Canadian university students, grads see promise in finance industry

The online survey, conducted by market research firm Dynata on behalf of the CFA Institute between March 28 and April 22, showed that confidence in finance careers exceeded other industries by at least 20%. This includes the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) field (20%), health care (19%) and marketing (16%), the report noted.

“I’m excited that new grads and recent students see the same potential that those of us that have invested their careers in [the finance] sector clearly saw as well,” said Michael Thom, managing director of CFA Societies Canada, in an interview.

AI: opportunity or deterrent?

Respondents also expressed mixed feelings about AI.

The survey found that 87% of Canadian university students and recent graduates were confident in their AI literacy. At the same time, 73% expressed concerns about AI potentially impacting their career ambitions and making it harder for them to secure jobs.

Thom said while the finance industry will be “somewhat disrupted” by AI tools, he believes it will experience less disruption than other industries such as STEM and information technology.

“Nobody’s going to be untouched,” Thom said.

“But where are those places that I can see [AI] accelerating my career, but not eliminating my potential career? And I think financial services is one of those places.”

He also suggested that Canadian university students and recent graduates should embrace AI as they look to enter the finance industry, as it can augment their work and allow them to focus on value-add activities. This will also give them an advantage over the mid-career cohort, who may be less familiar with AI applications.

“Really dial in and go for it, because if you’re waiting for someone else to sort of spoon-feed this to you, I mean, that was always a bad strategy for growing your career,” he said.

“It’s a really exciting time for those individuals that are implicitly motivated and can see the potential to do more than they could on their own previously.”

Also, 35% of respondents said they believed AI competencies would significantly enhance their career prospects, ahead of traditional skills such as learning a foreign language (23%).

Asked what they prioritized for career advancement, 64% said soft skills such as communication and collaboration, followed by quantitative skills (49%), connections (35%), internships (34%), academic grades (26%) and the prestige of their university (25%).

With increasing adoption of advanced AI applications in the workplace programmed to handle repetitive tasks, Thom said Canadian university students and recent grads need to prioritize their soft skills, creativity and agency in order to stand out.

“You have to be able to sort of seek and see and synthesize work using a greater array of tools that are now at your disposal. So, in a way that’s tougher, but in a way that’s just, for the right type of person and new grad, incredibly liberating, exciting.”

The global survey involved a total of 9,023 respondents, including 1,008 university students and recent graduates in Canada.