Considering a career in risk management? You’ve come to the right place. Rotman’s Master of Financial Risk Management (MFRM) program is a practical degree designed for quantitatively strong students eager to break it into this exciting field. Through this program, students learn the theoretical underpinnings that impact financial markets, and also gain practical skills to be career-ready in just 8 months.

We spoke with Carolyn Wright, Assistant Director of Career Services for MFRM, to learn more about careers in financial risk management.

Hello Carolyn! Can you tell us a bit more about the range of options available to MFRM students? 

Sure! The MFRM program was designed to fill a growing need to fill risk management roles in the financial sector; opportunities continue to arise in all types of organizations and sectors—after all, there is increasing regulations impacting financial markets and finance departments in all organizations.

The MFRM Advisory Board provide connections with various organizations that are part of the financial sector; students find positions within these and similar organizations. The advisory board members are senior risk management leaders in major banks, insurance companies, pension funds, government and regulatory agencies, and private consultancies – and they are eager to meet each class of MFRM students!

What types of roles and opportunities are our MFRM graduates prepared for?

Our graduates find entry-level positions in various areas of financial risk management. The main areas have traditionally been credit risk, market risk and operational risk. Recently, liquidity risk has risen in importance. There are also jobs in the areas of enterprise risk management (ERM), risk culture, and risk appetite that are more big picture and strategic in nature.

It is also possible that some MFRM students will go into portfolio management rather than risk management.

Could you mention 3 must-have skills for a career in financial risk management?

Certainly! I’d say that they need to have (1) strong quantitative skills, (2) business acumen, and (3) strong communication skills.

1. As detailed in our admissions requirements, we look for students with a strong quantitative foundation; we further reinforce these skills during the program. Through the MFRM curriculum they’ll be developing those skills further and honing their abilities in ares such as financial modelling.
2. With our current labour market conditions, we want to prepare our students to have strong business acumen and understand how to act professionally and make decisions in the workplace. After all, this is key to achieving success in the workplace.
3. Along with business acumen, we want to make sure our students come out with an ability to communicate clearly and effectively. Positions in financial risk management always involve engaging with complex information that will need to be translated to other stakeholders, who may not be technical experts in the field. We’ll make sure our students develop and strengthen these skills through access to Rotman’s Self Development Lab.

Do you have any additional tips for our students starting the program? 

Definitely! There’s a few things to keep in mind over the summer:

• First, we reachout to students in July and throughout August with pre-program material.
• We’ll also send them a one-page MFRM resume template, to be completed prior to joining us, along with information on networking and developing an elevator pitch.
• I also want to encourage students to feel comfortable with networking and be prepared to attend information sessions in the fall. This will be important when trying to secure a job.
• Lastly, if you are moving to Toronto from a different city, don’t forget to bring your professional attire! Your personal brand is just as important as the knowledge you’ll learn through our program.

The Master of Financial Risk Management is a full time program designed to prepare ambitious young professionals for careers in risk management and finance.