"I have been fortunate to be exposed to many different work experiences thanks to University of Waterloo’s Co-op program. "
alumni
KRISHNA PATEL
UWEcon/March, 2014 3
I have had the opportunity to be a business to business sales representative to Moneris Solutions, selling merchant payment processing terminals door-to-door to small businesses in Toronto. This experience allowed me to gain skills in sales; it also showed me how much the 2008 recession had impacted the small business community in Toronto, which made me more interested in pursuing economics. The co-operative program also allowed me to take on the role of a technical writer at Sybase, where I created help guides for upcoming technologies at the time such as mobile banking. In my third co-op term I took on an eight month position at Toyota Canada replacing their full time resource as a National Contract Management Consultant. In this role I worked with the legal and procurement team to assess the risks before entering into agreements, as well as ensuring these risks were mitigated through negotiations with vendors. My last co-op placement was with Loblaw Companies Ltd, where I worked on the SAP project in change management to ensure end users were adequately prepared for the transition. As an organizational change analyst I developed a Human Resource Information System using Microsoft Access, SQL, and SAP which allowed the change management team to understand any gaps in training, security and communications with the end users. As a part of my graduate studies co-op program, I worked as an advisor at the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Employment, where I was offered a full time position as an Advisor in the Science, Services, and Technology branch. At this role I conducted market analysis on upcoming technologies such as 3D printing, and Mobile Payments, to understand the opportunities these technologies would bring to Ontario through an economic development lens. Currently I am a consultant in performance improvement at Ernst & Young’s Advisory practice; here I assist clients by improving their processes and controls using analytics, technology and methodologies to help improve their revenue and cut costs. My career so far may appear to have very little “economic” related experiences, but my education has provided me with the credibility to excel in each of these roles, and have all held an economic component. I have also had many professors and managers who have mentored me along the way to help me be where I am today. I keep my passion for economics alive through tutoring university students in economics, and keeping current with journals, blogs and news within the industry.