KC Leong (BMath ’16) is modest about his six-year meteoric rise from co-op student to Vice President for Analytics at Aon, a professional services firm with a presence in 120 countries. “I’ve found that as long as you’re eager to contribute, there’s always an opportunity to advance at Aon,” he says.
By every measure, his decision to move from his native Malaysia to Waterloo to earn a bachelor’s degree in actuarial science has paid off. “I had always planned to study overseas to gain exposure to a different professional environment, and Waterloo’s co-op program stood out to me when I was researching my options,” he remembers. “As an international student, I knew that I needed real-world experience before graduation.”
The Faculty of Mathematics couldn’t prepare Leong for the shock of his first Canadian winter, but its co-op program played a significant role in mitigating the culture shock he felt in a professional environment. “Just like Malaysia, Canada is a welcoming and multicultural place, but it still takes time to build a network in a new country and adjust to a new way of thinking,” he reflects. “The co-op program gave me a flavour of what to expect in the Canadian workplace.”
When he came across a co-op opportunity at Aon in 2014, Leong threw his hat in the ring and succeeded. Using technical skills he developed in his courses in the Faculty of Mathematics, Leong worked on pricing and capital modeling problems to help clients in the insurance industry manage their risk transfer strategy.
From his first day on the job, Leong received substantial work that he could clearly connect to larger organizational outcomes. “I was surprised to find that the work assigned to me was pretty much what I would experience as a full-time employee,” he remembers. “I really enjoyed the process of analyzing data and translating it into actionable information in a real professional setting. Nothing is ever quite the same as what you learn in a textbook.”
Leong accepted a full-time offer from Aon while still a co-op student. After completing his first year as an actuarial analyst, he received three promotions in the span of several years. In his current role as Vice President for Analytics, he harnesses his knack for problem-solving to serve diverse clients and brokers, many of whom grapple with the implications of global events like the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change in their risk calculations. “Every client is unique, which really challenges my critical thinking abilities,” he says.
In six years at Aon, Leong has come full circle as he now plays a role in the hiring process for co-op students. Many of the candidates are international students with a similar eagerness to hone their skills in a Canadian environment. “At Aon, we’re a strong believer in hiring from different backgrounds,” he shares. “When serving clients, we need a constant flow of fresh ideas and perspectives.” The employer-employee relationship is mutually enriching, he points out. As co-op students learn to connect the dots between classroom and professional learning, they become more effective in both settings.
When considering candidates for co-op, Leong looks primarily for a willingness to learn. “Students are not expected to know a lot about our industry at the outset,” he explains, “but they need to be curious about what we do and bring strong problem-solving abilities to the table.”
Leong hires co-op students from the University of Waterloo with confidence that they will make a valuable addition to the team. “I know firsthand that the math courses at Waterloo, particularly those that impart specific technical and coding skills, provide everything a student needs to succeed in co-op,” he says. “Waterloo students have a competitive edge even before they graduate.”
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