Advice from My Mentor

Mentorship-Stories
Gloria Song
Head of Relationship Investments Asia, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
Ruiyu Wang
Business and Finance

On Double Majoring

It doesn’t make too much sense to double major in Business/Finance and Economics, because recruiters only see minor distinctions between these two majors. Employers care more about your ability to learn, solve problems, and communicate. Also, the course material for these majors also overlap.

Undergraduate study is more about equipping students with a critical mindset, while commanding top-tier professional knowledge requires further study. If you really want to do a double major, I suggest you choose another discipline that’s unrelated to finance or economics. It’s important to learn broadly and actively, and pursuing a second major showcases one’s learning ability and multidisciplinary capabilities.


Our discussion of my pursuit of major continued. After talking to me, Gloria sensitively noticed that I may be a better suit for other majors. Checking that I am kind and caring, she stated that I might be better at dealing with people. But if I don’t have the sensitivity to figures and a finance sense, it would be hard to keep pursuing this major. She helped me identify where my true strengths lies.

Gaining Practical Experience

Practical experience is crucial for college students. I suggest you to make the most use out of  your vacations to do internships of any kind. Getting some hands-on experience at an enterprise or a financial institution will help you get a sense of the financial field and identify which specific industry you really want to pursue in the future. Learning from practice is as important as systematic learning.

Resources Outside the Classroom

If you really have a passion for finance, there are a lot of great sources like McKinsey case studies that you can research on your own. By reviewing case studies, you’ll eventually get the hang of business logic. The core of the concepts like business ethics is still business. You’ve got to have a confident command of hardcore knowledge to understand the new developments.