How College Helped A Director Of Strategic Finance At Tala Succeed
Zu, a Director of Strategic Finance, credits their undergraduate double major in financial economics and human biology for fostering "a different style of thinking," combining logical finance with the creative problem-solving of biochemistry. This, along with extracurricular activities like case competitions and networking, proved invaluable in developing the "creativity" Zu considers essential for success in finance, exceeding the importance of simply knowing formulas.
Financial Modeling, Creative Problem-Solving, Networking, Double Major, Case Competitions
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Zu Daya
Director of Strategic Finance
Tala
University of Toronto
MBA, University of Toronto
Biology & Related Sciences, Economics
Finance (Banking, Fintech, Investing)
Finance
International Student, Honors Student, Immigrant, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Student Athlete
Video Highlights
1. Double majoring in seemingly unrelated fields (financial economics and human biology) helped cultivate diverse thinking styles and creative problem-solving skills, which are valuable in finance.
2. Participating in case competitions and networking through clubs provided valuable practical experience and connections.
3. Creativity and the ability to model situations using tools like Excel are crucial skills to develop, even more so than simply knowing the formulas themselves.
Transcript
What did you do in undergrad to set you up for success in your career?
I played a lot of video games. I'm kidding. I did play a lot of video games though.
A lot of people made fun of me because I did a double major in financial economics and human biology. I do think there are a lot of benefits to having spread-apart majors, benefits that are hard to quantify or qualify.
Both lines of education are taught differently. Human biochemistry involves a very different thought process, logic, and creative thinking than you learn in economics and finance.
Economics in general is very logical. Money supply goes up, interest rates do this, inflation does that, demand and supply do those things. When you're learning physiology, processes, and chemicals, it develops a different style of thinking.
Doing those two together really allowed me to see things a little bit differently and be a bit more creative. I tell my students that once you know the formulas, the most important thing is creativity. I can teach you all the formulas, but if you can't get creative in understanding how to model something, it won't help.
So, to answer the question shortly, I think doing the double major was a positive outcome.
Honestly, joining clubs also helped. I did a lot of case competitions and networked a lot, and played a lot of sports. I was new and had no friends when I moved from Tanzania for my undergrad in Canada.