A team of Douglas College business students put their skills to the test, making it to the final round the Chartered Professional Accountants of BC’s (CPABC) annual Business Case Competition.

The province-wide competition sees more than 25 teams, made up of post-secondary students, create a business plan in a limited amount of time.

As part of the first round, the teams received a business case and, within 48 hours, submitted a video with their recommendations on how the business could re-open and make a profit. Eight teams were chosen to advance to the final round – including the Douglas College team, consisting of Thomas den Hartog (Bachelor of Business Administration – Accounting), Monica Tomas (Business Management Diploma) and Shirin Rashidi (Accounting Post-Baccalaureate Degree).

“It was interesting to see the different approaches to the same problem and how important it is to think out of the box,” Rashidi said. “The support and encouragement we received from our coaches (Douglas College instructors) Robin Sandhawalia and Shirley Mauger was amazing.”

Once they had advanced to the final round, the teams had just three hours to solve a case and 15 minutes to present their recommendations to the panel of CPA judges. While they did not win the competition, the experience allowed them to network with students from other post-secondary institutions and professionals in their field of interest.

“I loved the experience. It tested our analytical and critical thinking, as well as organizational skills and our ability to work as a team under pressure,” said den Hartog.