Helping students with the transition from Education to Employment

Helping students with the
transition from Education
to Employment
A focus on the financial services sector
of the Toronto region
AIESEC CANADA CASE STUDY
July 2015
CoE ...... the catalyst that strengthens and expands our talent pool to elevate
Toronto region’s global stature as a financial services
capital.
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About us
Centre of Excellence in Financial Services Education
The Centre of Excellence in Financial Services Education (CoE) of the Toronto Financial Services Alliance
acts as a catalyst to strengthen and expand Toronto’s talent pool and elevate the region’s global stature
as a financial services capital.
The CoE:
•
•
•
•
Aggregates research and information on Toronto’s talent and educational strengths
Works with employers and educators to improve the focus and quality of education programs
Encourages cross-sector dialogue on talent and education-related issues
Showcases the region’s strengths and the career opportunities that await in the Toronto region
The CoE is supported by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, the City of Toronto and the
financial services sector of the Toronto region.
Toronto Financial Services Alliance
The Toronto Financial Services Alliance (TFSA) is a growing public-private partnership dedicated to
increasing Toronto’s role as a global financial services hub. Established in 2001 by the City of Toronto in
partnership with the financial industry, TFSA works on behalf of the entire financial cluster, including its
business and educational support sectors. With both the federal and provincial governments now
joining the partnership, TFSA has established the Global Risk Institute in Financial Services to leverage
the sector’s global reputation for stability, as well as the Centre of Excellence in Financial Services
Education to capitalize on Toronto region’s human capital advantages.
AIESEC
AIESEC is a global, not-for-profit, membership organization established to facilitate placements and/or
internships for its members who are students and recent graduates of institutions of higher learning. It
is operated by students and alumni, works with the public and private sectors, and is present in 124
countries and territories. To date, there have been 26,000 international placements, coordinated by
70,000 AIESECers.
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PLEASE DIRECT QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS PERTAINING TO THIS REPORT TO
Dr. Catherine Chandler-Crichlow
Executive Director
Centre of Excellence in Financial Services Education
ccrichlow@tfsa.ca
Ms. Kamini Sahadeo
Director, Strategy Implementation
Centre of Excellence in Financial Services Education
ksahadeo@tfsa.ca
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Centre of Excellence in Financial Services Education acknowledges the support of the following in
the development of this case study:
Ms. Rocca D’Angela
Financial Sector Researcher & Author
AIESEC Canada’s 2014-2015 Leadership Team, most notably:
Ms. Nancy Lu
President
Mr. Shawn Fulham
National Vice President - Business Development
Mr. Ross Dickson
National Vice President - Marketing and Communications
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Table of Contents
About us ........................................................................................................................................................ 1
01 Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................. 5
02 Transitioning from school to the workforce ............................................................................................ 8
03 A solution led by youth: the AIESEC-CoE collaboration ......................................................................... 11
04 Youth and careers in the financial services sector................................................................................. 14
05 Lessons learned ...................................................................................................................................... 18
06 Recommendations ................................................................................................................................. 21
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01
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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01 Executive Summary
Businesses must be able to recruit and retain talented professionals in order to succeed in their
increasingly competitive environments. Research indicates1, however, that employers are having
difficulty finding individuals with the skills they require to support their operations. This apparent dearth
of skilled candidates has been fueling what is widely known as the ‘war for talent’ among employers.
Yet, job seekers, and in particular youth groups, are experiencing difficulty finding employment. This is a
paradox which must be addressed.
One report notes that there are hints of “…two related global crises: high levels of youth unemployment
and a shortage of people with critical job skills.”2
The Centre of Excellence in Financial Services Education (CoE) was established to help expand the pool
of talent available to employers in the financial services sector (FSS) of the Toronto region. To do so, the
CoE works to facilitate information sharing among job seekers, employers, educators and government
so that the needs of each group are widely understood by all other groups, and collaborations to
address those needs may be formed and succeed.
This case study highlights the CoE’s collaboration with AIESEC, a student-led organization established to
assist graduates with their transition to the world of work. This is an exciting example of how a
stakeholder group can be engaged and moved to ‘OWN’ its career experience in a sector. It outlines the
initiative of youth leaders to identify options for raising awareness of careers in the financial services
sector amongst the student and recent graduate population, and how the CoE responded to AIESEC’s
proposed solutions.
The AIESEC representatives reported that:

students/graduates want to understand how the services of a sector impact their lives before
they can more fully comprehend the myriad careers available in that sector;

information about careers in the FSS sector must be directly connected to areas of high interest
to students/graduates in order to engage them. One such area of interest is financial literacy
(e.g. how to budget, repay debt);

information and guidance regarding careers should be available to students prior to entering
post-secondary school and, at the latest, during the earlier years of post-secondary school;

career information should be widely distributed using the latest networking platforms most
popular amongst youth groups; and
1
Reports include: Education to Employment: Designing a System that Works, McKinsey Centre for Government;
Talent Matters, Deloitte for the TFSA, March 2007; Talent Opportunities in Insurance: Strengthening the Insurance
Sector Workforce, Mercer for the Centre of Excellence, April 2015
2
Education to Employment: Designing a System that Works, McKinsey Centre for Government, Executive Summary
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
despite the proliferation of materials generally available on preparing for a career,
students/graduates continue to seek guidance with the fundamental elements of career
planning, such as assessing their competencies and networking.
Directly in response to this feedback, the CoE–AIESEC team embarked on the development of a
prototype for a mobile career application which, through the use of scenarios, would provide
educational content regarding typical financial transactions and information about the financial services
professionals involved in conducting those transactions. The application prototype was well received by
the AIESEC representatives.
As this experience with AIESEC has illustrated, stakeholder participation in defining workable and
relevant solutions to an issue is invaluable. The CoE will continue to work with all sector participants,
expanding its network, and making strides towards closing the ‘talent’ gap.
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02
TRANSITIONING FROM
SCHOOL TO THE
WORKFORCE
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02 Transitioning from school to the workforce
A critical disconnect – graduates having difficulty finding jobs while employers are searching for talent
Education is a fundamental pillar of economic and social well-being for individuals and their
communities. Many students invest heavily in their learning experience, trusting that obtaining formal
qualification, such as diplomas and degrees from colleges and universities, will help them to find ‘good’
jobs in or related to their fields of study when they graduate. That is, they expect to find employment
that would build on the knowledge from their chosen areas of study and earn ‘good’ salaries.
The actual experience of transitioning from school to the workforce, however, appears to be somewhat
less direct and more difficult, both here in Canada and abroad. This factor is contributing to increasing
youth unemployment at a global level. When the number of youth that are underemployed is also
considered, the situation is even more concerning.3
“[A] quarter of youth do not make a smooth transition to work: their first jobs are unrelated to their field
of study and they want to change positions quickly.”4
This scenario - where many graduates are having difficulty finding entry pathways into a sector - is not
easy to accept given that employers around the world are saying they are in search of talent. So, what
can be done to help graduates to connect with these employers?
There are several strategies which may be implemented to help remedy the above predicament. These
are described briefly below, followed by a more extensive review of the CoE’s rewarding experience
with one youth-centred stakeholder group to help students and recent graduates better understand
careers in the FSS.
Strategies for helping students and graduates connect with employers
It may be helpful to think of the following suggested strategies as generic in nature and which could be
applied in any sector. Keep in mind that there are many stakeholders involved in strengthening the
talent pipeline for a sector. For example, there are employers which determine their talent needs in
response to marketplace trends, government entities which govern the education system, institutions of
higher learning which provide education programs to prepare students for the workforce, and job
seekers who are looking for ‘rewarding’ employment.
While each stakeholder may have a specific role, open dialogue amongst them is critical in order to
identify and address current and emerging talent issues in a collaborative manner. Such collaboration
benefits from the existence of a body to facilitate discussion and action towards a common goal. The
CoE is such a body, acting as a catalyst to strengthen the talent pipeline for the financial services sector
of the Toronto region.
3
4
IBID, page 19
IBID, page 11
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In order to help connect job seekers to employers, sector stakeholders must ensure that the following
are available:

data on employers’ current and emerging competency needs (i.e. knowledge, skills, and
aptitudes) to help job-seekers plan their education and work experiences to acquire the
required competencies, and to inform educators of the programs needed to prepare students
with the required competencies;

education programs which meet employer and student needs/expectations regarding
preparedness for work;

information about career paths and entry-points into a sector;

technology resources for the widespread distribution/promotion of information to all affected
groups; and

effective employer recruiting and on-boarding/training programs.
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03
A SOLUTION LED BY YOUTH: THE
AIESEC-CoE COLLABORATION
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03 A solution led by youth: the AIESEC-CoE collaboration
One of the CoE’s key strategies for growing the talent pipeline for the FSS in the Toronto region is raising
awareness, among students and recent graduates, of the roles for which employers are/will be seeking
talent5 and the skills6 required to succeed in those roles. These roles and skills are referred to as the ‘indemand’ careers and skills in this report.
As part of its outreach activities to youth groups, in 2010, the CoE connected with AIESEC, an
organization run by students and alumni, which helps to find internships/placements for graduates
around the world. For AIESEC, the collaboration offered an opportunity to work with an organization
which could assist its members to better understand, and connect to, careers in the financial services
ecosystem. For the CoE, the partnership offered an effective vehicle for widely disseminating
information about the in-demand roles in the sector to a large audience of youth through a central
touch point (leveraging the one-to-many approach); and, it provided an avenue for feedback on when,
and how, to communicate with this audience about the talent requirements and opportunities in the
sector.
The collaboration was (and continues to be) mutually rewarding, and has resulted in a new career
information tool. The CoE was invited to be a key participant at both the 2014 and 2015 AIESEC annual
conferences, as a presenter and sponsor of case competitions on the topic of financial literacy. In
preparation for the 2014 event, AIESEC worked with the CoE to develop an engaging new video
regarding financial services/literacy and careers in the FSS. The video7 introduced the concept that
students should ‘OWN’ their careers ‘NOW’. It was so well received that AIESEC immediately began
work with the CoE and its technology team8 on the development of a mobile application with
similar/additional information. The second edition of the video and the prototype for the mobile
application were unveiled at the 2015 AISEC Conference, again to resounding interest in the material.
It is important to emphasize that the mobile application was developed and designed specifically in
response to feedback from AIESEC members on how to raise awareness of careers in financial services
among youth. The students and alumni noted that in order for them to better understand the financial
ecosystem and the myriad customer-facing and non-customer-facing or ‘inside’ roles across all segments
of the sector (e.g. insurance, securities, lending, and asset management), they had to first connect to
these potential careers in a personal way. That is, they wanted to more fully understand how financial
services touched their lives. The students further indicated that the information should be presented to
them in an engaging fashion, leveraging widely used and accessible mobile technology.
5
Over the medium term (i.e. during the next three to five years)
Skills refers to both technical and soft skills
7
Created by Gerry Lewis Inc.
8
Formative Innovations Inc.
6
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In line with this direction, the CoE-AIESEC project team developed a prototype for a mobile application
that would:

inform students about careers in financial services by taking them ‘behind the scenes’ of a
typical financial services transaction they may have completed or may be considering; as the
transaction unfolds, information about the numerous financial services sector roles involved in
the financial services being provided (from start to finish) is presented; the prototype scenario
deals with arranging a loan for the purchase of a car; other scenarios relevant to youth may
include: setting up an RRSP, repaying a student loan;

encourage students to ‘OWN’ their careers by exploring options ‘NOW’, prior to graduation, so
that they have time to plan/adjust plans for acquiring needed workplace skills;

highlight the in-demand roles in the financial services sector and key entry-points into the
sector;

convey that employers in the sector value diverse degrees and experience (e.g. backgrounds in
engineering, mathematics, and sales are highly relevant to a variety of roles in financial services;

show that even relatively simple financial transactions like getting a basic car loan require many
financial services roles to complete the transaction over the life cycle of the transaction; and

encourage students to build a profile on the Career Advisor site so that they can better explore
careers in financial services which may match their interests and skills.
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04
YOUTH AND CAREERS IN
THE FINANCIAL SERVICES
SECTOR
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13
04 Youth and careers in the financial services sector
In order to better understand how to help address the disconnect between youth unemployment and
the skills shortage among employers in the financial services sector, early on in its mandate, the CoE
embarked on several qualitative studies to understand the perspectives of both sides of the equation for
the supply of and demand for human capital.
Supply of talent
Students and graduates are key contributors to the supply of talent available for roles in the FSS. Their
views about the sector and those of their career counsellors are presented in Box 1.
Box 1 - Understanding youth’s perceptions
about the financial services sector
In 2010, CoE commissioned qualitative research projects with post-secondary school students, graduates,
and career counsellors to assess the key motivators and barriers to entry into the FSS.
The research results indicated:
 a low level of awareness of the breadth of career options in the FSS
 limited knowledge of the competencies and skills required for key roles in the FSS
 a desire for information on possible career paths and assessing how one’s unique interests and skills could
fit in the FSS to be provided during the early-to mid years of the education journey, to assist with career
planning
Demand for talent
To help grow the talent pipeline for the FSS, employers in the sector must be able to clearly describe the
roles and competencies that are required to support their current and future business operations. This
information must then be communicated to those on the supply side of the equation – i.e. to students
and counsellors to assist with career planning; and to educators, to ensure their education programs
continue to meet the needs of the market place. Box 2 presents the highlights of the CoE’s research to
assess hew hire and employer satisfaction with preparation for work.
Box 2 - Understanding youth’s preparedness
for work in the financial services sector
In 2011, further qualitative research was conducted with new hires and employers in the FSS to assess
satisfaction with the preparation for work in the sector provided by post-secondary education programs.
The research indicated:
 both the new hires and their employers were generally satisfied with the preparation for work provided by
the education programs
 activities/experience beyond post-secondary training can help differentiate candidates for roles in the
sector.
 job seekers and their influencers would like more comprehensive information about the sector to help
them make informed career decisions; and
 talent groups seek opportunities to network with industry professionals prior to and post placement in the
FSS.
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Opportunities in the financial services sector
To appropriately address the human capital needs of a sector, detailed quantitative and qualitative data
is required to assess and fulfill its workforce needs. Unfortunately, the publicly available data regarding
ailed enough for the talent attraction needs of the sector. To
help fill the information gap, the CoE commissioned several projects for the development of ‘extensive’
job profiles for the in-demand roles in the sector.
A total of 34 job profiles were created for roles across ten job clusters. The clusters and list of roles are
presented in Table 1.
Table 1
In-Demand Roles in the Financial Services Sector
Financial Advisory and Investment
Management
 Financial Advisor
 Investment Banker
 Portfolio Manager
 Research Analyst
 Specialized Investment Advisor
Technology
 Infrastructure Engineer
 Systems Developer
Project Management
 Program Manager
 Project Management Office (PMO)
Director
 Senior Project Manager
Risk Management
 Risk Adjudicator
 Risk Analyst
 Risk Modeller
Insurance
 Actuary
 Claims Adjuster
 Insurance Underwriter
Compliance and Audit
 Compliance Officer
 Forensic and Fraud Specialist
 Internal Auditor
Back Office Operations
 Debt Recovery Associate
 Fund Accountant
 Transaction Processor
Business Analysis (IT)
 Business Analysis Practice Manager
 IT Business Analysis Manager
 IT Business Analyst
Call Centre
 Account Manager/Relationship
Manager
 Client Service Representative (CSR)
 Contact Centre Manager
 Quality Assurance Specialist
 Scheduler
 Technical Support
Business Analysis (Non-IT)
 Financial Analyst
 Performance Analyst
 Process Analyst
The job profiles reflect feedback collected directly from employers across the financial services
ecosystem but are much more than technical job descriptions/requirements. With a primary purpose of
increasing job seekers’ understanding of the breadth of career options in the FSS, the profiles were
designed so that they could be easily leveraged for marketing and communications with job seekers and
career influencers.
The profiles include detailed reviews of required: competencies for in-demand roles, key performance
behaviours, education, training and certifications, related experience, career paths, and external factors
affecting the profile and the employment outlook for the role. The job profiles also highlight the
commonalities and/or differences among similar roles in various segments across the sector. For
example, there will be commonalities and differences in the role of an advisor in the securities industry
versus one in insurance (although the term advisor may be used in both industries).
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All the above information is essential to help students, graduates and other job seekers with planning
their career steps. The information is not a final destination – it is intended to generate excitement and
broader understanding to promote further action by the audiences consuming the information. It was
also critical that the format of the profiles supported easy online/web navigation by job seekers allowing
them to quickly see how they fit into possible careers in any of the segment of the sector.
Indeed, the job profiles are available online at the CoE’s Career Advisor site:
www.explorefinancialservices.com. Job seekers are encouraged to create a personal profile on the site
by completing a short self-assessment which in turn provides users with possible FSS roles to explore
further.
A focus on the insurance industry
While an aging workforce and retirement of workers is being experienced across many industries in the
financial services ecosystem, the trend appears to be much more pronounced in the insurance segment
with notable talent gaps in four key occupations: actuary, underwriter, claims adjuster/adjudicator, and
data scientist/analyst9. In order to help fill these roles, employer strategies may now increasingly include
looking at “equivalent” occupations and skills across sectors, resulting in a more holistic view of the
talent pool available to them. Consequently, job seekers are encouraged to conduct in-depth selfassessments in order to fully understand how their skills and experience may apply in any one particular
situation.
9
Talent Opportunities in Insurance: Strengthening the Insurance Sector Workforce, Mercer for the Centre of
Excellence, April 2015
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05
LESSONS
LEARNED
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05 Lessons learned
Students/graduates should first understand how the services of a sector impact their lives before they
can more fully comprehend the myriad careers available in that sector.
A number of AIESEC student/graduate representatives noted that before they could fully appreciate all
the different roles in the FSS, in particular, the non-customer-facing roles, they needed a better
understanding of the process/steps required to complete typical financial services transactions (e.g.
repaying a student loan, setting up an RRSP, buying a car). This enhanced understanding would help
bring the FSS roles to ‘life’ for them, in particular, by showing them how financial services already
impact their lives. Scenarios could be developed to describe the basics of the financial transactions, as
well as the professionals/roles responsible for the various steps in the transaction (from start to finish).
Educational content regarding topics of interest to students/graduates (e.g. financial literacy) can be
used to help raise awareness of careers in a sector.
This point is somewhat connected to the one above. As many student/graduate representatives
reported that improving their financial intelligence was important for them, information regarding
careers in the FSS could be paired with educational content regarding how to achieve financial priorities
of interest to youth groups (e.g. tips for budgeting).
Information and guidance regarding careers should be available to students prior to entering postsecondary school and, at the latest, during the earlier years of post-secondary school.
It is important for students to have information regarding careers in the FSS, as well as the outlook or
need for those careers in the sector going forward. That is, will the jobs in which they may be currently
interested be in-demand when they graduate? While more often than not, this is a difficult question to
answer, understanding the factors which may impact career outlooks will help assist with career
planning in the face of changing business and technology trends.
“…fewer than one half [of youth surveyed] say that when they chose what to study they had a good
understanding of which disciplines lead to professions job openings and good wages levels.”10
Self-assessment and strategic reflection should be key elements of the career planning process.
It would be helpful for students to begin thinking about what careers offer them the best ‘fit’ by
exploring the types of things they enjoy doing or learning about the most, and the skills they are
acquiring through their education, work, and extra-curricular activities. This increased self-awareness, in
conjunction with easy, user-friendly access to sector and job profiles, should greatly assist students to
think strategically about their careers – better understand their options before they graduate, so that
they may plan their education and experiences accordingly – in order to help avoid difficulty finding a
job upon graduation. Changing business needs and the rapid development and adoption of new
10
Education to Employment: Designing a System that Works, McKinsey Centre for Government, pg. 18
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technologies has already impacted the talent requirements of employers – for example, new
technology-based jobs which did not previously exist are now available while some roles may have
become obsolete. This may be referred to as labour market disruption. By building a strong
understanding of their competencies, students and graduates should be better able to position
themselves in changing labour market environments, increasing their potential for mobility across the
sector.
Career information should be widely distributed using the latest networking platforms most popular
amongst youth groups.
In order to motivate youth to consume various career information, it must be presented to them using
the latest technology tools and applications which are part of their everyday lives and activities. Further,
the information must be easily ‘digestible’ – available on-demand, in short, succinct, relevant formats.
For example, the mobile application about FSS careers currently being developed by the CoE provides
only relevant highlights of FSS careers through scenarios and directs job seekers to the CoE’s Career
Advisor site for more extensive job profiles and a career matching self-assessment.
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06
RECOMMENDATIONS
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06 Recommendations
1. Development of the FSS career mobile application should be completed, as per feedback on the
prototype.
2. Information about job skills required by local and global employers should be provided, including
scenarios to illustrate how these skills manifest themselves in the workplace.
3. Outreach to students in the early years of their post-secondary school journey should continue;
enhanced outreach to high school students may also be considered.
4. Despite the many avenues for general information about career planning, the CoE may wish to
consider creating a comprehensive career planning program – it could consist of various modules
addressing each step in the career planning process. The CoE could develop its own materials or
aggregate existing resources by topic, for example how to:





complete a self-assessment of competencies
communicate strengths
prepare for an interview
write a cover letter
prepare for the networking conversation, etc.
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