Learning on the Job: Tahsin Nawar, MBA Candidate

Tahsin Nawar is an MBA student at the Sprott School of Business and is currently completing a virtual summer internship at Families Canada.

1) Tell us about your internship.

I am working for a nonprofit called Families Canada, which is a national association of family support centres. They have over 500 member organizations and support them through various ways such as providing them with resources, training and means for professional development. During my time here I have primarily been working on creating marketing documents and drafting policies, all while helping where needed since it’s a relatively small organization. I have also been working on creating a new tier for the membership and a marketing campaign to go with it. I had to look through my notes a few times during my internship and it was pretty great being able to apply the concepts we learned in class.

2) How has the experience been?

It’s been great so far. I have gotten the opportunity to work with some amazing people who have gone above and beyond to make this remote experience as smooth as possible. It’s a small organization, so I worked with almost everyone in a number of projects. I also worked very closely with some long-term employees of Families Canada and I’m immensely grateful of their mentorship. I have had opportunities to do market analysis, create a pricing model and write policies so I have had my hands in a number of pots. This has been a summer of learning and I’m going to leave having learned more about myself in the process.

3) What were your goals when you started this internship? Were you able to achieve them?

My goal for the internship this summer was to work in a nonprofit and learn as much as possible about how things are done, the process that goes behind the work they do and about the industry as a whole. I think I have come out of this internship having successfully met all my goals – especially because I was able to create a project from scratch and execute it. It was nerve racking to take responsibility for a project and ensure there is something worthwhile and valuable for the organization to use, but it was simultaneously inherently rewarding.

4) What are some of the lessons you’ve learned?

The best piece of advice I have received – and adopted this summer – is to ‘sleep on it’. Yes, there is a tight deadline, but everything can wait for the next day, especially when it comes to making decisions. Working with multiple stakeholders always means ensuring all parties are satisfied before moving forward, and, so, this lesson was invaluable to have learned early on.