Students at George Brown College’s Centre for Business got the opportunity to hear directly from PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) Canada CEO Nicolas Marcoux during a virtual fireside chat where he shared advice for new graduates and outlined career opportunities in his organization and in the professional services field.
Dr. Ian Austin, Dean of the Centre for Business hosted the March 23 event that gave students the chance to learn from and have their questions answered by Marcoux, who rose to the position of CEO after nearly three decades with PwC Canada.
“I’m a big believer in diversity of thought, and we have people who have a background in accounting, others have a background in finance, we have lawyers, we have engineers, and people who come from all over the world,” Marcoux said. “That diversity of thought is really our secret weapon at PwC.”
Great learning opportunity for student moderator
Business Administration – Finance student Daniel Nguyen moderated a Q&A session with Marcoux, posing questions submitted by his fellow students on a range of topics relating to PwC and its services and how to best launch a career with a professional services firm.
“It was definitely a great learning experience. I had the opportunity to be in a mini professional set-up when we were preparing for the event. I also learned how to arrange all the questions submitted by the participants to keep up with the flow of my conversation with Nicolas Marcoux and generate more follow-up questions," he said.
"The biggest learning I took away from the event is the improvement in my ability to apply critical thinking, organization, and communication skills in a (semi-)professional environment.”
Business students also heard from PwC’s director of talent acquisition and global mobility and the firm’s national senior manager of campus talent acquisition who both outlined what working for PwC is like and career pathways available in the company.
George Brown has a strong relationship with the professional services firm. Dean Austin was appointed as an external director of the board in May 2021.