Start by building your confidence on the subject. The easiest way to do this is to learn as much as you can about the field.

• Take an online personal finance course (e.g. Check out FINA 200 at econcordia.ca).


• Read the press, especially the business section or the Economist. WATCH documentaries (see finance related shows like the one on the meltdown on pbs/frontline.org). Most of all, READ whatever you can about the world of finance.


• In your spare time (this summer!) apply for a job as a customer service rep at a bank or local credit union.


• Volunteer time at smaller outfits (say a personal financial services company).


• Join an investment club.


• Ask your parents to introduce you to their friends who work in the field. TALK to your parents and their friends about personal finance, the current financial crisis and whatever aspects that interest you.


• Call a finance professor in the univervisty nearest to you, or alumni, and take him/her for a coffee or lunch and ask whatever questions you like!

The limit on preparation is the one you set. The opportunities, even in these recessionary times, are endless! Don't get stuck on becoming a math nerd or limit the breadth of interests that will sustain your passion for the subject.

Arshad Ahmad, Department of Finance, Concordia University, and 3M National Teaching Fellow.

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