Blog

Reprinted from LinkedIn with permission

We proactively responded to the COVID-19 crisis by pivoting and seeking global opportunities, which was a huge success with so many organizations from diverse industries agreeing to meet with our International Study group.

After meeting Minghao Ji, from Bain & Company, at the UWMCC competition, I asked him if he would like to be a speaker at our class during a virtual coffee chat. Not only did he agree, but he also brought a private equity partner, Andrew Edwards, and a Waterloo alumnus, Cameron Capel, to help maximize our learning experience. This opportunity became a truly amazing interview.

Isolated cubicles and endless hours of routine number crunching – that’s the impression many people have of what working in tax entails. Through the Young Tax Professionals program, I learned how the profession continues to evolve with emerging technology and changing laws. What became crystal clear to me was that the opportunities in tax are truly endless and are not one-size-fits-all.

Isaac, a 4^th year AFM student met with SAF to talk about his experience with this program and how it prepared him for the recent CFA Institute Research Challenge (IRC). "Every student coming into SAF had heard about the 2016 team’s win on the CFA IRC international stage with Canadian Tire. As a result, I was always keen to represent Waterloo on a larger stage and knew this was a great opportunity."

Shortly after graduating from the University of Waterloo, I began my full-time career in the investment banking group at TD Securities. I obtained this opportunity thanks to the University of Waterloo’s fantastic co-op program

Putting the knowledge I obtained from SAF to the test 

I spent my last co-op work term as a business finance co-op student at the Ontario Public Service, more specifically, the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. I didn’t work directly with Premier Doug Ford, but I did receive a few emails from him!

From office to home, the new working reality amid COVID-19

To prospective UWaterloo students, I would like to share a recap of my Winter 2020 co-op experience as one that was very unexpected, yet valuable. The skills I developed as a student in the AFM program prepared me for the new working reality during my first work term.

Like many of us, Miljana Prelic, Performance Measurement Analyst at SAF is learning to adjust to the new remote workplace. A big difference for Miljana is that she has a new co-worker, Oliver, her toddler at home. We wanted to catch up and find out how she is managing the new normal and if she has any insights to share.

Due to complications arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the plan for the winter 2020 International Study Course shifted several times. I was a member of the meals and culture team, and our team was responsible for creating a presentation for the class to learn more about our original destination, Singapore. This included its history, cultural diversity, government structure, etiquette, laws, and points of interest. This allowed all our classmates to be knowledgeable about what they were to expect from the trip, and how they should be interacting with the speakers in our meetings.