YEAR 2 & 16 MoNTHS on co-op

I transferred to business school in my second year of university, after finishing my first year in Arts. The business school environment has always been a busy and competitive one, where those “Where are you going this summer?” questions were casually mentioned during conversations. There was a time when I couldn’t keep my mind off of the concern of being unable to land an internship after finishing my second year. I was new to the faculty, to people, to the networking events that I used to find somewhat intimidating, and often felt disadvantaged when it came to applying for jobs.

Thankfully I was able to do well in Finance and Accounting courses, which led me to believe that I should explore career opportunities in these fields. I was eventually very fortunate to have landed my very first co-op work term with Canalyst as an Equity Research Associate, which later turned into a 12-month placement where I got a chance to work on building, maintaining and improving financial models across different sectors. I learnt so much at Canalyst: I gained advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel, learned best practices when it comes to financial modelling and incorporating elements into a financial model to help users make better investment decisions, and worked along with my teammates and supervisors to deliver our reliable financial models with clean data to our clients.

After Canalyst, I left Vancouver for 4 months to intern at WestJet’s Corporate Development group in Calgary, and here, once again, learned so much. Besides the technical knowledge I was able to strengthen from shadowing my seniors and getting the chance to be a part of high-impact projects, I also learned so much from my team’s enthusiasm and passion for the work they were doing, and from my supervisors who always led by examples and helped me learn so much about the Canadian and Global Airlines industry. The most rewarding part of this experience was when I saw how my work brought a significant impact on people’s lives, as I met crew members who told me they loved their jobs, read reviews customers left for WestJet, or saw our guests reuniting with their families at airports. That summer, I contributed to and witnessed how WestJet upheld its promise in continually bringing exceptional traveling experiences through launching our ULCC subsidiary Swoop, adding more routes to our networks, or acquiring new Boeing 787s to better serve guests on Trans-Atlantic routes. I was inspired by the idea of customer-centricity - aiming to positively impact end-users of the product/ service by putting them and their experience first.

WHERE IT ALL STARTED

I came back to school to resume my studies after 16 months of consecutive work terms. I entered my specialization in Finance, doing mostly Finance courses while trying to figure out which next steps to take in my career. Although I knew I liked Finance and learned so much from it, I also knew I wanted to try something new to further explore the idea of being customer-centric. I spent a great amount of time looking at different options I have, and also for the longest time, had no idea about which direction to head towards.

The best part of this year - my 4th year in university, is that I got the chance to meet and befriended some smart, humble, and sincere (and funny) people who helped shape me into who I am today. My friends Jules and Alice were two of them. They walked me through the customer journey maps they built for Marketing case competition submissions (Alice was on the same team with me competing at the UBC Imprint Senior Case Competition, while Jules was competing at Canada’s Next Top Ad Exec Competition and made Top 10 Nationals) - which shed some lights on the role of digital strategists and marketers in strengthening the business-customer relationship through purposeful and value-adding interactions along the customer journey. Suddenly, I felt a spark. I am a people-centered person, I love developing genuine relationships through meaningful conversations with people, and the idea of leveraging the power of conversation and human connection to inspire people and their decision-making in my career excited me. This was my eureka moment, marking the start of my journey to take this leap of faith.

TAKING THE LEAP OF FAITH

After finishing my 4th year in university, I started doing more reading to learn more about the field, and did Brand Management Mentorship Program to learn more about Brand Marketing at CPG companies, while continuing to look for another co-op position in the Fall of 2019. During this period, I also developed an interest in technology, especially digital products and their instrumental roles in our daily lives in today’s world, and landed my next co-op placement at Apply Digital - a digital product studio in Vancouver as a Product Manager Co-op. This was another transformative work experience that I will always be grateful for: I got to learn and practice the agile methodology in product development and management and worked with a team of smart, humble, and supportive PMs, Project Managers, Developers, and more. I received a great amount of support from my supervisor, who did not only provide me with the support and training I needed to succeed at work, but also reminded me about the importance of mental health and well-being, and helped me to bounce back from a brief period of time where my mental health was challenged. Understanding my interest to learn more about Marketing, my supervisor staffed me on a go-to-market project where I got the chance to gain many exposure to GTM strategy and Product Marketing through collaborating with a team of brilliant Marketing Strategists, Designers, and Copywriters. Having worked extensively on the execution of Marketing initiatives as a part of our GTM plan has affirmed my interest in Marketing, and strengthened my desire to pursue a career in this field as I wrapped up my 7-month internship with Apply Digital (with 4 months of full-time work followed by 3 months of part-time work).

The 2020 spring/ summer season was a strange one, as my exchange plan to Vienna was canceled due to COVID-19. After finishing my final exams, my friend Alice (yes, it was the same Alice who sparked my interest in Marketing) asked me to form a team and join Google Online Marketing Challenge where we got the chance to provide Google Ads consulting to a non-profit organization. I invited our friend Katrina to our team, and through Google, got paired with Assaulted Women’s Helpline - an NPO headquartered in Toronto. This experience taught me a lot about the technical sides and best practices in Google Ads, which was not only applicable to this project but ended up becoming helpful to my previous, and current work experience. I got into the job-hunting game pretty late this summer but was still fortunate to have found an internship at Etoile Web Design - a Montreal-based WordPress development shop, where I worked as a Summer Marketing Associate with a focus on Content Creation and Creative Strategy. I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone to manage the full content cycle, from planning, ideation to execution, while continuing to explore new content ideas to promote EWD’s product offerings within the F&B and eCommerce niches.

After my final summer internship at EWD, I worked at Perk Hero - a Vancouver startup as a Marketing Associate with a focus on Analytics and Marketing Technology, and in March 2021, joined Appnovation full-time as a Marketing Operations Coordinator. Through those work and volunteer experiences, I have gained a great number of skills across different areas of Marketing, developed a great understanding of where I want to specialize in at work and have become 100% committed to my Marketing career, knowing that it’s the one thing that gets me excited every day when I wake up.

FINAL NOTES

Looking back at my journey, I didn’t regret a single thing. Sure, it did take me an extra year in university to find out what I love. It wasn’t easy either to hit the reset button much later compared to my peers, but I also discovered so much about myself in the progress: How I can go for hours to explain Marketing concepts to someone who wants to learn about them, how I am willing to go the extra mile to explore different approaches to tackle creative problems, and how I get excited and become 5x more patient than how I normally am when it comes to all things Marketing. And don’t get me wrong, Finance/ Capital Markets is a great industry for those who are passionate about it: I learned so much from my Finance experiences and met so many great people along the way, but it was not the best fit for me. I still graduated with a Finance degree and applied the knowledge I picked up from my Finance days to my day-to-day responsibilities at work. What I meant is, it’s never too late to get started on something that feels right to you. All you need is a spark, a lot of motivation, and plenty of excitement to keep you going.

Last but not least, I am grateful to everyone who has been a part of this journey. My family, my friends, my colleagues and supervisors, my professors at Sauder, the people who have faith in me and in my risky decision to pursue Marketing, and those who told me I couldn’t do it, thank you for helping me keep this fire burning. Thanks to you, I wake up every morning feeling inspired knowing I’ll get to do what I love and work alongside people who share a common passion with me towards something bigger. This is only the beginning, and I am excited to keep on going to see what the future of Marketing has to offer to me, to my fellow Creative professionals, and to the world we live in.