Justino Donovan

Turning a double major into a double advantage in the job market

Justino Donovan’s double major meant he completed two Co-op internships in different fields, providing valuable training

Being a student athlete didn’t hold Justino Donovan back from excelling in his academic programs; in fact, it helped him thrive.

Why did you go with a double major?

The two majors complement each other, because marketing develops your presentation and soft skills in a business environment while business technology management builds your analytical skills by really breaking down the steps to look at how a business works.

You played rugby for the Stingers. How did you balance athletics with school and internships?

Keeping busy allowed me to schedule my time to keep myself on track. The Stingers program has always been strong, which definitely helped in my decision to play for Concordia. What’s unique is that it supports students through student-athlete services like group study sessions and peer tutoring. The athletics program understands that studies should be students’ main priority.

How did you get involved as a John Molson School of Business student?

I was the director of IT for the John Molson Academic Committee and a volunteer for Career Management Services, and I also volunteered at events like the Engineering and Commerce Case Competition (ECCC), the John Molson Undergrad Case Competition and the John Molson Startup Conference.

The awesome part about volunteering is you also have an opportunity to meet students from a different Faculty, which I experienced during my involvement at ECCC. Volunteering is also an opportunity to gauge what different committees or associations are like to help you determine the ones you’re most interested in joining.

What types of doors did your Co-op internships open after you graduated?

Because I did a double major, I was able to do internships related to both programs. For my first two I worked in social media marketing, and that gave me a good idea of the job market in that field. My last internship, I worked in an IT department, where I got to see what working in a corporate environment would be like.

The Co-op internships also gave me work experience to add to my resumé. I was able to make some really great connections and get an idea of the type of environment that I wanted to work in, be it corporate or startup.

How do you apply your skills in a professional role?

In combining the skills from the two majors, I was able to think in a quantitative manner but also explain things to clients in a qualitative way.

Having the ability to understand and improve on client processes is something I learned from Business Technology Management, while being able to adjust a presentation for clients is what I took away from Marketing.