A Perfect Fit
When Daniel Bocanegra (M.B.A. ’20) decided to get his M.B.A., New York Tech’s Vancouver campus quickly emerged as the perfect choice. “New York Tech’s M.B.A. program is accredited by the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), a well-known academic institution in the United States, and has campuses in other countries,” says Bocanegra. The location of the campus in Vancouver was also a plus. “I love Vancouver for its nature attractions and amazing architecture. You have the sea, mountain hikes, and waterfalls, all within minutes.”
Originally from Bogota, Colombia, Bocanegra came to Canada specifically to study at New York Tech after getting his undergraduate degrees in economics and finance from Universidad del Rosario, in Bogota. At New York Tech, he found a supportive and responsive community, and an educational philosophy that proved to be particularly useful. “I think the applied approach of the New York Tech M.B.A. program has helped me along the way in the labor market,” he says. “Numerical subjects are great for building a problem-solving mindset, but the other approaches taught at New York Tech—like learning how to adapt to different work styles and cultures—are essential in Canada.”
Graduating during the pandemic in a foreign country posed some challenges for Bocanegra, but his time at New York Tech prepared him for the job search as well as the job. “New York Tech was helpful from day one,” he says. “The school offers a great range of student services, from preparing your résumé to career fairs in Vancouver. I found a job at CovalentHQ.com, one of the leading companies in blockchain analytics, after attending a New York Tech academic-sponsored event.
“Over the next decade, I would like to be a manager in a tech or finance company, and I would like to build a startup someday,” says Bocanegra. For now, he is thrilled to be a business intelligence analyst with Mercedes-Benz Canada in Toronto, where he works on projects related to data analysis, finance, and information technology (IT) tools. “I build reports and perform data analysis using tools like Power BI and SQL. What I enjoy most about my work is being in contact with multiple business areas and developing new skills,” he says. “It’s always challenging to learn about new IT tools, but it can be fun if you love what you do.”
