Master of Applied Computing grad Mohit Agarwal (MAC 2023) believes in the power of hands-on learning and the impact it can have on one’s career trajectory. His internship experience served as a stepping stone towards securing full-time employment, as he was able to apply his academic knowledge and carve out a path to a successful future at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

After joining CIBC as a business analyst intern, Agarwal decided to take a proactive approach to make the most of his experience.

“I dedicated myself to learning the business flow and role-specific applications and was always proactive in asking for work and grasping every available opportunity that came my way,” he says. “It was through this approach that I was given the opportunity to work with the application development team, where I learned how to bridge the gap between a business analyst’s way of thinking and a developer’s way of thinking.”

His most notable achievement during his internship was completing a large decommissioning project, earning him praise that resonates to this day.

“The project involved capturing requirements from scratch, learning a completely new business application, migrating dependencies to a new system, and staying on top of testing at all times,” says Agarwal.

This project, along with working with diverse teams, gave him the exposure he needed to land a full-time position.

Today, Agarwal is a business systems analyst consultant at CIBC, where he continues to learn and grow.

“I would not be in my current role if it wasn’t for my academic learning at the University of Windsor, the help of the co-op team, and the effort they put into helping students prepare for landing an internship,” he says. “My rule of thumb was to never shy away from asking for help and to always grasp every new opportunity.”

To learn more about UWindsor's Co-op program and how to add students to your hiring strategy, visit uwindsor.ca/coop-workplace-partnerships/.