New Podcast Will Help UNB MBA Students Pitch Themselves To Employers
SAINT JOHN – With Covid-19 restricting networking opportunities, UNB’s MBA Program is working with the Unsettled Media Podcast Network on a creative way to help students connect with employers and businesses.
A new podcast called Essential Talent will feature the MBA program’s class of 2020 in three-to-seven minute “Pod Pitches,” as Unsettled Media founder Matt George calls it.
The audio product will be a space for them to share their experience, their journey to the MBA program in Saint John, what they see as lasting impacts of COVID-19 on business and what they can bring to the table upon graduation.
The podcast hopes to help solve one of the problems that students may face this year due to restrictions on face-to-face meetings.
“2020 is an incredibly unique time to be a graduate. The graduates are coming out into the first, and it looks like long-term, Covid workforce we’ve ever seen,” says George. “Showing what they can do and how they’re adapting to the pandemic in this unique format is a compelling opportunity to us.”
“The assumption is this will be a completely unique database that employers can access, hearing MBA graduates in 2020 pitch themselves, and their talents and their abilities in their own voice,” he added.
The pilot episode will feature Shelley Rinehart, the MBA program’s director, followed by students.
“We’ve opened up 80 slots for the Essential Talent Podcast and we’re hoping an overwhelming majority of students take this opportunity,” he said, adding that he hopes to finish the releases by October.
Each of the MBA students that participate will have their headshot included and a short bio in the podcast description. The hope is that they can use the Pod Pitch as part of their resume or elsewhere – “another tool in their digital toolbelt,” George says.
He believes the diverse graduates of the MBA program are already highly prepared to enter such a workforce not only because of their global experience but also because they’re flexible and nimble.
Many of them have also worked remotely for global teams already, giving them a huge advantage.
“The MBA program at UNB is incredibly diverse, and I was very interested to hear what they have to say about the impact of Covid on business, and also give them opportunities to pitch themselves to the business community,” he says. “I’ve been pretty impressed by their ability to speak clearly about what could be coming next.”
George is working with two of those students, Sadman Niloy and Gladston Eric D’Souza, for nine weeks, as part of their business consulting project placements.
While they’re not explicitly involved in the production of Essential Talent, they’ll be guests on the podcasts, George said.
Niloy, who is originally from Bangladesh, said he’s interested to work at Unsettled Media because he believes podcasts are a great way to communicate a message.
“Sometimes, when people read or write something, it actually doesn’t make that much sense. But when they hear something, it attracts them more,” he said.
He’ll draw from not only his MBA knowledge, but also what he’s learned from his Bachelor’s degree in business administration, and three-year experience working in a multinational company in Bangladesh.
In addition to drawing up a marketing plan and doing some strategy analysis, all things he had done in his previous jobs, working in a startup means he’ll be part of a team that develops products as well.
“If the product is successful, then somehow it’s an achievement for me too.”
During the pandemic, Niloy was at first worried he wouldn’t be able to finish his studies. But thankfully, UNB found a way to continue offering classes online and in-person.
He says Essential Talent will allow graduating MBA students like himself to talk about their journey and how they’re coping during the pandemic for prospective students to listen to.
“I think it will be a great learning for them as well as for the students who are going to join the MBA program for the next semester,” he said.
Meanwhile D’Souza, who is originally from Mumbai, will use his skills as a business analyst at Unsettled Media too. He holds a computer engineering degree and four years of experience as a business analyst in banking and life insurance from India.
He’s been assigned to research companies in Atlantic Canada who want to use podcasts as an avenue to achieve leverage in their industry.
“A podcast turns out to be a really good avenue when it comes to marketing your product or service,” D’Souza says.
This story was sponsored by the MBA program at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John.