Alumni Interview Series

The Alumni Interview Series is meant to give University of Calgary Consulting Association (UCCA) members insight on how UCCA Alumni were able to succeed both at school and in the workplace. UCCA hopes that this initiative will both inspire our members to learn more about consulting and provide examples of success stories in the industry.

Series 3 – Self-Development

Self-Development focuses on UCCA Alumni as they enter the corporate world and continue to seek out new experiences. We’re interested in hearing how they continue to pursue their own interests and get involved outside of their work. How do they learn outside of a classroom setting, what media do they consume, and how do they prioritize their passions? And most importantly, how do they find that elusive work-life balance?

Episode 1: Ali Arafa

Ali Arafa graduated from the Haskayne School of Business in 2018 with a Bachelor of Commerce in Business Technology Management. During his time at Haskayne, he co-founded the University of Calgary Consulting Association, then the Haskayne Consulting Group, in 2016. Outside of academics, Ali was on the UCalgary Dino’s swim team and was involved in several volunteer and mentorship initiatives. Ali has been with Deloitte since 2018, first as a Business Technology Analyst, and now as a Consultant. Professionally, during his time at school, Ali completed an 8-month co-op with Suncor, as well as several internships.

Episode 2: Raisa Chowdhury

Raisa Chowdhury graduated from the Haskayne School of Business in 2020 with a Bachelor of Commerce in Business Analytics, with a Minor in Data Science. During her time as a student, Raisa was involved in many areas of Hakayne. She served as president of the University of Calgary Consulting Association following three years of involvement with the club, and as Vice President of Academics for the Haskayne Students Association. Outside of her club involvement, Raisa participated in several case competitions, including the Inter-Collegiate Business Competition (I.C.B.C.), as well as completed several volunteering opportunities. During her undergraduate degree, Raisa worked as a Summer Associate for PwC, a Systems Infrastructure Student for CNRL, and a Summer Business Analyst for Deloitte. She was also involved with the University of Calgary as a Teaching Assistant for several Haskayne courses, as well as a Research Assistant and an Events Assistant. Since graduating, Raisa has been with IBM as an Associate Consultant in Enterprise Strategy.

Series 2 – Specializations & Technicals

This topic is meant to give students a better understanding of UCCA Alumni who have utilized their degree in their current role. We hope this will educate students on the value different degrees provide and how skills are transferable from their degree to the real world. Along with this we are looking to ask alumni what specific technical skills they use on a day to day, how they learned these skills and how they recommend students practice or acquire these skills.

Episode 1 : George Shang

George Shang graduated from the University of Calgary with a major in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in mechatronics in 2019. Along with being the Director of Engineering of the Haskayne Consulting Club (now UCCA), George was also a Vice President with the Engineering Students’ Society and a variety of other clubs during his time at school.  

Professionally, George was a Strategy Analyst at Accenture and now works as a Senior Associate at a large consulting firm. In the past however he has worked in the energy industry as an engineer and researcher.

Episode 2 : Celina Pablo

Celina Pablo graduated from the Haskayne School of Business with a Bachelor in Commerce with a concentration in Accounting. Outside of academics, Celina was very involved in extracurricular activities at school, including serving as Co-President of the Haskayne Consulting Club (now UCCA) in Fall 2018, acting as a mentor for the Scholars Academy, Director of Events for uThrive and more. 

 

At the University of Calgary in a professional role, Celina served as both an Early Childhood Educator and Teaching Assistant. In the corporate world, Celina completed an 8 month co-op at PwC, a summer internship at Accenture, and is now a Management Consultant at Accenture. Celina also loves to travel and studied abroad in Madrid for the last semester of her degree and travelled to 20 countries in her last year of studies.

Episode 3 : Dragosh Castravet

Dragosh Castravet graduated from the Haskayne School of Business in the spring of 2020 with a Bachelor of Commerce and a major in Finance. During his time at Haskayne Dragosh participated in a variety of case competitions including the RSM Star Case Competition, the SAFE Case Competition, the CUS Ethics Case Competition and more. On top of these case competitions Dragosh was the Director of Finance for the Haskayne Consulting Club (now UCCA), President and Founder of the Board Games Club, competitor in the CPA Challenge and more. Dragosh also participated in Semester at Sea and the Explore Program.

 

During his time at university, Dragosh held a number of professional positions including working as a teaching assistant at the business school, a caterer for the Calgary Stampede, and in cost management as a Co-Op student at TransCanada. During his final summer, Dragosh worked for a large consulting firm where he now works full time as an associate.

Series 1 – Steps

The topic ‘Steps’ is meant to highlight the steps University of Calgary Consulting Association (UCCA) Alumni have taken to achieve their successes. This includes the steps they took to do well in school and other opportunities taken to get to where they work today. UCCA hopes this information will prove valuable to students wondering what they can do in their own lives to help shape their career path and make themselves known in the consulting industry.

Episode 1 : Jarod Tsang

Jarod Tsang graduated from the Haskayne School of Business with a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting in Spring 2020. During his time at Haskayne, Jarod was a member of the Haskayne Consulting Club (now UCCA) Executive Team for three years, serving in many roles including President. Aside from HCC, Jarod was also a member of the DeNovo Student Fund.

 

He has worked in oil and gas, private equity, and accounting, and is currently a Consultant at Deloitte in its finance and performance practice.

Episode 2 : Alison Ngo

 

Alison Ngo graduated from the Haskayne School of Business with a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance in Spring 2020. During her time at Haskayne, Alison served as the Director of Finance, Director of Client Relations, and the Co-President of the Haskayne Consulting Club (now UCCA). She was also a JDC West delegate for Team Haskayne in 2018 and competed in a variety of other case competitions during her time at the University of Calgary. Some of these competitions include the Global Case Competition at Harvard, the National Investment Banking Competition & conference, the Ted Rogers Ethical Leadership Case Competition, and more. 

 

During her professional career, Alison has held multiple part-time and summer jobs at Deloitte, Tangerine, and Hooligan Consulting Managing Services. She is currently a Senior Strategy Analyst for Accenture in Calgary.

Episode 3 : Ryan Feng

 

Ryan Feng graduated from the Haskayne School of Business with a Bachelor of Commerce in 2018. During his time at Haskayne he served as the Director of Client Relations and Business Development from 2017 to 2018 with the Haskayne Consulting Club (now UCCA) and was on HCC’s Board of Directors from 2018 to 2019. 

 

Professionally, Ryan had two oil and gas roles while still in school. His first was as a Project Management Co-op student for Suncor Energy. His second was a summer internship as a Strategy Analyst for Husky Energy. Ryan was a Strategy Consultant at EY for nearly 3 years.