Balancing academics, entrepreneurship and finding a career you love
Jason Amri (he/him) is a fifth-year Computer Science and Business student. He discusses how he started a social venture called 3cycle and his experience having a co-op term in Dubai.
Jason’s co-op journey:
Work term one: Jason’s first co-op was at BDO as a business analyst where he was the point of contact between clients and developers. He determined what technical requirements were needed and helped put those technical requirements into a format that developers could use to create software.
Work term two: His second co-op term was as a strategic initiatives co-op student at ThoughtWire. Jason’s role entailed strategy work and market analysis. He also planned for company partnerships and spent some time developing products into new markets while trying to source new opportunities for the organization.
Work term three: Jason then worked at Deloitte as a tech strategy co-op student where he helped oversee one of the largest projects the company was completing. He managed the day-to-day project duties, monitored the progress, put together reports and sent summaries to stakeholders.
Work term four: His fourth co-op was at Oliver Wyman in Dubai as a consulting co-op student. He worked on a project that focused on launching corporate income tax for a Gulf Cooperation Council country.
Work term five: Jason’s last co-op was as a summer business analyst at McKinsey & Company. Here, Jason worked on creating a digital strategy for a luxury fashion retailer.
Q&A with Jason:
Was the work culture in Dubai different from how it is in Canada?
“I noticed that teams got a lot closer to each other in Dubai.”
“I remember when I was working in Canada following my work term in Dubai, I asked my team what flights they were taking. From my experiences in Dubai, I assumed we’d all take the same flight together but they looked at me surprised. It’s just assumed here that everyone will sort out their own travel plans individually.”
“Whereas in Dubai, your work team does really start to feel like a family. You integrate very closely, you have a lot of dinners together, you'd always see the same people working out in the hotel gym. You're just constantly around the same people in and out of the office.”
“In North America everyone is a lot more intentional about the separation between work and personal life and there's a lot of value in that as well. But I was impressed by how close everyone got on the team in Dubai. It's not something I really felt anywhere before.”
Did you work on any side projects during your free time?
“In between school and co-op, I started my own social venture. It’s called 3cycle and its mission is to eliminate the 3D printing waste problem.”
“I think that 3D printing is an amazing technology but having experienced it and from talking to so many other people that use it, I also saw that it creates a lot of plastic waste. Right now, there's nowhere for that plastic waste to go.”
“So, we address this by collecting waste from our community partners and recycle it in our lab on campus, back into new filament that can be used for 3D printing.”
“We're just coming up on three years this fall and it's something I've sort of worked on between a lot of these co-op terms. It’s been awesome to be able to address a problem I saw first-hand during my time as a student at Waterloo.”
Do you have any advice on how to manage so many responsibilities?
“I can give the typical advice of having a good to do list and using Google Calendar, but I think staying on top of responsibilities really boils down to knowing what's important to you and knowing where you need to invest your time.”
“Being a student, searching for a co-op, working on my social venture, doing other extracurriculars and trying to find time to spend with friends gets hectic but prioritizing things has helped me find some balance.”
“So, if I think about my classes as an example, the difference between three percent higher grade in a class might be many hours. I might be okay with a few percent less in the class if I had those hours to spend with friends or to spend on 3cycle.”
How did you land all your positions?
“Especially for your first co-op, a lot of people underestimate how many applications it takes to get interviews and get bummed out if they don't get their top choice. So don't be afraid to put out lots of applications. I think I sent in the realm of hundreds of applications for my first few co-op terms.”
“I found that while WaterlooWorks is quite helpful, it’s also a good idea to look at the options available outside of it. I found my last two co-op jobs externally.”
“It's good to meet and get to know people at networking events. I found those relationships often don't necessarily pan out or bear fruit in your first interaction, or even in your first year knowing someone.”
If you can follow up with them and build a relationship, those people end up coming in handy a lot when you're looking at future co-op terms down the line. That's how you can end up securing some cool external opportunities in your later co-op terms.
Did your co-ops help you decide what you want to do for a career?
“Absolutely, that has been one of the biggest pros of the co-op program.”
“I remember when I came to Waterloo, people mentioned that you get to make some money and you get to build work experience.”
“I think all of that is super important, but by far the most valuable thing I got out of co-op was being able to narrow down what I want to do.”
“Before my co-op jobs, I had no idea what the field of management consulting entailed.”
“I didn't really know what was out there. I got to try something similar in my first co-op term and I was able to see parts of it that I liked and didn't necessarily like.”
“Each co-op term kind of swayed me closer and closer to what I want to do and I was lucky that my last co-op was something that I really enjoyed doing.”
“My first co-op was very technical and very software oriented. Just like my next one, it was related to digital technology, which I was interested in, but my second co-op I went to a tech startup doing pure business and business strategy work.”
“So, a completely different role, but in the same environment that I enjoyed. Similarly, with each of my co-ops, I built on those earlier experiences bit by bit until I narrowed down exactly the kind of work I wanted.”
Is there anything you wish you had the chance to try at Waterloo?
“I never tried it, but doing the E Co-op and getting to do entrepreneurship during your co-op is interesting to me. I wish I knew about some of those opportunities a bit sooner because it might have been something I would’ve done as well.”
“The breadth of opportunities that you can do with your co-op goes beyond just a typical position with a company. Waterloo offers a lot of different formats for co-op, so I’d advise anyone who has the opportunity to try out some different avenues to go for it.”
What's next for you?
“As of right now, I'm currently hunting for an apartment in Toronto. I'll be moving there in the next few weeks and starting work full-time.”
“My transcript is still on its way back from my exchange term, so I'll be convocating in October and then I will have officially graduated.”
“I will be working full-time by the end of the year, which is kind of crazy to think. My time at Waterloo has truly flown by, especially the two years through COVID.”
“I'm excited to be a quote, unquote, real adult and get to see what that stage of life looks like.”