Career success: Co-op Student of the Year 2011
Each year, the Bachelor of Commerce Co-operative Education Program (Co-op) at UBC’s Sauder School of Business recognizes one student for their outstanding workplace achievements, academic performance, and contribution to the Co-op Program and Sauder Community. The 2011 recipient of the 'Outstanding Co-op Student' award, Malinee Narang, exemplifies all of the above qualities and more.
During her eight-month co-op work term as a Talent, Learning, and Organizational Development (TLOD) Intern at SAP Canada, Malinee impressed supervisors, managers, and colleagues alike, earning a reputation as a patient, positive, and proactive team player. As the Vice President of Human Resources, Tracey Arnish, states, “Malinee has developed a reputation for delivering projects on-time and often covering a greater scope than what has been requested…She looks for opportunities to drive improvement and proactively takes the necessary steps to ensure issues are resolved.”
Malinee facilitated on-board training programs for staff in Toronto and Montreal (virtually), and in Vancouver (in-person). She also managed communications and logistics, third party vendors, and feedback associated with the delivery of these programs. Additionally, Malinee collaborated with team members from the United States, Germany and India to discuss strategic training priorities and how to best manage and implement these in SAP’s Canadian offices.
“Malinee demonstrated a lot of initiative and flexibility right from the start…She also had an aptitude for detail and consistently evaluated our learning and development solutions, proactively implementing needed improvements to produce higher quality programs,” says Annette Bazin, a Learning Consultant in SAP’s Talent, Learning & Organizational Development Team.
Malinee acknowledges the Business Co-op Program and the Co-op team at the Business Career Centre for playing a key role in her academic and career success. Having lived in Thailand for 18 years, Malinee believes that the Co-op Program has given her great exposure to the Canadian work environment and has allowed her to explore career options and build the relationships she needs to move her career forward.
“All in all, the Co-op Program has been instrumental in helping me to experience different leadership styles, organizations, business problems and workplace cultures. I have also been able to gain practical skills in various HR functions.” Malinee goes on to state, “the Co-op team was so helpful and accessible. The coaches were always there to offer guidance - whether it be reviewing a resume or cover letter or talking about career options - even while I was on exchange in the UK.”
As a strong advocate of the Co-op Program, Malinee has been involved in a number of initiatives that encourage students to join the Program. She has participated in numerous Co-op information sessions, created a video blog about her SAP work term and lent her experiences to a promotional video entitled “Why do students and alumni love Business Co-op?” Malinee has also shared her experiences with the wider community by providing testimonials for the UBC Co-op Council’s presentation to the provincial government.
On completion of her Co-op work term at SAP, Malinee was hired at SAP on a part-time basis while she completes her Bachelor of Commerce degree. Congratulations to Malinee for her continued success at SAP and for winning the 2011 Sauder Co-op Student of the Year award!