Moving to Saint John from Mumbai, India and starting her third year of a Bachelor of Business Administration at the University of Saint John, Niomi is excited to call Saint John her new home. Moving to Saint John wasn't always the plan, having wanted to move to Ontario with family, however after spending only a year in Saint John, and getting to know her friendly community and student involved campus, Niomi can't imagine being anywhere else. 

As she settles into her new role as a Payroll Compliance Student at JDI, we sat down with Niomi to ask her how she's making out. 

What have you enjoyed most about your term with JDI?

JDI’s appreciation for its employees, as seen through various events such as Finance Week, during which they gave each employee goodies with motivational (and appreciatively pun-y) messages, free food trucks, a Yeti tumbler that has been very useful during my work term, is something that I’ve enjoyed most about my term with the company. 

Co-ops are a great way to gain experience, what skills did you learn that you can apply throughout your education or career while at your co-op? 

During this one month as a student at JDI, I have learned to not be afraid to attempt a task before reaching out to others for help. Completing the task may be the end goal but you must learn along the way, and the best way to do that is by trying to work things out with whatever little understanding you have of the concept instead of jumping to seek help straight away. This way, you can also be independent, hardworking and dedicated, which are great qualities to possess when building your career.

I also recently completed a presentation skills training with all the other Fall 2020 co-op students through a virtual session with Patricia Robichaud, the talent management specialist and the rest of the team, followed by a Leadership Round Table event with a handful of company leaders such as Julie Levesque, Mark Alward, Adam Newhouse. They shared with us their experiences working with JDI followed by tips on things such as how to present yourself in an interview. These sessions were insightful and interactive, giving us an understanding of the other divisions of JDI from leaders who started off their careers with almost the same experiences (co-op) as us students.

Have you been involved in any major projects this term?

In collaboration with my Manager, I created a detailed instructions manual on the Payroll Controls Testing process that can be used by anyone working on this task in the future. I have also recently started playing around with Alteryx so that I can use it to create an automated process to create the Payroll Limits. This is to make it easier for others who have to create these limits later, reducing the time they have to spend on this rather lengthy task.

Do you have a goal set to reach before you finish your term?

My goal for this work term, specifically relating to the Payroll team, is to provide them with as much support as possible and to increase the efficiency of the various Payroll processes in order to make it less time consuming for others. Overall, I would like to build my career with JDI and establish a network within the company to take advantage of the various opportunities that come my way.