my thoughts on school & co-ops

If I could do my business degree at SFU Beedie over again, this is the playbook I'd follow: what to study, which clubs to join, how to get your first co-op, and which roles and firms are worth chasing after that. Tier lists are my opinion, not gospel.

1. decide what concentration combination is for you

The common streams are Accounting, Finance, and MIS & Ops.

For me, MIS & Ops was the obvious combination, but I wish I'd done MIS & Finance.

What I'd recommend: Finance + the BADM certificate. Finance gives you the industry knowledge, and BADM gives you the hard skills for data (SQL, Excel).

class ratings: MIS

S

BUS 464 · BUS 362

A

BUS 462

C

everything else

class ratings: Ops

heads up: Ops is more stats-heavy and technical than MIS.

S

BUS 336

B

BUS 437 · BUS 440

C

everything else

grades

• Finance: grades matter more in this stream.
• MIS & Ops: focus on getting good grades in the S-tier courses, and keep your GPA above 3.00.
• If you're struggling, take 3 classes a semester. No one cares.

2. join clubs

S

Axis Consulting, in any consultant role

A

your concentration's main clubMIS → MISA · Finance → FINSA / SFIC · HR → HRSA

B

everything else

3. get a co-op

• Start early. Your first co-op is the hardest one to get.
• Don't be too picky, especially if your grades aren't high.
• Go to the job fairs, like Beedie Connect and Finance Connect.
• Aim for big companies that have lots of postings.

4. co-op terms 2–4

By this point you probably have a better idea of what you want to do. Be pickier, and look for positions with good titles.

terms 3–4: niche down

After co-ops 1 and 2, aim for a business domain for 3 and 4. I niched into asset management and did RBC GAM and CCLFG. Other common paths:

• Kabam Games → EA Games
• FNHA → PHSA → BC Cancer
• Teck Resources → Newmont Corporation → Equinox Gold

Niche down, and always try to progress your salary. Don't take pay cuts if you can avoid it.

roles (for MIS)

S

Data Analyst, Business Analyst, consulting roles

B

Project Coordinator roles

C

anything else

firms in vancouver

S

any Big 5 bank, as long as it's not a BS role (no advisor roles) · Big 4 (consulting, risk, tech, people) · Accenture · IBM

A

ICBC · EA · TransLink · YVR · Teck · Trulioo

B

Kabam Games · Seaspan · WorkSafeBC · FNHA · Boomi

C

SFU Beedie

D

any startup that's not backed by Y Combinator or a16z, has no momentum, and isn't AI

X

Government of Canada: B, as long as it's not a BS role (C if it is)
any sales role: big tech is S; at a startup it depends, anywhere from B to F

finance

S+++++

investment banking at a Big 5 bank

A–S

asset managers: RBC GAM · BMO GAM · VCIM · CCLIMdepends on the role: the closer to the business, the better (trade ops, data ops, AuM reporting, etc.)

B

wealth management / small shops: PenderFund · Harbourfront Wealth Management · Odlum Brown · RBC Wealth Management

tl;dr: pick Finance + BADM, join Axis or your concentration's club, take whatever first co-op you can get, then get picky about titles and firms and niche into one industry.