The Telfer Career Centre turns 20!

As Telfer undergrads, you understand what it feels like to be in your early 20s in 2024. You entered adulthood during one of the most challenging global events of the 21st century. Early on, you had to navigate bimodal environments and AI, embrace uncertainty as a certainty, and, most importantly, seek opportunities to find your purpose. Believe us: we can relate!

The 2023-2024 academic year was an important milestone for the Telfer Career Centre as it proudly celebrated its 20th anniversary. As a team, we owe our success to the active and unwavering support of many partners, including, but not limited to: Telfer students, staff and faculty members, community organizations, and external employers. As we enter our 20s, we want to reflect on our first steps, take stock of our progress, and highlight our five programs focused on the growth of tomorrow’s leaders.

Our “freshman” years: building something new through Connexions

• In 2003, Telfer students chose to invest in their future by voting to create a student-funded Career Centre.
• Under the direction of Pr. Peter Koppel, the Centre opened its doors during the 2003-2004 academic year.
• Its longest-running program is Connexions, a for-credit experiential learning opportunity that pairs third- and fourth-year students with external employers for a 12-week volunteer internship.
• Initially created in 1996 as a collaboration between professors and the former External Relations and Career Services Office, Connexions is now led by the Career Centre, with the support of Pr. Muriel Mignerat.
• Since 2009, 938 students have participated in a Connexions internship.
• The precursor to the Career Development Certificate (CDC) was the Career Development Program (CDP): a four stage program completed throughout a student’s undergraduate degree.
• The CDC has evolved over the years to match the recruitment needs of industry leaders. It ensured that Telfer students would have the necessary skills to stand out when applying for positions.
  
• Career Counsellor Marion Lajoie joined the Career Centre Team at its inception in 2004. As the creator and head of the CDC, she expertly guides students through the requirements and sets them up for success as they prepare to launch into their careers.
• To this day, more than 300 students have completed the Career Development Certificate.

Our “sophomore” years: raising awareness and capital

• Launched in 2008 to boost the Centre’s visibility and outreach among BCom students, the Ambassador Program has become a foundational component of student life at Telfer. So far, no less than 428 Telfer students have served as Career Centre Ambassadors!
• Over the years, Career Centre Ambassadors have delivered countless classroom presentations, hosted hundreds of information kiosks in the halls of Desmarais, and assisted the Career Centre Team with a wide array of activities, events, and services. Their contributions cannot be overstated.
• In recent years, our ambassadors have also contributed to the Telfer Knowledge Hub by crafting dozens of engaging articles for the Career Blog. During the 2023-2024 academic year, the Ambassador Program took its next leap forward by offering peer resumé reviews during weekly drop-in sessions. This pilot project was a tremendous success, and the Telfer Career Coaches are providing this opportunity again in 2024-2025.

• In 2011, the Career Centre launched the Telfer Capital Markets Mentorship Program. Its objective? To introduce students to the world of high finance through connections with industry professionals. These professionals also delivered workshops designed to increase the financial knowledge of program participants.
• In 2015, an experiential element was added to the program, the Telfer Capital Fund, a student-managed investment portfolio, which now has over $200K in assets under management.
• The 2022-2023 academic year marked the next evolution for the program, as it became an official university Microprogram with academic credits. Telfer’s Microprogram Capital Markets has just finished its first full year, and recruitment for the next cohort is well underway.

Our “junior” years: nurturing budding consultants

• In 2015, Relationship Manager Caroline Hannah recognized the need for Telfer students to receive industry-specific training to kickstart their consulting careers. Thus, the Profession of Management Consulting Program, or PMCP as it is commonly known, was created.
• Over the past nine years, the PMCP has brought together partnering employers and students to collaborate on real world cases and equip Telfer students with the knowledge required to thrive in the industry.
• Fast-forward to the 2022-2023 academic year: PMCP participants thoroughly reviewed the program and provided recommendations to staff on the way forward.
• Little did they know that this would be the first step towards PMCP becoming the Microprogram Management Consulting. Officially launching in September, this Microprogram marks the next evolution of consultant training at Telfer.

Our “senior” years: thriving through confinement… and beyond!

• Midway through the 2019-2020 academic year, our lives changed forever as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the entire world.
• Like Telfer students, the Career Centre Team had to pivot quickly to embrace online meeting technologies, virtual information sessions, interviews, and networking, remote onboarding and training, etc. We shared the same growing pains!
• In less than a summer, the Career Centre transformed ALL its activities, events, programs, and services to comply with Public Health rules and regulations. Little did we know that this disruption would be the push we needed to become more agile, innovative, and resourceful than ever before, and even more present for our students and partners in these uncertain times.
• In 2020-2021: 188 students participated in the Telfer Connects virtual event series; 181 students attended Telfer Networks; the Career Centre offered 718 virtual individual appointments.
• In 2021-2022: 232 participated in Telfer Networks; the Career Centre offered 788 virtual individual appointments.

Looking at the success of the Centre over the past 20 years, safe is to say that Telfer students have gotten a phenomenal return on that initial investment in 2003. With new offerings continually being added, the Career Centre team looks forward to many more years of supporting Telfer students.

Discover how we can help you define and achieve your career goals,
and start building your own success story.

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