In the end, countless hours of preparation all boiled down to a single 15-minute window.

And during those critical moments on an international stage, two Goodman School of Business students proved they work well under pressure.

Clara Fennuk and Preya Parikh placed second at the Inter-Collegiate Business Competition hosted by Queen’s University Jan. 18 to 20 in Kingston, Ont.

Canada’s oldest and longest-running undergraduate business case competition, the event attracts students from all over the world to compete in accounting, business policy, debate, ethics, finance, human resources, management information systems and marketing categories.

Fennuk and Parikh took on the human resources category after successfully passing the preliminary round with their written case analysis they prepared over two weeks in the Fall semester.

Based on the written submissions, only a handful of teams — seven at most — are chosen to compete in each category.

Fennuk and Parikh’s report advanced them to the final round, which included an in-depth analysis of a complex human resources case — this time, under a time crunch.

With the timer counting down from 15 minutes, the pair presented their recommendation after spending five and a half hours in an isolation room where they analyzed the case and prepared a presentation.

Case competitions are designed to test students’ problem-solving and oral communication skills through cases that describe real-life challenges faced by companies.

For both students, the experience was an exhilarating one that provided them with a chance to network with industry professionals and business executives.

In her first two years, Parikh did not participate in any co-curricular activities, but the third-year student from Brampton, who works part-time as a career assistant in Brock’s Career Education office, says she is grateful she had the opportunity to represent the Goodman School of Business at the highly competitive event.

“I’m happy I took the leap to try something new this year,” she said. “The result is that we were able to spread Goodman’s name at this competition and that we got to know people from all different parts of the world.”

The students were accompanied by faculty coach Todd Green, Associate Professor of Marketing.

The success shows that Goodman students are well-equipped to compete on a world stage, says Goodman Dean Andrew Gaudes.

“It’s an honour to make it to the final round and it’s certainly an incredible feat to place among the Top 3 finalists of this competition,” he said. “I’m very proud that we’re preparing our students, in this particular case, human resources, for a successful outcome.”