Kee to Success: Student Careers Guide

How does a kid immigrate to Canada from the Philippines, get his dream job at Meta and has over $1,000,000 in investments in under 10 years?  Matthew So breaks it down in Part 2 of his interview.  He listened to every Kee to Success episode, took notes and applied the knowledge he gained.  He was inspired by Eric in Episode 20 to start investing and he breaks down how he invests as well as what ma...

He's another original Kee to Success "grad" - one of the students I made this podcast for when I was teaching online during the pandemic.  I have never met him but he arrived in Canada from the Philippines less than 10 years ago, got with the wrong crowd and had a 60% average in Grade 10.  He listened to the podcast, took notes, applied that knowledge and now works at Meta in his la...

Part 2 of Kyle Sava's interview. This is where he tells you how he climbed to be a manager at IBM in a few short years. He gives tips on how the interview process works, what hiring managers are thinking and what it's like working for one of the biggest tech companies in the world.  There's a lot of gold in this one.

I keep in touch with my grads on LinkedIn and one day I see Kyle Sava post some job opportunities.  "Didn't he just graduate?" was my thought, but apparently he had become a manager at IBM in an incredibly short amount of time.  In this episode we cover Kyle's experiences at UBC's Computer Science program, what he did to stand out to land internships, and how he created op...

Julia Song continues sharing her experience in the University of Toronto’s Architectural Studies program, describing the intense workload, long studio hours, and hands-on design work with tools like laser cutters, 3D printers, and woodshops. She also talks about the skills needed to succeed in architecture, the current job outlook, and why many students pursue a master’s degree after graduation.

In this episode of Kee to Success , I sit down with Julia Song — one of the original students who helped launch this podcast — now a fourth-year Architectural Studies student at the University of Toronto. We talk about fast-tracking Grade 12 English, applying to competitive programs like Waterloo Life Sci and McMaster Health Sci, and why she ultimately chose architecture over the traditional STEM...

What would you do if you woke up tomorrow… couldn’t log into your computer… and found out you were one of 18,000 people laid off overnight? No warning. No goodbye meeting. Just an email at 4 a.m. saying your job no longer exists. Today’s episode is about what happens after the dream job. My guest spent two and a half years at Tesla — launching products, building his engineering career, riding the...

What does it really take to land a job at Tesla? In this episode, I sit down with one of my former students who went from Canadian engineering undergrad to Mechanical Design Engineer at Tesla — working on the Model 3, flying to factories in China and Europe, and presenting work that would ultimately be reviewed at the executive level. And here’s the twist: he almost didn’t apply. We break down the...

In this episode of Kee to Success , I sit down with Michael Avrakh, a 2016 John Polanyi Collegiate Institute SMR (STEM) graduate who went on to study mechanical engineering at Western University and build a career at Tesla before moving to Meta as a product design engineer. Michael shares what high school was really like for him, how extracurriculars and hands-on engineering clubs shaped his path,...

What if the things you enjoy in high school—and the way you talk to people—matter more for your future career than you realize? This episode wraps up my three-part conversation with a former student who is now a manager at a major professional firm. In this final part, we connect the dots between high school experiences and long-term career success, focusing on what actually helps people move into...

What actually moves a career forward? In this episode, we sit down with a former student who turned a university internship into a fast-moving career inside a global professional services firm—by noticing opportunities early, asking for responsibility before it was offered, and setting clear goals long before most people do. We talk about working full-time while still in school, navigating career...

Season 2 is here!  A preview to my first 3 guests, an apology for some technical recording difficulties and some new episodes on success tips for school and careers.

A 2017 graduate from my SMR program at JPCI in Toronto, Nick went into Marketing at York U and climbed the corporate ladder fast, making manager in under 5 years.  Nick talks about Business majors at York U, setting goals in life, what he does at one of the largest accounting firms in Canada and how he climbed the corporate ladder so quickly.  He also runs a business selling trading cards for fun!...

Part 2 of 2 of Peter's interview where he talks about what it's like being in med school, exploring medical fields and gives advice to aspiring med school students and researchers.

Danforth MaST grad Peter Tao talks about his path from high school to UofT science to Tufts medical school in this 2 part interview for aspiring doctors.

One of the most common questions I get is "What is Engineering Science?".  So today's guest has just completed her first semester at the University of Toronto's Engineering Science program.  In this episode she will talk about what the program is, what kind of fields and jobs she can get into and how she achieved a 98% average going in.

In this last part of Ramzi's interview we talk about what he does at RBC as a software engineer and he gives tips for aspiring athletes who want to balance that with engineering.

In this episode, Ramzi continues his interview and talks about what it was like balancing the demands of training track while in software engineering full time.  He discusses Western's co-op program, how he got his first job and the power of networking.

Today's guest is an elite high school track athlete who grew up in one of the roughest neighbourhoods in Toronto and recently graduated as software engineer.  In this 1st of 3 parts, Ramzi Abdulahi talks about what it was like growing up poor, the positive influence of his teachers at John Polanyi Collegiate Institute and how he chose Western for engineering.

Part 2 of my interview with Sydney Massey who talks about what a typical day is like as a chiropractor and gives tips on how to become one plus what to expect when you see one.

Sydney graduated from Danforth Tech and went to get her Kinesiology degree because she always had an interest in sports and rehab.  She got into Chiropractor college and now works in Whitehorse, Yukon!  In Part 1 she talks about the Kinesiology program at McMaster and what a chiropractor does.

Mohitul continues his interview by discussing what it's like being a professional Python programmer at Apple.  He also gives tips on seeking jobs, succeeding as an Electrical Engineer and more.

Mohitul works as a software engineer for Apple, but what makes him very different from my first guest is that his main job is coding in Python and he works in Apple's Canadian office in Ottawa.  His degree is in electrical engineering from Waterloo and in part 1 we'll cover his path from high school through university and what his current job is like.

An-Ni ends her 3 part interview discussing a typical day in her life as a social worker, and how she deals with stress and danger on the job.  She also answers student questions on addiction and substance abuse and gives advice for aspiring social workers.

An-Ni continues her interview and the education of social workers including grades and graduate work, the difference in social work programs, as well as jobs and pay. This is Part 2 of 3 and will be the last interview for Season 1 of Kee to Success.