Humber OCMC: Hard Work Pays Off

The nerves were running wild on the bus to Blue Mountain on November 20th. Humber’s OCMC team couldn’t believe that it was almost over. All of the hard work, preparation and dedication over the last three months was about to pay off!

After a two-hour bus ride, the students and coaches of Humber’s OCMC team began settling in at the resort and prepared for a very exciting evening - Quiz Bowl!

Humber's OCMC team on the way to Blue Mountain, ON!

The Quiz Bowl challenge was an experience unlike any other. The wait between rounds was nerve-wracking for the students. However, walking out onto the stage and hearing the support from the many students and coaches in the audience made up for it. Humber representatives Brittney, Alena, Jorge and myself all performed tremendously and earned three points for Humber’s total score. This was a fantastic way to start off the competition!

Friday was all about the case challenge and individual events. The presentations happened all throughout the day. Some of Humber’s representatives were done by 9:00AM and others were not done until 4:00PM. Each team gave all that they had and impressed the judges with their presentations!

The Awards Gala wrapped up the event on Friday night and Humber was not disappointed with their placements. Overall, Humber placed second in the province - 13 points ahead of the third place team and only 2 points behind the first place team. This made history for Humber’s OCMC team! Not only is this the first time that Humber has placed 2^nd, but also nine out of the eleven categories that Humber competed in placed in the top five out of all colleges… Outstanding work, if I may say so. It was a night to remember. Visit the Humber OCMC Facebook page for a recap of the team’s placements!

Humber's OCMC team celebrating their victories after the Awards Gala!

It was an emotional and rewarding semester and the experience the team had was irreplaceable. The students of Humber’s OCMC team have certainly set the bar high for OCMC 2015 hosted by George Brown in downtown Toronto!

Humber OCMC Job Interview Challenge

Two out of four of the OCMC events that Humber students will be competing in are individual events, one being the Job Interview challenge. The objective of this challenge is to show the student’s ability to interview for a position in the field of marketing. Students in this event are told what job and company they are applying for however, contact with the company, other than through the company website, is forbidden. The students in this event must send in their resumes prior to the competition and, at the competition, they have a maximum of a 20-minute interview with the prospective company. For more information on the Job Interview challenge, visit http://ocmc.ca/events/job-interview/.

For Humber’s Job Interview representative, the most challenging part of the Job Interview is the fact that it is an individual event. They don’t have the same support that the other challenges have. They are familiar with the company and position, but they have no idea what questions are going to be asked and they will have no prep time at the competition. Their coach is preparing them during practices by asking mock questions. But even so, it is not a guarantee that these questions will be asked.

The Job Interview representative is constantly hard at work, preparing for the challenge. They are always eager to learn more about the company, the position and the industry itself. With the amount of effort and dedication to the OCMC team and to their individual challenge, the students of Humber’s OCMC team cannot wait to see our representative succeed at the Job Interview challenge. 

Humber OCMC Students are the Best of the Best

Half way through the semester, it’s becoming apparent why only the best Business students were chosen for Humber’s OCMC team. While maintaining our practice schedule, we are balancing other classes, major assignments and studying for midterms. The team is feeling the burn. But is it worth it? You bet!

Back in the spring when we attended tryouts for the OCMC teams in which we were interested, we had little idea of what to expect, other than it was a prestigious honor to be selected to be a part of the team. We were told that the best Marketing students from across the province would be competing against each other, which is how Humber’s team was devised - with the best from the school! We knew that the cost of this honor was the work we would have to put into the team, but I don’t think we realized how much work it would actual take. It seems like the Quiz Bowl team may be feeling the brunt of this work because of all of the concept understanding we have to memorize on top of studying for our numerous midterms - but of course this is a biased opinion.

Our coaches are giving us an outstanding amount of knowledge and experience, and we are now getting a taste for what the other teams are up to.

Nancy Ryan, the outstanding coach of the Quiz Bowl team, gave the rest of the students of Humber’s OCMC team a taste of the “Quiz Bowl Life” this week by challenging the students to participate in a “Lightning Round”. It was a completely different vibe then our private practices because after every question was answered correctly, the team cheered. This was a great way to showcase how much work the Quiz Bowl team puts in.

Nancy Ryan in the midst of the Quiz Bowl Lightning Round with other members of the OCMC team!

Anthony Saraco, our Job Interview representative (more info on the Job Interview challenge here http://ocmc.ca/events/job-interview/), also gave us a taste of what his challenge was like and asked the team for input on his resume. As well, Shawn Manahan gave the team some insight on what the Sales Presentation challenge was all about (again, more info on the Sales Presentation challenge here http://ocmc.ca/events/sales-presentation/). Over the next few weeks, the case study challenges will be presenting a case analysis with a panel of judges every practice, to get them in the right mindset of how the competition will feel.

With the constant practicing and constructive feed back from both coaches and team members, the students of Humber’s OCMC team will surely be the best at this year’s competition.