By Tsz Wai Derek Lee
There are many people whose name resonates with the company they are working for and Nancy Moulday is definitely one of them.
Having been with TD Bank for 24 years this month, a quick search of her name would bring up archives of articles about her activities and work. For those students who have not met Nancy, I suggest taking the time to find out more about her as she could potentially change your life by hiring you for TD’s business banking division.
Fortunately, I got the chance to meet Nancy for Career Insider Business and learned a lot about her thoughts as a recruiter as well as an individual: her activities outside of work, her hobbies and what is keeping her at TD Bank after all these years. After the interview, I now understand why people would opt out of other jobs and work for TD Bank and gained a lot of new insights on how to stand out from other applicants.
What activities are you involved with outside of work?
I do a lot of volunteer work. I am a member of CACEE (Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers) where I’ve been a past director and president. We have conferences and our whole mission is to assist students in the transition from school to work.
I also do a lot of public speaking at community events. Today, I was at an aboriginal career centre meeting with job developers. Last week I spoke at Acces, which is an organization for internationally educated professionals that have financial experience outside of Canada. I did a presentation followed by a Q&A session. I talk about myself and my work at TD Bank. I am an aboriginal and a person with a disability so I talk about what it’s like to have a mental illness and how I’ve been able to cope with it.
What hobbies do you enjoy?
My hobbies are looking after my two boys. I have a four year old and a twelve year old who are actively involved in sports. I also like to read mystery and horror novels. I recently read “Darkness Greater Than Night” by Michael Connelly. It’s a police horror novel. When I was on vacation, I read the whole book in three days.
How has your education helped you get to where you are today?
I grew up in Montreal where I graduated from high school at grade 11. Then I went to John Abbott College, which in the Quebec school system is a CEGEP, similar to a junior college. I was in the commerce program because I wanted to emulate my father who was in marketing. I did the two year program and as part of my electives, I took industrial behavior organizational design, which I thought was pretty interesting. I graduated with a DEC in spring 1983 and went to Queen’s University that fall. Queen’s had a program that was a combination of commerce courses and psychology courses. It’s now known as industrial relations. That way I hoped to be more effective HR person which was what I ended up being after I joined TD Bank.
So, you’ve always wanted to be an HR person?
Yes, I really enjoy the whole recruitment process as well as motivating individuals and seeing how they progress in their careers.
Why you did you pursue graduate studies, specializing in industrial relations, at the University of Toronto?
It complimented my undergraduate studies at Queen’s. At Queen’s I learned about staffing, selection, and talent management. At the University of Toronto, I learned about labour relations.
Are you still applying what you learned at school?
Yes, the education makes me more aware of people, more aware of cultures, different communication styles, a little bit more appreciation and a little bit more in tune with people because from a psychological perspective I may have better understanding of the psyche and how people tick. At least that’s what I’m thinking. (laughs)
How would you describe your work/life balance?
What’s great about my job is the ability to work from home one day a week. Friday is a day I get a lot administrative work done. As well, I do phone interviews when I’m not available to meet with someone due to geographical constraints. When I look at my team, a lot of them work part-time, are job partnering or working a condensed work week.
How would you describe your career progression at TD Bank?
This is my fourteenth job at TD Bank. I have been here 24 years. I started out as a customer service representative. I felt that was the best way to know the organization, and to be an effective HR counselor, was to start in a branch environment. I’ve been an HR officer, an HR counselor, and now I am an HR manager. I manage the hands-on recruitment for the business bank and help run the associate program. I also support diversity in the organization.
What previous jobs have you had?
Once I graduated from University of Toronto with my industrial relations degree I actually started in retail. So I worked in Toys’r’us for 10 months before I was lucky enough to get the job at TD Bank. When I was putting myself through Queen’s I worked at Simpsons and Famous Players and that gave me the cash experience and retail experience. I had that experience before coming into TD Bank.
How has the recruitment process changed over the time when you were recruited until now?
What’s different is technology. The human aspect of interviewing people, assessing if they are the right fit and have the right competencies haven’t changed but how we recruit has changed. We now use social media, job boards and recently started actively recruiting on Linkedin.
How has your life changed after becoming a recruiter?
I’ve been recruiting for 20 years and a lot of folks do it for a couple of years and move on. For someone who has 20 years experience, my name is kind of like a brand out there. If you Google my name, there are actually pages and pages of activities I’ve done. People often come to me and say “Nancy, I’ve got a friend who would be great for the bank.” Now I might not be able to hire that person but I will meet that individual and assess their potential fit to TD. I always think of potential employees as customers. So, I want them to have the proper experience who will recommend TD Bank to friends and family.
What keeps you at TD Bank?
There’s a saying if you worked here long enough your blood turns green. TD Bank has been supportive of my career development and is very good at recognizing its’ employees. I’ve been fortunate to win several awards and I enjoy the people I work with. I also love my role. I get to interview people and hopefully, find them an opportunity at TD Bank.
What are the most common mistake students should avoid making when applying for a job?
Often, students don’t go to their career centres to find out where the jobs are. The career centre is really the liaison between the job, the employers and the students. That’s the first mistake. Also, sometimes, I find students will wait until the last minute to apply. And they don’t take their time to complete the application online. Make sure your transcript and cover letter are there and resume is up to date. Completing the profile as required is important on online application tracking system.
What tips would you give to students who missed their timeline in the fall?
Work with your career center. Do your research and read through a company’s website. It will be a good reflection of the company culture. Narrow your search down to a few industries. Go to your career centre and ask if they have any leads. Use your career centre to find alumni that work at TD Bank. A lot of them are happy to talk about the business banking associate program.
What should students do to prepare for an interview?
Find out how long the interview is expected to last, what kind of interview it will be and who will be there. Come with your portfolio and some questions you want to ask. Ask about corporate culture and about the recruiters themselves, how long they’ve been there and why they like it there.
Tsz Wai Derek Lee is a business student at the University of Western Ontario.
