might know about us, including people

who work at PwC. And they have questions for me.

They want to know more about PwC Canada and the

role they're applying for. They are genuinely interested

and curious.

The passion really shows up in their excitement about

the role they're hoping to get and the confidence comes

through in their body language, the research they've

done and their curiosity. It's all connected because be-

ing prepared will drive confidence and excitement for

the role. One of the reasons being authentic just being

yourself-is especially important in an interview is be-

cause what we're trying to do is to get to know you a

bit better and for you to get to know us. We want to

make sure that you're a good match for PwC and that

we are also a good match for you as an employer. Is

this a relationship that we both want to build? Will it

be one that will help you and us-grow and succeed to-

gether? That's what an interview, at its core, is all

about. Talking to campus recruiters in my network,

who represent other firms and different industries, I

know this is what they're after too.

Tips from a recruiter

- One of the most common mistakes students make is

not following directions when applying and it's one of

the easiest to avoid. Make sure that you read through

the application and recruiting instructions online and

follow them with precision.

- While personal brand is a big concept, your brand is

actually comprised of many small components, all of

which add up to the overall professional impression

you project, including what you wear. Remember to

dress professionally for the interview, but also dress in

a way that you're comfortable in.

- Greet the interviewer in a professional manner, even

if you know them personally.

- Relax and be confident so your body language will

reflect this. And make eye contact.

- Let your curiosity and passion shine through.

- Don't be shy about including all your skills, strengths

and achievements in your resume including your extra-

curricular activities such as volunteer work, campus

groups or sports you're involved in, recruiters want to

get to know the whole you.

Here are some of our top tips from our campus recruiters to help you

make a great in-person impression before a Networking Event/Career

Fair/Formal Job or Interview:

- Practice introducing yourself in a concise and confi-

dent way.

- Plan a neat and appropriate outfit to wear. If you're

unsure of the dress code, it's okay to contact the organ-

ization or your university career centre to ask.

- Review your resume thoroughly-you never know

what information a recruiter might ask you to discuss.

- Spend at least 30 to 60 minutes researching the or-

ganization whose event or interview you are attending

so you can show why your skill set is a good fit. Re-

view the organization's website to learn about its mis-

sion, lines of business, culture and entry-level posi-

tions. Do general web searches to review any recent

news about the organization and the overall industry in

which it operates. Ask members of your career centre

staff to tell you more about the organization and its

history with your university.

- Prepare at least three questions to ask. When a re-

cruiter says, "What questions do you have?" you want

to be prepared. The best questions show that you've

done your homework on the organization and that you

are genuinely interested in learning more. For instance,

"I read that the company just implemented a new

green initiative and I’m really interested in environ-

mentalism. Can you tell me more about that?" This

will help you stand out from the crowd, over the com-

mon "Why do you like working here?"

During a networking event/career fair/formal job or

internship interview

- Turn off your mobile phone or switch it to vibrate

and put it away for the entire duration of the event.

- When you meet a recruiter or company representa-

tive, shake his or her hand confidently and make direct

eye contact.

- Remember to listen as much (if not more) than you

talk Yes, you are promoting yourself, but you don't

want to dominate the entire conversation.

- Request a business card from the recruiter or any

professional contacts you meet so you can follow up

after the event.

After a networking event/career fair/formal job or

internship interview

- After a formal job interview, you might want to send

a thank you note or email. This is also a great idea af-

ter a recruiting event or other networking meeting as

well (For example: "Thank you for taking the time to

chat with me at your event" or "Thank you for the ad-

vice you provided on how to improve my resume").

- Mark any additional follow-up or deadlines in your

calendar (e.g., RSVP to another event a recruiter men-

tioned).

- Assess your performance at the event or interview.

What did you do well? Is there anything you would do

differently next time? Events are not just networking

opportunities; they are learning opportunities as well.

We hope these tips help you succeed at the upcoming

events!



Title: Kobo CFO/COO Greg Twinney, CGA, on Start-

ing In Startups

Certified general account-

ants and entrepreneurs are

one in the same. Under-

standing the numbers is the

foundation of any business

and startups need designat-

ed accountants, like CGAs,

who can see beyond those

numbers to grow.

Recently we caught up with

Greg Twinney, CGA and

CFO/COO of Canadian tech startup Kobo Inc. to

discuss his career path as a lifelong entrepreneur.

When I was a teenager I started a business doing win-

dow cleaning with residential door-to-door sales. I

built a pretty sizeable company and was immediately

attracted to entrepreneurship and loved anything and

everything to do with business.

After college I started in accounts receivable with a

company that ran a coach bus service. My controller

said “if you want to pursue accounting, you need a

designation.” I did some research and the CGA pro-

gram was the most attractive to me because it focused

on a broad base in business.

At this time I was approached to lead the startup of a

new export operation in Cuba. I moved there part-time

and got to build the operation. [But] it came to the

point where I had to decide whether to stay or come

back to Canada. I came back to Canada and finished

my designation, which was important to me.

In the ’90s tech boom I was investing in a company

called Cyberplex. I spent so much time analyzing this

company I thought, ‘why don’t I just work there?’ So I

went straight to their office and got to speak with the

director of finance. I told him [about] my experiences

in building businesses and got hired as an assistant

controller. I worked there for five years through the

dot-com top and burst. We managed to turn the busi-

ness around and really reinvent ourselves.

At this time I started investigating other companies in

the industry and found one called Opalis. It was an

early-stage startup and they were building automated

solutions for monitoring massive data centres. I con-

nected with them and came in as VP of finance and the

company really started to grow.

We began financing through venture capital in Silicon

Valley. [We] became successful to the point where we

were taking market share from Microsoft. We were

eventually acquired by them, which was a great expe-

rience.

In 2010 I joined Kobo, which had started within Chap-

ters Indigo as a pilot project. We quickly realized that

to enter the e-book space was going to require a lot of

investment and be global in scale in order to get a re-

turn on that massive investment. In our first year we

did over $110 million in revenue. We got to a million

users faster than Facebook did — and ours were buy-

ers.

We were acquired in 2011 by Rakuten, a Japanese tech

giant known as the “Amazon of Asia.” We’ve grown

to 10 million users today and a half billion dollars in

revenue. We’re in six countries, including Canada, the

U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and Spain, and we’re

going to launch in Japan this year and 10 other coun-

tries.

I play a very operational role as CFO/COO. Yes, fi-

nance and accounting is a major part of the role, but

it’s much broader than that. HR, legal, administration

and supply chain (in terms of manufacturing the de-

vice and getting it on shelves) is all “rolled up”

through me and my team.

We’re proud of the new Kobo Vox, our premier prod-

uct, which is a colour tablet e-reader. And our Kobo

Touch was named by Wired Magazine as the top e-

reader. We’re a company that focuses on the e-reader

experience and we’re continuing to refine that experi-

ence and expand the product line.

In my spare time I race motorcycles. I’ve taken a lot of

training and raced in California and Las Vegas. People

kind of laugh when I mention I’m an accountant but to

me the two are very similar.

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Professional Outlook Winter 2013

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