Ryerson University Alumni Blog – Career advice for alumni, by alumni

6 tips for success in a solo business

Sue Allen Clayton, Business ’82, is the founder of the Solopreneur Academy and author of Solopreneur Success: How to Plan, Create and Run a One-Person Business. Sue lives on Long Island, NY with her husband, self-employed daughter, two rescue dogs, and an embarrassingly large collection of books and quilt fabric.

When I received my business degree from Ryerson in 1982, I had no desire to start my own business. I chose a secure future in corporate Canada and became a human cog in Toronto’s real estate industry. My life changed drastically in the 1990s when my husband was transferred to the United States. Once I could legally work, I was very pregnant and excited to start a solo business as a freelance writer.

How to get the most out of an information interview

Monika Monga (Business Management ’00; Human Resources Management MA) is a HR professional who has worked in both the public and private sector where she gained experience in recruitment.

An information interview allows a potential candidate or jobseeker to “interview the employer.” It’s a great way to network with industry professionals and pick up key insights into a field or industry. The information interview gives the candidate the opportunity to lead a more casual conversation where the industry professional does most of the talking.

Learning from others’ hiring mistakes

Craig Bissett, Marketing Management ’81, is the author of My Worst Hire & What I Learned From It. He is the Founder of the Hiring Simulation Assessment process and President of Hire Results Ltd. Bissett’s Hiring Simulation Assessment process is used by hundreds of hiring teams to test drive candidates before a key hire is made.

Business owners and managers have rarely been challenged more in a 12-month timespan as they have due to the worldwide COVID-19 crisis. In spite of these challenges, some vital business activities still need to take place but now with increased rigor and precision. Hiring is one of these all-important activities.

If you have the responsibility of hiring key personnel you will appreciate the hiring wisdom outlined by the 50 business leaders in this new book.

Here are a few abbreviated stories and the accompanying hiring nuggets from three of the 50 contributors:

Making lemonade out of lemons: 3 tips for pivoting your business with confidence

Rachel Kelly, Image Arts ‘12 — Rachel Kelly, Image Arts ’12, is the Founder of Make Lemonade, a coworking office and community for female entrepreneurs.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I walked home on March 15, 2020. I had just closed my business doors — a coworking office — for two weeks. One week prior, I was celebrating International Women’s Day in an office full of ambitious entrepreneurs. We had a potluck, there were numerous hugs, and we certainly underestimated how special it was to gather in real life.

Three major ways the last year has shaped trends for 2021 and beyond

Abdullah Snobar, Executive Director of the DMZ and the Chief Executive Officer of DMZ Ventures — Abdullah Snobar is the Executive Director of the DMZ and the Chief Executive Officer of DMZ Ventures. Responsible for the strategic direction and continued growth of both organizations, he leads in supporting Canada’s most promising startups scale their companies. Under his leadership, the DMZ was ranked the number one university-based incubator in the world by UBI global.

After a year like no other, what learnings can we take into 2021?

Eat, drink and be merry WITHOUT food guilt this holiday

Abbey Sharp, Food and Nutrition ’11, is a Media Registered Dietitian (RD), YouTuber, blogger, award-winning author, and mom. Abbey debunks nutrition myths and denounces diet culture on her Youtube channel, her acclaimed food blog, Abbey’s Kitchen and in her Gold Medal winning cookbook, the Mindful Glow Cookbook.

It’s officially the season to eat, drink and be merry, but for a lot of people who struggle with their relationship with food and their body, it is more likely to bring anxiety than joy.

I went to Shanghai to build a brand and failed

ALT — Haruun Dahir, Business & Technology ’16, is a digital marketing specialist. After graduation Dahir moved to Shanghai, China to pursue his dream of building an e-commerce empire from the ground up. It didn’t work out exactly as planned. Today, Dahir shares what he learned about business, himself and the world at failcare.com.

The most valuable lesson I learned at Ryerson was who I didn’t want to be. As my classmates were hunting for entry-level positions as analysts, project managers, and everything else in between, it dawned on me that I wanted nothing to do with traditional business.

The Lunch Box Dilemma

Stefania Palmeri is a registered dietitian who works in corporate health care, outpatient hospital programs and private practice. She is a graduate of the Nutrition and Food Program as well as the Nutrition Communication Post-Graduate Program through The Faculty of Community Services (School of Nutrition).

When I think back to my childhood and the back-to-school rush, I remember being excited about things like new scented markers and seeing friends. My parents, on the other hand, were battling the overwhelming dread of “What am I going to feed this child five days a week for the next 10 months?” Continue reading

Pro-tips for virtual networking

The stay at home order has made it more challenging than ever to get a job. Savvy online networking will help you stay on top of trends in the industry, the job market, meet prospective mentors and even tip you off to new job opportunities.

Job hunting during a pandemic: The story of a new grad

ALT — Kayla Thomson is a recent graduate of Ryerson’s New Media program. Over the course of her degree, she has concentrated her studies on social media and innovative marketing techniques from design, implementation, and analytics, to marketing management. She has excelled in leadership within volunteering and holding positions with various organizations in social media management and fundraising efforts.

Thursday, June 11th would have been my convocation day.

Living through a pandemic on its own is quite interesting to think about if you consider we are living through a history textbook that our future children, grandchildren, etc. will read. However, GRADUATING into a pandemic during an increasingly difficult step in a young person’s life? Even more terrifying. Furthermore, a virtual graduation ceremony is being hosted while we all still hope for the possibility of a real convocation, like years past got to experience. Life can change in an instant.