Success Story: 36paths, career consulting business

4 minute read

36paths helps students land a great finance job in Canada faster by having experienced finance professionals (not generic career advisors) coach them 1-on-1 throughout the entire job search journey. They provide 100% personalized coaching services to help students gain industry insights, create actionable career plans, perfect resume & cover letter, and improve interview & networking skills. Meet 36paths Founder & CEO, Shawn Huang, and learn about his entrepreneurial journey.

What is 36paths?

My name is Shawn and currently I am running 36paths.com, an online career accelerator that helps students land great finance jobs in Canada faster. Before I became a full-time entrepreneur, I worked as Product Manager at Scotiabank and Overbond (a VC-backed FinTech startup in Toronto). Prior to my FinTech Product career, I was part of the Investment Banking team at Cantor Fitzgerald and the Capital Markets group at Scotiabank. I got my Master of Accounting degree from University of Toronto and I am a CFA charterholder as well as a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA).

I consider myself a reformed finance professional turned entrepreneur. I am passionate about finance, technology, product, entrepreneurship and spirituality. I read a lot (mostly non-fiction) and try to meditate and work out daily.

How did you get started as an entrepreneur?

I have always been entrepreneurial since I was a teenager. My first entrepreneurial experience was to sell Nike sneakers I sourced from Alibaba to my friends in real life and pocketed the profit. That was in 2006 when e-commerce was just starting to take off in China. I have had various gigs since then from math tutor to personal stylist.

But 36paths is my first full-time entrepreneurial experience. It was not something I planned for to be honest. The idea came to me after I realized I could not handle all the LinkedIn messages and emails from finance job seekers looking for help. So I said to myself, why don’t I throw up a landing page and see if I can create a business out of it? I did just that in August 2017 and have been able to land more paying customers over the years.