A global leap into data and communication
Through her international co‑op terms, Yunxing Zhang discovered how workplace culture shifts across countries, even inside the same company.
Yunxing Zhang, a third-year Computational Mathematics and Combinatorics and Optimization student, used her co‑op experiences to build a strong résumé grounded in data analysis, problem‑solving and cross‑cultural communication.
Yunxing Zhang co-op journey
Data Analyst, Beijing Doaxim Advertisement Co Ltd, Beijing, China
Her work involved advertising and marketing, specifically promoting Jindong, an online shopping platform. Yunxing communicated with clients during new product launches and performed statistical analysis concerning the sales and client reviews.
Data Governance Management Assistant , Bank of Montreal (BMO), Beijing, China
Yunxing completed an eight-month co-op where she wrote and ran a structured query language (SQL) script on their data. She used her computer science skills to do programming, working with Excel and visual basic for applications (VBA) tools to validate data.
Q&A with Yunxing
Why did you decide to work abroad?
“Learning about new work cultures interested me and so I felt getting an international job was a good idea. The environment in Canada is very nice, but I wanted to explore different cultures because when you change the environment, you learn different things. Even though it's the same job, for example, BMO in Beijing will be different from BMO in Canada because the workplace culture is unique in each location. I learned that you can't talk to Canadians in the same way you’d speak to Chinese people as they do not share the same norms.”
How did you adjust from studying in Waterloo to working in Beijing?
“Studying in Waterloo and working in Beijing required me to adapt in different ways. In Waterloo, I became used to an independent and fast-paced academic environment. I had to manage my time well and solve problems on my own. Working in Beijing, I adjusted to a more team-oriented and fast-moving workplace, where communication and collaboration were especially important.”
“One challenge of studying abroad was adapting to a new environment while balancing academics, daily life and career planning at the same time. That experience made me more independent, adaptable and confident in unfamiliar situations.”
What did you gain from your co-op experience?
My hope was to gain diverse experiences and learn about different career choices. Through my co-op terms I realized that the most important things I gained were not technical skills, but rather gaining a completely new way of thinking. In the workplace, data is not used to find a correct answer like in an assignment; we use and need data to support real business decisions and marketing initiatives.”
“Talking to clients is a very different experience than talking to your classmates or teachers. I learned to look at problems from multiple perspectives. I realized how different the workplace is from school as there’s more need for collaboration and clear communication to achieve a common goal. Those lessons helped me build better habits and feel ready for the next steps in my career.”
What’s an unexpected skill you learned while on a work term?
“Communication. I thought communication just meant speaking the same language as someone else, but I realized it’s much more than that. A good communicator understands their audience and adapts how they explain things depending on who they’re talking to. For example, when I was working with technical teammates, I could go into more detail, but when communicating with non-technical stakeholders, I had to simplify ideas and focus on the impact rather than the technical details.”
“I also learned that communication is not just about talking, but also about listening. Making sure you fully understand the other person’s needs, asking clarifying questions and confirming alignment are all important. It’s all about clarity, adaptability and making sure both sides are on the same page.”
“Another skill that was useful during my time at BMO was teamwork. I never thought it would be a challenge or such an important skill to know, but in order to make projects run smoothly we needed help from other departments. Knowing that we needed to work together on one thing, I learned how to be a significant team member by giving and receiving feedback appropriately.”
How did you deal with workplace pressure?
“During my work term, I dealt with workplace pressures by staying organized and breaking tasks into manageable steps. When I had multiple deadlines, I prioritized them based on urgency and impact.”
“I learned the importance of maintaining a calm mindset. I realized that becoming anxious when tasks pile up lowers efficiency and makes it harder to think clearly. Instead, I focused on staying composed and working through tasks step by step. By approaching things in an organized way, I found that I was able to complete everything effectively. If I encountered challenges, I would also discuss them with my team to get different perspectives, which often led to better solutions.”
What’s one piece of advice you would give to future co-op students?
“One thing I learned from being a part of the hiring panel was that managers will not always take the time to skim every résumé they received. In this case, the résumés were passed through artificial intelligence tools that scanned and searched for key words, such as skills or experience they were seeking.
I want to advise students to take the time to tailor each résumé according to the job description in order to make sure your résumé makes it through the first round of approvals. Don’t just have one generic template for all jobs. It’s easy, but it might cause you to miss out on opportunities.”
What's next for you?
“I want to try something different to help me better understand the direction of my career path. I have two co-op terms left and while I am confident in my skills in data analysis, I’m open to exploring other business areas if the opportunity arises. I believe this will help me broaden my perspective and strengthen my ability to apply analytical skills in different contexts.”
“I’ve also started incorporating some biology courses into my future study terms, as I see strong connections between biology and data analysis, especially in areas involving statistics and data-driven research. Overall, I want to continue exploring new areas while building on my strengths to find my long-term path.”