Be CEO for a day
UPDATE: The deadline has been extended to Wednesday, November 6.
Photo by Concordia University
Most of us can’t imagine running a multi-billion-dollar enterprise. But this February, a group of undergraduate students will be given a taste of what it feels like when they spend a day with some of Canada’s top CEOs.
Keen to throw your hat in the ring? Read on …
The “CEO for a Day” program will select 10 to 15 applicants — all third- and fourth-year university students in Ontario and Quebec — to shadow a chief executive officer in Toronto or Montreal.
Through a rigorous selection process, the global executive search firm Odgers Berndtson will identify students with outstanding leadership potential and match them with a CEO from a leading Canadian organization. The list of firms that have signed on in Montreal is impressive: it includes Hydro Québec, Videotron, Ubisoft and Mega Brands.
The program provides the finalists with the very rare opportunity to learn first-hand about the background, career path and managerial style of some of the country’s most successful senior executives.
There are also significant benefits for applicants who do not take home the top prize. Semi-finalists spend half a day participating in group exercises and one-on-one interviews, which will strengthen their presentation and interviewing skills. They will also have an opportunity to review a personalized leadership assessment report with a consultant from Odgers Berndtson.
Non-finalists also stand to win: participating in the recruitment process allows for the development of valuable skills and experience for future job searches.
Two out of three applicants will have the opportunity to complete an online leadership assessment and receive a personalized report from Hogan Assessments, a global leader in the field. The feedback will cover relationship-building, goal-setting and strategic thinking — leadership skills that could help applicants on their a career path.