GSEP: Where Are They Now – Roxy Merkand

• When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I shifted through a bunch of ideas: I wanted to be a veterinarian, a nurse, a lawyer, and then a therapist. I landed on Organizational Psychologist – which I didn’t know was a career when I was growing up

• How did you become interested in career development?

I loved helping students figure out what energized them – I always participated in Open Houses and mentorship-based programs during my Undergrad. On a whim, I applied to be a Career leader at the University of Waterloo – helping students with targeted job search advice in short, 15-minute drop in appointments. I’ve been hooked ever since.

• What are you doing now that you’re done school?

I work as an Organizational Psychologist at McKinsey & Company. As a part of the McKinsey Health Institute, I collect, analyze, and disseminate research insights on the state of employee health worldwide – with a focus on activating organizations and institutions to progress towards our north star – adding years to life and life to years.

• Looking back, how did being a member of GSEP help enhance your current career?

When I first became a member of GSEP, it helped me attend (and present at!) my first Cannexus. I leveraged the vast amount of networking opportunities before and after the conference to learn from others in the career development space. Because of the connections I built at the conference, I was able to learn more about CERIC’s Advisory Committees. Shortly after this, I joined CERIC’s Practical & Academic Research Committee – which I am still a part of today – that keeps me tied to updated research related to career development in Canada. Overall, joining GSEP has allowed me to craft my dream career while maintaining strong connections to the career development community.

• What is something surprising you’ve learned since getting into the career development field?

It’s been extremely eye-opening how inextricably tied sense of self is with career in most people. As I learned more about career development towards helping students reflect (while simultaneously sorting out my own career identity), I experienced a heightened sense of clarity on other’s career paths as mine became more clouded. During this time, I leaned on my career development community and it became very clear to me how much career development practitioners help individuals figure out what to do as much as they help individuals figure out who they are.

Learn more about CERIC’s Graduate Student Engagement Program (GSEP).