Canadian Tire is committed to developing the next generation of leaders. New graduate programs at Canadian Tire are a fantastic opportunity—they are focused on identifying top graduating and alumni talent and setting participants up for success throughout their careers.

Matthew DiFrancesco is a financial associate analyst. Here’s his take on what it means to pursue a new graduate opportunity at Canadian Tire.

1. How did you get the job?

I went to Brock University for business administration with a concentration in finance and was doing a summer placement at Canadian Tire Financial Services (CTFS); that’s how I heard about these new graduate opportunities and decided to apply. I felt confident going into the interview because of my summer at CTFS I had some really good reviews from my leaders and I feel like that helped me a lot.

2. What does a typical day look like for you?

Currently, I’m supporting e-commerce. There’s a lot going on in terms of predicting what the business will look like through that lens. I also spend time doing ad-hoc analysis we get from different members of the business. For instance, we might look at how e-commerce sales are performing in BC and note any differences from other areas of the business. It’s great; I get lots of exposure within my role. I meet with associate vice-presidents and vice presidents and present the materials.

In my current role, I work with the e-commerce team and the dealer contract team to present our findings. In previous roles within this rotational program, I worked with the different divisional VPs and I’ve worked with all the different financial planning and analysis teams at various times during my program. It’s been great because I’ve worked with both the corporate and retail sides of our business.

3. What do you enjoy most about your role?

I love how fast-paced it is. Everything is changing in e-commerce on a daily basis. Two days in a row are never the same. That’s what I like the most … it’s something new and different every day.

4. Talk about one of your greatest achievements in your role here.

The e-commerce financial model we’ve been working on since February is something I’m really proud of. I built the whole thing. I met with all different areas of the business, whether it was supply chain, merchandising, or e-commerce ordealer contracts to discover how the business works today and how e-commerce could change that. I modelled out all those inputs from our point-of-sale right down to the bottom line. I’ve been really blessed to work on this project because it’s allowed me to learn so much about our business.

5. Talk about your greatest challenge.

The hardest thing to get used to—this is totally from a finance perspective—is learning all the data systems. Coming from CTFS, they had a dedicated data team. Here, it’s a little different. It just took some time to get adjusted to.

6. How do you think you’ll continue to contribute?

I’m a pretty outgoing person. I’ve been able to bring people together and do some team-building. The great thing about the Financial Associate Analyst program is that everyone is really tight-knit and jumps at the opportunity to socialize.

7. What surprised you about working at Canadian Tire?

I knew quite a few people who worked here before I started my role. What surprised me most about the new grad program was the level of support for us—for continuing education or even just learning more about the other functional teams. There’s always someone you can reach out to because there’s such a great network of employees who started as new grads and have continued their careers with Canadian Tire.

8. What lessons from your time at Canadian Tire will you carry through your career?

There’s lots of support for any aspirations you might have. It’s the people here that make Canadian Tire a place you want to be.

9. What advice do you have for a new graduate applying for a program at Canadian Tire?

Definitely ask questions. There’s no such thing as a bad question. Don’t try to do something if you’re not sure how to do it. Always ask questions and have integrity—people will respect you for that.

Be Canadian Tire's next financial associate analyst! Apply here.