the scotia

Since the day I moved to NYC I knew I would type up some sort of recollection of my experience. I kept putting this blentry off, but to not include it in the tracker would be mistake and misrepresentation as it definitely had an effect on my life. It started with job interview for co-op jobs offered in NY and ended with a greater social network & understanding, much more technical knowledge, and a new appreciation of life creativity and indulgence.

I thought I bombed my first interview with credit suisse, I was nervous and lost myself in the interview, letting the interviewers ask me all the questions. (I later found out that I did not get the job because the company doesn’t hire first year co-ops.) devastated by my rejection, I began to analyze what I had done wrong in the interview, and I realized I wasn’t having enough fun, I need to just relax, have fun and discuss with them why I would be a good fit. I asked provoking questions and effectively interviewed them. I was offered jobs at UBS, cohen brothers, and scotia capital. Based on location and job description I accepted the job at scotia. The interviewers from scotia (paul and allison) gave off a very professional image.

I went to ny for a two day training overlap with the previous co-op, Katarina (a coincidentally a student from ESB). Scotia flew me out to NY and put my up in the Hudson Hotel in NY. The two days were crazy overwhelming, information overload. This was on top of the fact that it was during my finals week at Northeastern.

The first few months at scotia were some of the most overwheliming of my life. I made mistake after misktake and it seemed to me a never ending stuggle.

 

here is a quick characterlist of the people at scotia:

barry: the boss. reminded me of a sports coach from usy basketball or something. not technically savy but a sick business man. tomczak: veteran on the desk. had actually trained barry back in the day. fun guy, had a very laid back attitiude. paul: reminded me of what i would work like if i were his age. full of energy and he came up with clever ideas. he stayed young in spirit and took days off work to chill on his boat. bagnarol: newer member of the desk. friendly guy but he made me stay tooo late working pitchbooks. millie: tough guy, his first reaction is always negative. he had a tough shell but secretly had one the best senses of humor on the desk. wooo-wooooo. annie: my direct supervisor, i learned a ton from her. she was tough but always fair. she also worked really hard. perhaps too hard. sasha: worked on the desk at the begining for about a month. he was a trainee from Toronto. I learned a lot about the bank and personal equity trading from him. he was a great guy.

in addition to my regular work at scotia, during the first couple months i was working very seriosly on eyalo. (Eyalo was the limited partnership following the buzz resume idea. [a virtual online resume idea]) I had been putting lots of time into writing the business plan inside and out of work. wihtout realizing i had been slipping at my job at work. i was completing all of my tasks but i wasnt giving it 110%. I was finishing my work quickly but not proofing it. i had a mini epiphany one day and i realized how great the opportunity in front of me was, and i had to take advantage of it. i began to focus on my scotia work, firguring out WHY i was doing what i was doing and understanding the concepts beyond the scope of my position. by about 3 or 4 months into the co-op i gainied a solid grasp of what was going on. i understood the major economic developemnts and the effect they would have on rates. By the last couple of months i was kicking some serious butt. also note: that since the realization point i started wearing a tie to work. wearing the tie, i feel had a serious impact on my work, and it let others know that i was serious about my work. even members in other groups got to know me as the kid who wore nice ties. but the end of the co-op i no longer disliked the environment or the job, in fact i was a little sad to leave. I was able to complete my work quickly and accurately, i was compfortbale with the topcics an di was able to think beyond the required fundamental concepts. to this day when the phone rings and my first impulse is to answer quickly with my customary “scotia capital, this is david…”