In December, the class 2020 started their risk management project. This was a big change from being in lectures and completing deliverables to getting to spend 9 weeks working full time with a company. For the industry project, students are able to apply what they had learned in first semester of school to these real life projects.
In this post, Kelvin Tian details his experience starting to work full time in the financial district, and the work-life balance he was able to experience.
“We just finished the first week of our industry projects, and because of the location of sponsoring companies within the financial district, many of us could frequently meet for lunch and share the fun stories we had about work and our projects. This was especially true now since the workload in our first semester was relatively heavy compared to our first week of our industry project.”
Now that Kelvin doesn’t have deliverables to attend to, he’s able to focus on the work he’s doing for his industry project. It’s a different challenge for him where he gets to apply the knowledge he’s learnt in the fall academic session.
Kelvin describes what’s it’s like to start working in the downtown Toronto core, getting involved in the holiday celebration and understanding work culture. As well as commuting to work in the winter!
“On some days the weather might be cold, however luckily this year it barely snowed in December, and there is the PATH to help us commute. The PATH is an inter-connected underground ‘city’, and just to add a special touch to our days, we would explore the walkways and then pick a different food court each day.
He also discusses the work-life balance and the opportunity the MFRM project provides to become a more rounded individual by balancing working hard and socializing.
While the program is intense, it gives students valuable skills to work for a promising future, and the project lets students experience the working world.
It is such an amazing opportunity to experience the corporate culture and network with other team members. My team held a Secret Santa party, and my draw was a special bottle of wine.”
“Make sure not to miss out on the numerous events going on at the same time, because, like Mary said in the last post, ‘it can’t be all work and no play.’”
He recommends prospective students to not get too caught up in the academics.
“The intensity of the MFRM program will, train and equip every student well with the knowledge and mindset for a promising future career. In my humble opinion, it is as important to find a work-life balance for your benefit in the long term, as it is to focus on the task at hand. The industry placement gives exactly that exploratory opportunity.”
The Master of Financial Risk Management is a full time program designed to prepare ambitious young professionals for careers in risk management and finance.