As part of the upcoming Business Career Expo on March 25, we are running special commentaries from our graduate business students on the hunt for the best jobs in the worlds of management, finance and beyond. The Business Career Expo, which is co-hosted by the Beedie School of Business, is the largest business-themed student career expo in British Columbia. We think you’ll find their unique perspectives both helpful and inspiring – given the particular challenges of looking for work in the current economic environment.
It is now half way through our one year Master of Financial Risk Management (MFRM) program and many students have started thinking more seriously about securing a job immediately after graduation – while a number of current students have already started celebrating their secured job positions for after the program.
Finding a job can often get frustrating, specially during the ongoing economic recovery, but SFU’s graduate business school has made the students’ job searching process a lot more convenient by having a very strong and active Career Management Centre.
The involvement with this centre is almost as important as learning the courses for many students, if not more important. Professional career managers at Beedie School of Business guide students with their job search and prepare them for the real world business environment with mock interviews, various workshops and many resume review sessions. With the help of the career management I was able to prepare and qualify for my first finance internship.
One of the most rewarding experiences for me during the MFRM program has been the opportunity to work as a financial risk management intern in conjunction with my studies. Even though at times it may be challenging to keep a balance between the course work and the job, the benefits justify the hardship. This is due to the fact that the majority of our regular learning in classes is very practical to a point that sometimes I get to apply my lectures in the previous day to my work next day, which also boosts my learning process.
Moreover, while in school we have access to a great pool of knowledge from both our practical and theoretical professors who are always very eager to mentor students and meet with them to go over their questions that may be related to their professional careers and outside the scope of lectures. I experienced this interaction first hand, where coming from a non-financial background I faced a greater degree of challenge in my first risk management job, which was mitigated by the help of a number of faculty members and lecturers.
For those who are in the job hunting process a good opportunity next week on March 25 is the 7th annual Business Career Expo in Vancouver (For more details please visit:http://www.businesscareerexpo.com/index.php).
The jobs are out there guys, you just need to keep trying. I can be a difficult and frustrating time but if you keep persisting something will come along.