“Organizations need to find ways to ‘personalize’ their brands as this will be beneficial to both the students and the employers in the long run.” —Fahad Meer, Graduate, McMaster University
I graduated from McMaster University in 2011 and joined PwC as an Associate in the Audit & Assurance Group (AAG) based in the Toronto office.
Coming out of university, where I had a very tightly knit group of friends, the one thing I was most afraid of was change. However, I quickly learned after I joined the firm that change is not necessarily a bad thing and definitely not as scary as it seems. Because of all the extra-curricular activities I took part in at McMaster, I was confident and ready to launch my career. Lucky for me, I was able to join a firm that provided me a lot of support, which made the school to work transition, seamless.
If I were to look back at my transition from carrying a backpack to now a briefcase, the one thing that I would not change is getting outside my comfort zone. When I was a student, I explored new opportunities to make me a more confident and well-rounded person. Confidence and well-roundedness are two essential characteristics that employers are looking for these days.
Where I am now
As an Associate, I am fulfilling my dream of adding value to my clients on a daily basis. I’m also learning more everyday about the accounting and business world, while writing exams to obtain my Chartered Accountant (CA) designation.
Besides auditing, I’m passionate about giving back to people and coaching young students and professionals in their respective careers. As PwC’s National Recruiting Blogger and one of only six people to represent PwC in its campus branding, I do just that by allowing others to learn from my personal stories of success and failure both via my blog posts and through speeches I deliver at various universities across the GTA.
In my spare time, I volunteer by serving as the CFO and Career Coach for a new start-up NPO called Canada Pakistan Professionals Association (CPPA). At CPPA, I oversee their finances, as well as provide young professionals with advice and support.
My recommendations for employers, career centres and schools
My recommendation for employers, career centres or schools is to really find ways to connect with students more personally and provide them with more tailored support. From my experience, I notice that students are very hesitant to approach organizations for guidance because they feel like there is a wall dividing the two sides. The most successful organizations show that they really care about their people, which then creates a favourable impact on students. Organizations need to find ways to “personalize” their brands as this will be beneficial to both the students and the employers in the long run.
My recommendations for students
My advice for students and recent grads would be to never see failure as a hindrance to their end goals, but rather a catalyst and a motivator to go above and beyond their own expectations. The reason why I am reasonably “successful” today is because I made mistakes in my past and learned from them. I became “successful” by failing and by learning from the root cause of my failures to ensure I never made the same mistake twice.
As a recent student, I dreamt big and was always on the lookout for ways to invest further in my personal brand, whether that was through holding executive positions in school clubs or coming outside of my comfort zone by applying to jobs as a freshman in university. Your name and personal brand is your most valuable asset and it is the one thing that can make you stand out from the crowd, so it is better to invest sooner than later.
In a recent blog post I wrote for PwC, I said “the reason why I like sharing my failures is because I want you to understand that no one is perfect. I might be the ‘Campaign Star’ of PwC, but it is because of the times I have failed, learned and fought my way back in life that has gotten me to where I am today.”
So go ahead and dream big, bigger than before, because failure should not be a hindrance to achieving your goals, but rather the secret path to success!
This #StudentVoice belongs to:
Fahad Meer
Graduate
Honours Bachelor of Commerce
McMaster University