Alumni Newsletter September 2015
Western Economics Career Night
For the past several years, in cooperation with the Western Economics Society, the Department has organized an annual Career Night open to all economics students. This event aims to provide undergraduates with information about graduate programs in Economics and the many potential careers open to them after they leave Western. In an informal setting, students hear from Directors of Western’s Graduate Program and Master of Financial Economics Program as well as some of our successful alumni, typically at different stages of their careers.
Students are always most excited to hear from and engage with our alumni, who participate in a panel discussion about the goals and careers for students graduating with a Western Economics degree, drawing on their own personal experiences. Alumni offer useful advice for those about to embark on new careers and answer questions from the always inquisitive and energetic students. Students most enjoy the opportunity to engage one-on-one with the alumni at a reception following the panel and Q&A sessions.
Last year, about 100 eager students packed the room to hear from two of our alumni: Mike Napier (BA Honors 2006) and Ksenia Bushmeneva (BA Honours 2007, MA 2008).
Since 2012, Mike has served as Associate Marketing Manager at London Life where he participates in strategic planning, marketing, brand management and market research. He has led or participated in a variety of organizational transformations, targeted market opportunity investigations, and the (re)development of organizations’ high-level strategies (e.g., Vision, Mission, Values) and/or tactical strategies (e.g., marketing, operations). He has also served in leadership roles in the Junior Chamber International (JCI), encouraging involvement by our students, and has coached Special Olympics floor hockey.
Ksenia has been an Economist for TD Bank Group since 2013. At TD, she manages provincial quarterly and annual forecasts for economic sectors and has written economic outlook publications for the provinces of Ontario and Prince Edward Island. She has also been in charge of the semi-annual forecast for Canada’s automotive sector and production of Canadian Month at a Glance report – a monthly snapshot of Canadian economy.
In their panel discussion, both Ksenia and Mike said that they appreciated the strong technical training they had received at Western. What they didn't appreciate as students but realize now is the equal importance of communication skills as a critical function in their jobs. As such, they emphasized that students should be sure to enroll in courses that provide them with the opportunity to improve their writing and speaking as well as their technical skills.
The overwhelming success of these events and the demand for greater alumni engagement has led to the decision to split Career Night into two events, one focusing on graduate schools and studies to be held in the fall, and one on post-graduate jobs and careers with alumni guests and a panel discussion to be held in mid-January. We’d love to get more of our alumni involved, whether you only recently graduated or left Western decades go. Please contact us if you’d be interested in participating in this wonderful event!
Return to the Economics Alumni Newsletter on the web.
