DeGroote School of Business celebrates 40 years of co-op MBA
MBA graduate Stephen Hart turned his co-op placement into a lifelong career with Scotiabank. The program is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
It was during the mid-1970s when a young Stephen Hart decided to pursue his MBA at McMaster.
Hart had just finished a degree in geophysics and was attracted by the University’s unique new co-op program.
“I just wasn’t interested in doing a traditional MBA,” he said. “After four years of schooling, I knew I needed some real-world time.”
That “real-world time” began as a co-op stint with the Bank of Nova Scotia, and turned into a nearly four-decade-long career.
Hart now works as Scotiabank’s chief risk officer, managing credit, market and operational risk for the entire enterprise. Although he loves his job, he never imagined his co-op placement would turn into such a long-lasting career.
“At the time, I wanted to get a better feel for what I could do,” he said. “At that age, there are very few people who wake up and know they want to be a banker.”
Which is precisely why McMaster’s MBA co-op program has been so successful.
The program – which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year – filled nearly 400 work placements in 2013, at organizations such as Energizer Canada, Habitat for Humanity, CIBC and St. Joseph’s Healthcare.
The placements don’t all turn into lifelong careers, but the co-ops help students figure out what sort of work might be right (or wrong) for them.
“Students come in with little to no work experience, and the co-op program gives them a full year of it,” said Isabella Piatek, the program’s manager. “Combined with the career coaching and support provided by the Centre for Business Career Development, it’s of huge benefit to students when they prepare to enter the job market.”
Hart agrees, and said he appreciated the MBA program’s pragmatic outlook on employment.
“The more you get into real-life situations while in school, the more prepared you’ll be.”
