1. Please provide a brief introduction of who you are. 

My name is Zehanna and I just finished my 3B term at the University of Waterloo in the Accounting and Financial Management program. Some of my past co-ops have been at KPMG in their audit group and at Canaccord as a research analyst. I’m currently at PSP Investments in their private equity team, and next summer I’ll be joining BMO in investment banking. During my undergrad, I was involved in the University of Waterloo Accounting Conference (UWAC) for 3 years where I served as a co-chair in my third year. I was also an active member as a junior and senior analyst in my school's Student Investment Fund (SIF). ​

2. Why do you think confidence is important as a woman in finance? 

I think confidence is important as a woman in finance because there’s definitely going to be a lot of times where you try very hard to get into a certain club, internship, or co-op and you’ll face rejection. By having that confidence, you’ll be motivated to keep trying. Since there are less females in the finance industry, it’s important that you have a strong head on your shoulders, you’re confident when you face rejection, you don’t take it to heart, and you view it as a learning experience. For students in general, if you feel that you got shut down for any opportunity, I would also say it’s important to take it as a learning experience on how you can improve in the future. 

3. What did you do throughout university to help you gain more confidence? 

During my undergrad experience, something I did to help me gain more confidence was joining UWAC because I was involved in sponsorship and it involved a lot of cold emailing, cold calling, and reaching out to companies. I was expanding outside of my comfort zone because it was something I was not familiar with, and I had to maintain a professional persona and have a professional image at all times. It allowed me to gain confidence because when you reach out to all these sponsorships and you yield a positive result, you feel happier because you accomplished an incredible task. 

4. Was there anything that made you lack confidence and how did you overcome that? 

Something that made me lack confidence was that the majority of my program was going into accounting and there was this stigma saying that only the top 5% of my class would get into finance. I believed it, so I was always stressed about that because I never knew if I was considered in the top 5% or what that even meant. I thought about what would happen if I’m not at the top, or if I dropped my accounting co-op, which was what I was majoring in and ended up with a career I was not interested in. It definitely made me think that I wasn’t good enough and that people were going to look down on me because I went from a big accounting firm to something different. I overcame this by just focusing on myself and setting multiple goals such as making sure I read through the guides multiple times when I knew I wanted to pursue finance. I spent a lot of time speaking with professors, seeing their perspectives and speaking with students that had like-minded interests. I spoke to a lot of students on SIF because many have gone into finance and understood the struggle of breaking into a niche career industry for AFM students. 

5. How do you think your co-op experience in finance helped you become more confident?

I think it helped me become more confident because when you’re a co-op, everyone in the office knows you’re there to get a learning experience. They know you’re not coming in with multiple qualifications, so they’re there to mentor you and help you get the most out of the internship as possible. What I did during my internships was that anytime I had a question, I would write it down and generate a list of questions throughout the day to ask my supervisor or manager because I would get those questions answered which helped me become better at the job. Truly understanding the reason behind everything that I’m doing definitely contributed to my confidence. When I wasn’t sure, instead of second guessing myself on a task, I would ask my supervisors and this helped build up my confidence.

6. What tips would you give students to gain more confidence?

​I think I would tell students to not be afraid to reach out for a coffee chat with anyone, whether that’s a student in your year, an upper-year student, or partners at firms. I think coffee chats are so important because it enhances your communication skills and you learn something from every interaction. Some might go poorly. Some might go great, but everything is a learning experience, and I think coffee chats are the biggest reason why I’m confident because I knew I was improving my skills and broadening my connections. So don’t be afraid to reach out as the people you talk to can really help in the long run.

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