Return to Bay Street Program
Relaunch your capital markets career!
Applications open septembre 5th, 2023Relaunching Successful Careers & Retaining the Industry’s Top Female Talent
Do you know a talented woman looking to relaunch her career in the capital markets? WCM’s Return to Bay Street Award Program (RTBS) plays an important role in retaining professional women in this industry by providing a pathway back to their successful careers after an extended period of leave – typically due to family obligations. This program is unique in that it brings experienced women back to the senior roles from which they left, rather than them having to work their way up the ladder again.
This award is a wonderful opportunity for women looking to return to the capital markets industry. The 2019 program gives candidates the option of choosing between the Asset Management Stream (Buy Side) or the Dealer Stream (Sell Side).
Successful candidates receive:
- A minimum 4-month paid contract position at an RTBS partnering financial institution;$5,000 education grant to accelerate training and skill-set development, within a one year period;
- Two mentors – one from the firm and one from WCM;
- Access to WCM programming with a one-year complimentary WCM membership;
- Visibility across the industry (and media);
- Opportunity to gain recent work experience and relaunched network.
Prospective candidates receive:
- Opportunity to attend a half-day workshop to update their professional skills and industry knowledge;
- Opportunity to attend an interview skills workshop with HR leaders to practice and receive feedback on interviews;
- Multiple opportunities to expand their professional network and connect with industry leaders – as well as for partners to meet all prospective candidates;
- Visibility with RTBS partners;
- Opportunity to re-familiarize with the business culture, job-search and interview process.
To date, RTBS has brought 49 experienced women back to the industry. Each year, the program continues to gain momentum, visibility, and reaches new levels of success.
Latest Media coverage
RTBS: UNITING FIRMS IN AN INDUSTRY-WIDE APPROACH TO STRENGTHEN THE PIPELINE OF MID-SENIOR FEMALE TALENT
As an industry, we loose a significant number of female talent just mid-way through their careers – a loss which has extensive implications for firms and the financial industry. The gender gap is a problem across all firms, and it’s one that can only be solved if we work together.
WCM’s Return To Bay Street Award (RTBS) offers a large-scale response to this female brain-drain, by uniting firms in an unparalleled industry-wide approach to address the gender gap in the senior ranks of finance, to ensure the pool of experienced female talent is accessible to firms, and to support firms in achieving their internal diversity strategy.
RTBS has grown to become Toronto’s most established and prominent returnship. The combined participation, support and resources of our RTBS partners allows the program to scale beyond what an individual firm could realistically achieve. Through RTBS, partners gain access to an incredible pool of skilled and experienced female talent who are seeking to relaunch their careers in capital markets on both the buy-side and sell-side. These candidates have proven success in mid to senior-level capital markets roles, represent an invaluable part of the talent pipeline and are ideal candidates for hire.
RTBS maximizes candidate’s likelihood of success in their new roles and ensures they are in a position to contribute to their new firms by offering candidates opportunities to equip themselves with the tools, skills, confidence and network needed to succeed. The ultimate aim is for these candidates to transition into permanent roles following their returnship and grow into successors for leadership positions.
Past RTBS Award Recipients
While there is no guarantee of permanent placement after the contract has been completed, 90% of award recipients have completed their work terms and continue to work in capital markets today.
