March 16, 2017 Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

By Kelsey Stanczyk, Communications Intern

Jamal Hijazi, a third year BMOS student, has been named as one of 25 finalists in the 2017 Great Canadian Sales Competition topping over 3000 students from 85 schools across Canada.

Hijazi marries his studies with his work at a family-owned car dealership as a sales person. When his marketing professor, Dr. Jennifer Jeffery, e-mailed him about the competition he felt confident he would be a good fit. “This was the first year that I integrated the Great Canadian Sales Competition into the marketing curriculum,” said Dr. Jeffrey, adding that, “the students who participated in the competition enjoyed it, and as a bonus they have made some new industry contacts and gained some marketable skills.”

Hijazi was one of four King’s students who made it to the semi-final round of the competition. Aahuti Sejpal, Casey Severini, and Keyue (Lilith) Tang) were also semi-finalists, edging out over 2,250 other students from across Canada.

Hijazi’s first-round submission was a 30 second video on why everyone should know how to sell. He thought that topic would be of interest to big business owners. “In every conversation you have, you are selling what you are saying,” says Hijazi.

Going into the second round, Hijazi was selected by Citron Hygiene to create a 1 to 2-minute sales pitch video for their company. 

As a finalist, Hijazi is continuing to work with Citron Hygiene. His coach is Leanne Lynch, Regional Sales Manager for Southwest Ontario. Lynch and Hijazi have met twice before Hijazi goes to Toronto on March 9th to compete in the final round. First, he will complete a 10-minute live sales meeting with his coach in front of a small panel of judges. Then, if selected to move on, he will present in front of a group of 200 industry professionals representing the competition’s sponsors including Air Canada, IBM, Shopify, and Google.  

Over the course of the competition Hijazi will meet and network with representatives from the sponsor organizations. The Grand prize for the competition is $7500 with four $1000 awards for each runner-up.

The Great Canadian Sales Competition is Canada’s biggest student competition. Only 25% of first round applicants are chosen for the semi-final with 25 finalists receiving a paid trip to Toronto for the final round.

Jamal Hijazi - 1st round
                    2nd round

Aahuti Sejpal - 1st round 
                      2nd round

Casey Severini - 1st round