Careers

Campus programs

Leadership development program team member experience


Business Transformation Leadership Development Program

Su Jin Chun
University of Toronto

What is your current role?

I currently work in Environment Management, Project Management Office.

What elements about the program made it the right fit for you?

How often do you get to start out in a job knowing that you are being looked on as the future talent of the company? Having a slew of opportunities at my fingertips, I’ve been able to tailor these to fit my career goals. Being able to explore so many different jobs such as working as a Business Systems Analyst, a Project Manager, and Project Manager Officer has taught me how to pick up a job quickly and effectively. In the two and half years I have been in the program, I have had the opportunity to learn new skills, take courses, and work with a variety of talented people.

What do you know about TELUS’ community involvement?

Like many others, I already knew about TELUS extremely community-oriented focus but it wasn’t until I started at TELUS that I realized how deep this commitment went. TELUS is strongly committed to being involved in many grassroots charitable organizations and has many programs available to team members that aid them with their volunteer work. For example, TELUS will match team member charitable donations or will make a charitable donation when a team member has completed a certain amount of hours of volunteer work for that organization.

What kind of culture does TELUS embrace?

I’ve been fortunate enough to have met many wonderful and talented people through TELUS’ women’s network, Connections. I was able to take some of their courses and gain mentors outside of the organization with members of Canada’s Most Powerful 100 Women.

What is healthy work/life balance?

TELUS’ work/life balance allows me the ability to work flexible hours so I don’t need to plan my life around my work. In fact, if I have a doctor’s appointment I have the opportunity to work from home that day to make my life easier.

TELUS also offers their team members the opportunity to have their own personal assistant to run their errands through a company called Thirsty Muse. I’ve used them on many occasions to receive packages for me when I’m unavailable and I know of other team members who have used this service, for example to avoid standing in line at the passport office.

What makes your job enjoyable?

I enjoy my work because it is challenging, interesting and provides me the chance to work with some truly wonderful and talented people. In fact, I often find I spend more time with my team members than I do with my non-work friends!

One of my favourite things to do is to participate in the many BT events held over the year. We’ve done many things like go curling, bowling and holding our own barbecues. These events make it easy to relax and just have fun with your team that is supporting you during those inevitable crunch times at work.


Consumer Solutions Leadership Development Program

Teresa Yee
University of Toronto

What is your current role?

Currently I’m on the Product Marketing team in Consumer Solutions as the prime for both TELUS Messaging, and Calling Feature Enhancements. I also act as one of the primary Marketing liaisons for TELUS between TELUS partners such as MSN and Facebook.

What is it about the program that made it the right fit for you?

This program is a great fit for me because I enjoy learning different things all the time, meeting people from all backgrounds, and leveraging my education to help make improvements to the company and that is exactly what I’ve been able to do during my time here.

One of the benefits to this program is that you are able to leverage it in one of two ways. If you don’t know what you want to specialize in, this program gives you a great opportunity to find that out early in your career. If you do know what areas interest you, the program allows you to do rotations not only in your area of interest but also in other complimentary areas too. For example, if you are interested in marketing, rotations in Client Operations, Channel Operations, and Marketing Communications can strengthen your future marketing career as you would be able to learn how marketing interacts and compliments different areas, how each piece fits into the overall holistic corporate strategy, and while also building a strong internal contact base. All this allows one to have the opportunity to be a very strong performer, and to have a knowledge base that puts you in a position to influence and recommend operational efficiency tactics.

What makes TELUS’ program unique from others?

TELUS heavily promotes continual growth within the company and gives you every opportunity to stretch yourself. If you have a great idea, you’ll be given the opportunity and the tools to run with it.

What is healthy work/life balance?

I make it a point to schedule my non-work activities by utilizing my Outlook calendar as a way of committing my time for things I enjoy outside of work. It’s great that TELUS heavily promotes a healthy work/life balance because in doing so, it’s created a culture that works hard, and plays hard.

What makes your job enjoyable?

I used to think that it was hard to make real friends at work but my experience at TELUS has really proven me wrong.  I’ve met many smart and vibrant people here who are both my friends and mentors.

To add to this, TELUS encourages social interaction between TELUS employees. There are many social activities and networks available for employees to partake in such as TELUS’ best-in-class women’s network, Connections, TELUS dragon boat, Pilates/Yoga classes, dodge ball, beach volleyball and various other activities that TELUS helps sponsor.


Finance Management Development Program

Angela Au Yeung
University of British Columbia

What is your current role?

I work in BT Capital Management.

What elements about the program made it the right fit for you?

Like many others in my position, I did not have a firm idea of where I wanted to take my career when I graduated from UBC. Through my rotations I’ve been able to expand my social network, learn new skills, and gain knowledge about the various areas within TELUS. I am constantly challenged to look outside the box and question the status quo to ensure my team is continuously adding value. 

What makes TELUS’ program unique from others?

TELUS’ continuous commitment to team member development truly sets this program apart from others – particularly TELUS’ support of post-graduate study.

How do you keep a healthy work-life balance?

TELUS' commitment to giving back to the community has encouraged me to organize various volunteering events at local charities like the Vancouver and Edmonton Food Bank and the United Gospel Mission in Vancouver. Our volunteering efforts were matched by TELUS' dollar for doers program, where money was donated to the charities based on the number of hours we committed.

What makes your job enjoyable?

In addition to the strong peer support that has been significant during my time at TELUS, I have a strong mentor to help guide me and a manager who provides me with the support I need to succeed. If I could offer advice to future graduates it would be to find a workplace where teamwork is valued. The reason why we have such a great team here is because TELUS’ culture emphasizes spirited teamwork.


Graduate Engineering Program

Robert Clarke
Queen’s University

What is your current role?

I work for BC Wireless Engineering.

What elements about the program made it the right fit for you?

I didn’t want to choose an initial job where I would be in the same position, doing the same thing for several years. This program gives me the opportunity to move between various positions allowing me to gain a broad breadth of experience in a very short time. In fact, there is the potential at TELUS to experience several separate careers within the same organization.

How will this program help you achieve your career goals?

Being able to gain exposure to so many aspects of the business very quickly at the beginning of my career is a huge benefit to this program and will help me in my future career.

Additionally, the mentorship provided in this program has allowed me to seek unbiased opinions and advice, providing me with perspectives and insights potentially unavailable through other means.

What makes your job enjoyable?

I am able to contribute to a network that is depended on by millions of people every day, and as such the value of my role is instantaneously visible. I am also very proud to be a key player in deploying leading-edge IP and wireless technology across Canada.

I am also fortunate to work with numerous supportive team members who jump at the opportunity to help explain a concept or provide advice when asked, and are equally happy to receive insights from an Engineer in Training.