Career Blog
“I adore Telfer’s culture and its students. Thanks to Telfer, I have met with so many people from different countries, cultures, and ethnicity. I have made amazing friends who became my family. At Telfer, students are encouraged to be creative. They are also growth oriented, kind, understanding, and caring for each other. Because we often worked in group projects, we learned how to listen to each other and make decisions as a team. We learned how to respect each other’s learning curve. I constantly felt the support of my teammates and peers. We always empowered and supported each other. I believe Telfer has greatly strengthened my teamwork, interpersonal, and ownership skills. As a result, I feel prepared to become a leader in my career.”
A recent Telfer graduate (2021) and Area Manager at Amazon, Oya was very interested in management and logistics throughout her education. Thanks to the strategic management and new venture creation courses offered at Telfer, she started to envision her dream career. After many grueling job interviews, she finally got an offer from Amazon and then moved from Ottawa to Vancouver.
Oya describes her work routine as follows:
“There are so many challenges that I am facing every day at work. But if I had to narrow them down, the first one would be managing people that are way older and experienced than me. I started my career at Amazon as a leader right out of college, at the age of 23. I always believed in my managerial skills and leadership style, but when you have assistants and higher managers that have way more experience, having a backbone to commit your decisions and ideas can be challenging. The great thing is that I have a very understanding, supportive team by my side.”
Finally, when we asked Oya if, given the possibility to go back in time, she would switch careers, here is what she had to say:
“Absolutely not. I love my career and I adore my job. Every morning, I wake up at 5 a.m., and I never feel like going to work is a burden for me. Some weekends, I spend the whole day training myself on a new resource I could use at work. I try to enjoy my growth progress and celebrate every single achievement rather than focusing on my final goal. I work in operations and it’s a fast-paced environment with more than 120 people on premises, including the support departments. Every single one of them is so unique; they all bring value to our workplace. Learning from their experience and understanding their perspective has broadened my vision. I know that I am at the right place to grow in my field, and I have a big team supporting me to achieve my goals. It’s beautiful.”
– Oya Karadag, Telfer graduate (2021) and Area Manager at Amazon
Inspired by Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York, this weekly feature of the Telfer Career Blog will contain photography of individuals from the Telfer School of Management community and a corresponding narrative that gives us a glimpse into their lives.
“One of my happiest memories while being a student at Telfer was the incredible friendships I made. To this day, I am still amazed at the fact that this school is a community and that everyone who integrates it becomes part of a family.
The connections I’ve built through my classes, with my professors, as well as in clubs and other extracurricular activities, have opened my eyes and made me a better person. I’ve always felt that I was able to contribute to and become part of something big, considering that I came to Canada as an international student. My friends made my integration and adaptation to Canadian life easier, and this is one of my best memories of my time as a student at Telfer.
Now that I am an alumna, I have the opportunity to do the same for other students with my role as Career Engagement Coordinator at the Telfer Career Centre. I want students to have the same experience as me and carry that through their studies and bring that into their careers.”
– Gaëlle Faye
Career Engagement Coordinator
Telfer Career Centre
Inspired by Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York, this weekly feature of the Telfer Career Blog will contain photography of individuals from the Telfer School of Management community and a corresponding narrative that gives us a glimpse into their lives.
“During my third year of university, the majority of my accounting peers had accepted co-op positions at various firms across the city. As I was not in the co-op stream, I started to feel as though I was at a disadvantage and wanted to do something to differentiate myself. I joined the Telfer Career Centre as a Student Ambassador. By volunteering at numerous Telfer events, I quickly realized how awkward networking can be – how do you approach someone or start a conversation? How do I carry on what feels like small talk while trying to stand out against other students? I signed up for non-accounting networking events and practiced without the pressure of trying to get a job.
At the end of my four years, I started a full-time position at KPMG directly as a result of attending networking events through Telfer. Five years later and still with KPMG, I can tell you that networking is a skill that is developed with practice over time and certainly does not end after school is over.”
- Leah Swanstrom, CPA
Manager, Deal Advisory at KPMG
BCom Accounting (2013)
Former Career Centre Ambassador
Inspired by Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York, this weekly feature of the Telfer Career Blog will contain photography of individuals from the Telfer School of Management community and a corresponding narrative that gives us a glimpse into their lives.
"I came to Telfer with an engineering background, and I enrolled in the Management Information Systems program before ending up in Accounting. So I had to make choices and I took advantage of the resources available to help me, three of which come to mind: being able to rely on the advice of qualified professors, the opportunity to be a teaching assistant — which helped me to be responsible and further my knowledge — and finally the academic specialists; it was through them that I was able to face job-related challenges and find an internship in an accounting firm with the Connexions Program. I find that Telfer helps students but also empowers them, thanks to the various opportunities offered. It is a solid feature that distinguishes it from other faculties and universities."
- Ibrahim
Accounting Graduate
Financial Analyst in the Federal Government