The IAL gives the Business Analytics students the unique opportunity to apply what we learned in our first semester in the real world. It provides us with the challenge to identify solutions to a problem that a company faces. It requires us to explore beyond the tools that we have been trained us and has given each student a taste of what to expect in the future as Analytics enthusiasts. At Cancer Care Ontario, I had the unique opportunity to not only test my analytical skills but to further my undergraduate interests in the health and medical sciences field, as my experience encompassed improving patient outcomes and access to care in Ontario. These past ten weeks have given me a glimpse of what I hope to pursue in the near future – applying analytics in the healthcare industry.
Apart from the actual work, working downtown exposes you to many ways to distract yourself from your job and gives you things to look forward to throughout the day. This blog post is just the beginning of numerous applications available to keep you busy if work doesn’t do that enough, or many opportunities to bond with your colleagues and even partake in a little friendly competition. Take a look below to see my most frequently used apps this summer to stay glued to my phone.
Make it your Friday RITUAL
When I’m too lazy to bring my own lunch, Ritual is my go-to app to help me decide what to get. Ritual lists all of the nearby places that are partnered with the app and allows you to order your favorite customized meal and input the time you are going to pick it up, so when you arrive, your lunch is ready! The best part about the app is you collect points with every order, and if you join the group with your company department or floor, you can all decide on a restaurant, order together and pick it up to receive extra points that add up to give you a discount on future purchases.
Support from a (MyFitness)Pal Always Helps!
If you’re like myself and the other students with me at CCO, this summer was all about keeping a healthy lifestyle. Without fail, almost every day, we would all bring a big bowl of salad for lunch! MyFitnessPal is a great app to keep track of your calorie intake and exercise for the day. Not only can you input your meals, including your favorite fast food chains and restaurants, it counts your steps and how many calories you have burned. The app calculates your suggested intake and monitors your progress in their Analytics section – the perfect app for a BA student!
I Don’t CARROT All About My Steps.. Until Now!
This next app duo is by far my favorite discovery of the summer. I’ll start with Carrot Rewards. This app started as a provincial government initiative to encourage citizens to be more health conscious and be aware of their daily physical activity. It counts your steps for the day and if you hit your daily step goal, you get free rewards. Literally, free rewards for WALKING. This encouraged me to walk to Union Station instead of taking the subway, utilize my lunch break as a walking break, and got me pretty competitive with the rest of my CCO friends, as you can use their competition feature. You can follow how many steps your friends take and try and come out on top for EVEN more points! The best thing about this app – you get to choose where your points go. RBC Rewards, Aeroplan, SCENE (I’m sorry for triggering any Hack The Case memories by bringing up customer engagement and SCENE rewards) and my favorite, Drop!
DROP it like it’s hot
I’ve connected my Carrot Rewards to Drop, another rewards app that you link your credit card and debit card to, and whenever you shop at partner retailers, you automatically receive points towards future purchases at ANY of the retailers. This includes Wal-Mart, McDonald's, Uber, Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Amazon, H&M…basically any store that a student would be spending a lot of time and money at. Tip: You get 1000 points every time someone uses your code to join, and likely your department at work won’t have the app. Do what I did and invite them all to use your code for an easy head start on your point collection.
The IAL experience has been rewarding in more ways than one. I was privileged to get a first-hand look working with a company that not only depends on the power of analytics on a regular basis but also how to bridge my interests in health sciences with my analytical skills to play a role in improving patient experiences in Ontario. Having an office in the heart of Downtown Toronto also has its perks to enjoy evenings after work with friends. With IAL wrapping up and only a month left until we start our next semester back at Ivey, I’m starting to look forward to being in London with my classmates for another exciting few months.
Until next time!
Afshin Nensi