By Melissa Nilan, Marketing and Communications

To succeed in the competitive financial industry, Jeremy Spiridigliozzi knew he would need a bachelor’s degree. Having decided on financial services as his major, he put his innate money smarts to work and concluded that Douglas made the most sense financially and academically for his education; in retrospect it was a good investment.

“The BBA in Financial Services is as credible as any university degree, but the tuition costs at Douglas are substantially lower. From a financial standpoint, it just made sense. Plus, I benefited tremendously from the small class sizes; I was engaged in class and could get one-on-one support from my instructors,” he says.

Jeremy chose to study financial services because it combined his interest in money management with the opportunity to help others.

“I really enjoy the investments and planning aspects of financial services, and have always been organized and a diligent saver,” says Jeremy. “Being able to help others is awesome. I enjoy sitting down with people and assessing their financial needs, discovering their goals, and then helping them create a plan to be successful financially.”

Read more: Harvard grad kicked off career at Douglas

Putting theory into practice in the real world

After just one year in the BBA program, Jeremy was ready to put his knowledge to the test in the real world: he applied for – and got – a job at TD Canada Trust as a teller.

The following year, he acquired his mutual funds license and was promoted to Financial Service Representative (FSR), where he was doing everything from opening accounts and processing mortgages to handling client’s investments. He used this work experience to build on the knowledge and skills he was learning at Douglas.

“The BBA really laid down the foundation of what I know about finance and business. It gave me the knowledge and tools I needed to begin practicing in the real world. I loved that I could learn something in class and see it applied at the workplace at the same time,” says Jeremy.

Read more: The Career Centre helped this Finance student get a job at a major bank.

Since he graduated, Jeremy has left TD and is now a Business Development Associate and on the path to become an Associate Investment Advisor at Canaccord Genuity, an international boutique wealth management firm. There, he assists the Vice President Investment Advisor with his clients’ investment portfolios while working toward getting his investment advisor license.

Jeremy recommends other financial services students seek work experience while they’re studying.

“Get a job at a bank and try to apply your schooling as much as possible. You’ll get a thorough experience of what the industry is like and if it’s a good fit for you.”