Hazim’s Journey Towards MIT and The World Bank Part 2

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His Finesse in Finance

His bold and driven ways had led him to do research and dive deeper into the world of finance. In his final year at Warwick, shortly after he sat for the first paper of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) examination, he realised that his niche had long been intertwined with capital markets and investments. That was when he started considering the possibility of pursuing a master’s. 

Although Hazim aced his application to study Financial Mathematics at MIT- an extremely selective university in the US with only a 6.7% acceptance rate, he had a tough decision to make since pursuing graduate school was not quite the plan laid out by his sponsoring company. After a deep introspection on his passion, and talking to multiple individuals for advice, he knew that he had to take that leap of faith.

After receiving his master’s degree, the next-level genius joined the World Bank where he initially served as a short-term consultant. His little to no experience had him reading as much as he could daily on the markets and industry jargon to stay up to date with the developments as well as keep up with the lingo used at the workplace.

“My coworkers would use unfamiliar acronyms in almost every other sentence. I used to stay back every night after work to read on them so I could understand what they meant by the next day.”

He soon became adept in deciphering the market trends and understanding the core of risk management. With only a year under his belt, his skills impressed his coworkers and employer enough to make him their youngest full-term staff in the department.

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Building From Scratch 

Every now and then, strangers would contact Hazim for 30-minute calls seeking his guidance and expertise. Kaartik, KYSER of Class 2017, was among them.

What initially started as a Facebook chat had evolved into a professional relationship between the two. They were cognisant that many people were struggling to reach out for advice through suitable avenues. It was that kind of inconvenience that sparked the idea of building a start-up to connect individuals searching for guidance with those offering them. Thus, Counselab was born.

“It’s amazing what a 30-minute call could do for  someone’s life. And I know that pretty well, because I’ve asked for advice from numerous people myself in navigating the university experience, transitioning to working life, and now, building a startup.”

Their efforts have translated into over 500 followers across their social media accounts, and they have facilitated dozens of connections since their test phase launch a couple of weeks ago. In time, they envision the start-up to fill the market gap when it comes to 1:1 advice that isn’t optimally addressed by existing social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook. Click here to check it out yourself!

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Currently, Hazim is still working in the Market Risk team at the IFC while juggling his time with Counselab. He hints on more exciting things to come in the future for the startup company.

Closing The Expectation Gap 

“The most compelling reason for burnouts relate to high societal expectations.”

Setting a goal that sets us up for success in our careers is important. But being obsessively fixated on it can invite disappointment and pessimism especially when our expectations of reality exceed our experiences of reality. 

Hazim is a firm believer that being the best in the things you love can not only build a better resume but help us appreciate the present happiness while pursuing a dream. With this mindset, we can break society’s arbitrary rules and close expectation gaps.

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