Financial Training at Centennial College Ensures Speedy Entry into the Workforce
“It has courses such as mutual funds,
your basic math and English courses and your introduction to financial
services, which is really, really helpful because today it’s such a high
in-demand job,” says Zara Kareshi a student of the financial training
undertaking (officially known as Financial Service Fundamentals) at
Toronto’s Centennial College. “What I like about the program is that
financial services is not only interesting because it talks about the
economy and what finance is actually like but also because it’s
practical. These days you can work up towards a designation. It’s such a
broad field you can get into anything in finance just by studying
financial services.”
Zara gives excellent insight from a student
perspective on the benefits of the financial services training at
Centennial College. Let’s take a closer look at specific details. First
and foremost, to apply, students must have completed a minimum of an
Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or equivalent or be 19 years of
age or older. In addition, students must have the compulsory English 12C
or U or skills assessment, or equivalent and Math 11C, M or U, or 12C
or U or skills assessment, or equivalent. Students will be placed in the
appropriate English and math levels based on skills assessment results.
This may lead to additional courses and require extra time and fees.
Taking one year to complete, the financial training courses
offered within the program are designed to get students into the field
quickly. To ensure that students are qualified, Centennial College
employs experienced faculty members who are professionals in the
industry. These professors lead financial training courses such as:
Financial Accounting (introduces simple tools to allow students to
analyze financial information and explain the information contained in
the financial statements in their future roles as managers, investors,
or other users of financial accounting information); Credit and
Collections (topics include consumer lending, mortgage lending and
financial statement analysis affecting particularly consumer loans and
mortgage applications); Professional Selling (emphasis is placed on
pre-selling activities, techniques and procedures to use during the
sales interaction and post sales activity); and more. In addition,
students in the financial training program have the opportunity to take a
course leading to a license to sell mutual funds. (This will incur
costs in addition to regular tuition).
Graduates of the financial training
at Centennial College. First, they may continue their education into
the two-year financial training program where in one additional year
they can enhance their qualifications. This enables them to pursue
lucrative careers in the broader financial services industry. The other
option is to enter the financial services sector. “Many people end up
working for banks and some people work for mutual fund companies selling
mutual funds or advising on mutual funds to the general public. I am
confident that in eight months, if you pass the exams, if you meet the
standard, there are jobs available,” says Harvey Willows, a professor in
the financial training program.