Finiancial Planning Program @bcit
 

Is anyone taking the this the finiancial planning program at bcit right now? How useful is it towards finding a job? What is the future outlook for a career in this industry? Please give me any advise. I am looking to take this program in sept.

The program is financial management and in second year you get to pick your option such as financial planning and taxation. I just finished first year and I could tell you that majority of the courses I took so far is pretty useful. Just be prepare to have no life lol In first year I got a total of 17 courses. There is a lot of group work and presentations. The work isn't hard, but just a lot.

My friend who finished this program got to go on co-ops and practices in 2nd year. He got a job right after he graduated. My f1riend took the financial planning option too.

*psst..by the way I'm selling used books for that program=]

Thanks LVy61, but do you know what are differences between the options available for financial management?

There are 5 options I believe..
1. Financial Planning Option
2. Advanced Accounting Option
3. Corporate Finance Option
4. Professional Accounting Option
5. Taxation Option

The title is pretty must explanatory but if you want more information Go to http://www.bcit.ca/path/business/programs/ and if u click on the program it’ll give you a summary of what it’s about.

You don’t have to worry about this just yet...since by the end of 1st year, they will give you a piece of paper to circle Accounting or Finance. Everyone gets a guarantee seat in Professional Accounting or Financial Planning. However, for the other options, seats are very limited. I herd for Advance Accounting you need to be in the top 10%.

Accounting options – goes for cga, cma, ca designations
Financing options – goes for cfp, cfa designations

May I ask if you're a recent graduate from university or college...or are u coming straight from high school? Just wondering if it is common for someone like me coming from a non-business university degree to go into this program after graduating.

I just finished first year financial management lol I came to BCIT right after I graduated from high school. I could tell you that at least 50% of the people in this program have been to other post secondary schools and then applied to BCIT. It's actually very common for people who has no business background to go into this program.

i just finished the fin man program in the financial planning option
i don't have a job right now, but almost 80% of my class mates got jobs after the program ended, i'm just taking my sweet time and enjoying summer right now.

Also the options aren't really that different except maybe 1 or 2 courses a semester, which you can easily make up in the summer time if you wanted

what kinda salary are they getting? im in the program for sept but im also attending sfu right now lol, so i have like a month to decide whether to cancel it or not.

^^^
I know some people who are getting paid about 13-18 bucks an hour after grad..but after you get into your destination you get paid a lot more.
For example my cousin's friend is a CA. Her starting salary was about 60k a year and I herd she is making big money now..not too sure how much though. I believe with more experience they can easily earn 90-120k a year. With a designation you are basically guaranteed a decent job.

13-18 dollars?..that's just as much as being a teller at a bank

yeah..I know some that started off as company reps..but as long you step foot in the door to the company, it doesn't matter what position you start off with. Again, that number is just their starting wage after diploma. You don't really stop there though..you should try to get a bachelors after (just another two years). I was talking to a guy at td bank..I found out he was from bcit too and took fmgt. Not sure how much he was getting paid but he had his own office haha

My original plan was to take econ at sfu finish my major there and last year of sfu take these https://www.csi.ca/student/en_ca/cou...ial/pfpc.xhtml
those are stepping stones to any financial management career in canada. Im still in financial management in bcit but they are waiting for my reply while i attend sfu so right now im looking at sticking sfu since co-op for sfu isn't too bad.

Anybody have experience in the Business Management dipolma in bcit?

the FMGT is a great program. I am an assistant controller coming out of the program 1 year ago. I am currently finishing off the b.tech in accounting degree program there now. Its a great start for those who are interested in business as their program takes more of a hands on approach to situations that will occur in industry. Rather than simply sitting in a classroom listening (don't get me wrong, you have to do that too), it takes it the the next step by simulating situations that will occur at a real job.

did you find a job easily?

uhh I took it first semester LOL

All business courses are about the same in first year. There is a one-two course difference in fmgt and bmgt.

I actually transferred out of there and got into financial management. But hmm..for business management they only accept 50 people. Theres only two classes, set A and B. The good thing about business management is that it basically gives you a taste of all the areas that surrounds business.
For example, international business, entrepreneurship, accounting, labour relations..

I'm not in fin man but I just gradded from the Marketing Management program. I studied with fin man students in first year. And to be honest a lot of grads from BCIT gets a job after because most of the people who can make it to second year have a sense of proactiveness (not even word I don't think).

Your coop type programs and communication projects allows you to get great connections. Like myself a lot of us has gotten job offers during our last exams or shortly after.

Salary starts average but you gain increments as you get further certifications.

well from financial planning a handful of people got recruited directly from the investment sides of banks such as td waterhouse, scotia mcleoud etc as financial planning assistants

some chose to go into pure commision financial planning jobs like manulife, freedom55 etc

and the rest went to banks, which is the route i'm probably gonna take

for accounting and tax from what i saw, the big 4 only hired a couple of students because they were mostly looking for students with bba's or btechs, if your looking for an articling job to get experience in becoming a CA its gonna be pretty hard because all the firms are pretty looking for someone that has comepleted their bachelors or is very close to completing it

well without experience thats pretty much what your looking at for anyplace no matter where you graduated from

Hello, I am a Gr12 student and I applied for BCIT's Financial Management program. I am thinking about the financial planning option vs the accounting option. I was wondering for those who has taken this program, how were job opportunities like after graduation? How does this program compare to SFU's economics?

Job opportunities all depends on your networking skills and the connections you have. You might think I am just giving you the run around here, but is it the truth. You can graduate from UBC Arts, SFU Econ, or BCIT Finman with terrific grades but still find yourself on the unemployment line. Why? because no one gives a shit about how much you know until they know how much you care.

Look around you and see if anyone in your family, friends, or friend's friend are in the financial planning industry and ask them what they think about the career and future prospects and challenges. You will have a better idea of the business and that's also when you establish your initial connections.

When you have somebody referred you in, the company will invest in you even if you are not the cream of the crop. Again the point here is to know the right individuals that have the potentials to get your foot in the door.

In today's current work field, it's not what you know. It's who you know. Let's face it, an employer won't be willing to pay a fresh noob money to do work now, when they can hire someone that's experienced. Time is money, especially after the economic crisis. Network, network, network and hopefully opportunities will open up.

I took financial planning. Got a job with a financial institution before graduation; finished diploma part time. At my job, I did basic work for a year or so before becoming an investment advisor. I decided not to go for a CFP as I'm dedicating my energy now to switching careers and becoming an accountant. I begin the B.Tech accounting program in January.

Was the pay really low as an investment advisor? how come you decided to switch to accounting?

Depends what you consider "really low". I was happy with it. I just don't like how it's more product pushing than anything, but that's due to my employer. If I worked independently with the same assets under management, I'd be doing $500k in annual revenue without doing anything more than maintenance. With that said, it can take years to get to that point. I am switching to accounting because I find that more interesting.
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Hi guys, I have another question..

BCIT has offered me "provisional acceptance" to Financial Management. However, I must pay $200 to reserve my spot before Jan21. I didn't pay, because I'm not 100% sure I will be going there. Does anyone know if the program fills up really quick? I don't want to pay the $200 and decide to go to somewhere else.. as the fee is not refundable.
I posted this in the other thread, but didn't get many responses.

Thanks in Advance!