Meet Maury Rubin
“As a Jewish person, when you don’t want to be a doctor, lawyer or accountant it’s like- what do I do? After I finished my masters, that’s when the soul-searching had to really begin.”
Building your career is like summiting a mountain, but according to Maury Rubin, choosing which mountain you want to climb can be the most challenging part.
“As a Jewish person, when you don’t want to be a doctor, lawyer or accountant it’s like- what do I do? After I finished my masters, that’s when the soul-searching had to really begin. Once my formal education ended, I had to figure out how to make my way in this world.”
In addition to having a keen perspective on Economics, Maury liked technology, and knew he wanted to find a way to integrate his interests with a career he cared about.
He intuitively realized the actions that he needed to take required grit and a lot of perseverance. “Networking and being humble and inquisitive became essential. If I had a question, I would ask literally anyone. You never knew how someone might be able to help you.”
After attending JedX last year, he was inspired by an explanation of the word ‘mazal’-meaning luck-. “Mazal is ‘makom zman limud’. Luck is not all just a chance occurrence, it’s about being in the right place at the right time with the right knowledge.”
Maury thought he was set when he went through many rounds of interviews for his dream job. “I got a final call saying that I was a stellar candidate, but that I came in second. I wondered then what the point of even going down this particular road was if I was just going to keep losing. It’s a rough feeling coming so close to getting the thing you desperately want only to fall short by an inch. I felt like I had just lost out on the best job I could ever get.”
“When you’re down the whole world can shrink into your bedroom. Getting out of that slump is hard, but when I proactively found volunteer opportunities and various industry events to attend I was able to physically and mentally expand my horizons.”
In the meantime, to prepare himself to be in in the right place at the right time with the right skills Maury studied for and passed the CFA Level 2. He applied again for a role at a company that had previously rejected him and was offered a position.
“What has helped me so far is brutal honesty with myself. I am constantly asking myself, what am I good at, where will I thrive, and am I doing this for myself or for the perceptions of others? We don’t live long enough to be miserable, so it is worth taking the painful journey to find out what you love.”
Maury is excited to continue climbing mountains and helping others reach their peaks along the way.
Maury Rubin completed his Master’s degree at Western University in Financial Economics and has recently taken up the position of a Business and Growth Associate at TechStars. He is excited for his new role and looks forward to helping startup companies grow their business.
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Jumans of Toronto is a window into the lives and passion of Jewish young adults making their mark in the world. A 50-part series, Jumans is inspired by Humans of New York. If you’d like to recommend someone awesome to be highlighted, please send an email to adina@thehousetoronto.com.
Written by: Adina Samuels