Timothy Mark just finished his second year in York University‘s Schulich School of Business, where he is completing his degree in International Bachelors of Business Administration.
Timothy won Schulich’s 2010 The Apprentice competition by creating marketing strategies for General Mills, Maple Leaf and Kraft.
Additionally, he was a finalist in the Canada’s Next Top Ad Exec competition which allowed him and his partner to visit General Motors’ office in Oshawa. While they were there, they learned a lot about GM’s corporate culture and how they use social media, and they also got to test drive some cars, including the Chevrolet Cruze.
Timothy describes himself as someone with “the imagination of an eight-year-old but the maturity of a 28-year-old,” which has created a healthy balance for what he claims to be his recipe for personal success, which he hopes to share with others.
What career paths are you currently interested in?
First and foremost I want a career that I can fall in love with, but with being so young [...] it’s hard to tell what love feels like. I have undoubtedly have had many suitors—sales, human resources, finance, and marketing–but like a series ofThe Bachelor, the contestants are so beautiful that it’s hard to make a final choice.
My entry-level work experience has seen me in sales roles. The first was at an amusement park, Canada’s Wonderland, where I was a supervisor. While there, I developed an affinity with words, a knack for leadership, a disciplined approach to detail, and a tan that refuses to go away from working for so long under the sun.
Currently, I look to grow the sales prospects for a student-run non-profit organization, [AIESEC York]. My closest friends and confidants tell me that I have the brains for finance. My first leadership experience in business school was a vice president role in talent management for the same aforementioned non-profit that is 50 bodies strong.
But, despite all of this, I have developed a propensity to succeed in marketing competitions with my partner in crime, Levon Golendukhin. Shortly after entering our first year of university at the Schulich School of Business, we emerged victorious in an Apprentice case competition that saw us innovate solutions for General Mills, Maple Leaf, and Kraft.
Our greatest successes have come recently with the Canada’s Next Top Ad Exec competition, finishing in the Top10 while winning a social media marketing side-competition for General Motors. I feel that I am ready to enter the world of marketing because of my hands-on experience.
After establishing my career, I hope to find a way to positively impact the Canadian health care system to follow in my father’s footsteps—he is a general practitioner and a prominent activist of improving the system in Canada.
Tell us about something you’ve done that is completely unrelated to your current career path that shows you’re going to be a superstar in the workforce.
In any organization where I have held the responsibility of leadership I have simultaneously looked to move up in the world while paying close attention to the paths I have laid behind me for many to follow. I like to call it a leadership pipeline. I recognize that time spent working in an organization is finite so my legacy must be carried out by my successors.
Can you tell us more about your experiences with AIESEC York?
The organization functions at an international level with young professionals leading it, but at the university level, it is entirely student-run. What is unique about AIESEC is that it is a rare opportunity for students to run a business with each other on campus and the large amount of ownership and responsibility taken by the senior members greatly develops their leadership.
Most recently, I have helped students and recent grads at York to gain career-launching and life-changing experiences in France, the UK, Uganda, and Nigeria. With contacts residing in over 20 countries who I have helped further their careers in some way, I know I will have a diverse international network at my disposal that can only grow stronger upon graduation.
Why are you so interested in the international community?
My interest to be increasingly international stems from my unique lack of international experience prior to high school. Being a fourth generation Chinese-born Canadian, I have little heritage that has been passed onto me. My desire to learn Mandarin drew me into Schulich’s International Business program and my interests internationally grew alongside my peers who are also possess globally-focused minds.
Once I became heavily involved in AIESEC I began having opportunities to communicate with young leaders across the world. It is these long distance communications that give me insight into the working culture of other countries.
If an employer called your best friend for a reference, what would they say to get you the job?
Danson Hui, Schulich School of Business alumnus, says, “Rarely will you encounter someone who takes ownership to the extent of Tim. In pursuit of excellent in any professional and personal endeavour, he is always the one who willingly takes responsibility for very consequential duties that most people avoid. Tim is not only deeply passionate and proactive about his own success, but also those involved with him. As a result of these attributes, you’ll see him constantly leading and making a difference on the world and people around him.”
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