Student Profile: Kissor Nithiananthan

Saturday, November 21, 2020

Kissor Nithiananthan
In the fall of 2019, Kissor Nithiananthan, a 3A Arts and Business student, was hired to work at Northbridge Insurance in Toronto’s financial district. Kissor, an Honours Arts and Business student, has a unique experience in the business field. With a Peace and Conflict Studies major and Human Resources minor, he had a leg up on his competitors. Kissor was able to call upon his different skills in order to be a suitable candidate for this position.

Kissor’s position, while at Northbridge Insurance, was an Associate Claims Analyst. During his time there, he worked on C+ programming, broker notices, various office duties, was the point of contact person for insurance claims, and sent notices to an adjuster. He also had a hand in a host of other duties, which broadened his horizons. He wanted to be able to try out every aspect of the business field, which is why co-op has been so valuable to him.

Even in the financial district, Kissor found that his Peace and Conflict Studies skills were useful, especially when it came to communication, negotiation, and conflict resolution skills. 

“Every experience an individual encounters, good or bad, can be considered as a useful experience – as you can learn from it going forwards.  Aim to create a solid foundation and build upon the skills that you develop. No matter how miscellaneous a task may seem, each experience is valuable as it can be transferable to another task.”

During this co-op term, Kissor was able to build a bank of valuable skills in the business field thanks to his previous positions, coupled with his education. His advice to future PACS students going through the co-op experience is to focus on the foundation work that will aid you in jobs down the line.