Originally from Ottawa, Ontario, Ronan Sahajpal is a third-year Commerce Co-op student, majoring in Finance. He was drawn to Dalhousie by its mandatory co-op program, and by having family connections in the Maritimes.

Ronan initially pursued his interest in accounting as an Audit Intern at EY in Ottawa for his first co-op and is currently working as an Investment Banking Fall Analyst at Newpoint Capital Partners in Toronto. Attending events at KPMG sparked his interest in Big 4 Audit, and the 2023 Dal Toronto Corporate Tour, which he attended during his first year, broadened his exposure to finance by providing him with the opportunity to meet professionals in the industry. “This was my first exposure to finance outside of the Dal Investment Society, and hearing more about the field made me interested in setting my sights on Investment Banking,” he shares. Knowing that Newpoint has hired many Dal students in the past, he decided to use this as an opportunity to network with some of their employees which secured him an interview.

During his time at EY, Ronan contributed to the audit of a local hospital foundation and assisted in closing a class action lawsuit against a large insurance firm which was a unique project he was thrilled to be a part of. Reflecting on his co-op experiences, he shares that the most exciting project he worked on was with Newpoint, where he built a financial model from scratch for a potential capital raise, using historical financial statements. “This was my first time building a model outside of online courses and YouTube videos, and it was a great learning experience,” he says.

One of his proudest achievements so far was helping a health tech startup expand into the United States. The summer before his second year, he interned at Vitala, a platform providing young women with access to reproductive healthcare in Latin American countries. “What I didn’t know was that all the research I did over the summer had helped this organization expand into the US where sexual and reproductive healthcare can be hard to access in some parts due to Roe v. Wade being overturned,” he reflects. This was a meaningful accomplishment for Ronan, as he indirectly helped thousands of women in marginalized communities get access to critical healthcare.

During his time at EY, Ronan appreciated the culture of the office. “The team would eat lunch together in the kitchen and there were frequent socials to get to know each other better.” At Newpoint, he found the work engaging and the team supportive, noting that everyone was approachable and willing to help. “I love working on models and pitch decks and enjoy sitting in on meetings with the client or private equity firms,” he shares.

Balancing student life with co-op applications, Ronan prioritized networking by setting up informational interviews with professionals from companies of interest, and dedicating post-work hours to emailing, practicing interviews, and job searching. He narrowed down his job choice by applying to every Investment Banking or Capital Markets role. His advice to other students looking for a co-op is to start networking as early as you can, join student societies, and build your resume early. More specifically, after first year, practice technical questions, and in second year, target specific firms and connect with professionals while regularly updating the contacts you make to stay on their radar.

Ronan leveraged networking as a key strategy, but he acknowledges that making connections at events is just one part of the process. Building and nurturing a network mainly comes after the event is over. “I find that going to networking events is not always ideal for building personal connections, for that you want to set up follow-up one-on-one calls.” During recruiting season, Ronan spent a lot of time on LinkedIn. “It’s such a powerful tool you can use to find Dal alumni, or anyone who has an interesting position. Once I found a person of interest, I would reach out.”