From Debt Collector to a Business Analyst
Mar 28, 2025“The biggest mistake any recruiter or hiring manager can make is to invite me for an interview; once they do, they're completely finished and will have no other option but to offer me the job.” These were Emeka’s words during a call with our lead coach, Steve.
But wait, how did Emeka, who came into Canada as a timid international student and worked as a debt collector, gain such confidence to make this bold statement? Here is his incredible transformation story.
Emeka landed in Canada in 2016 as an international student with big dreams. Like many newcomers, he thought the hard part was behind him. But reality had other plans. After his program, the first job he landed was as a cash collector to keep body and soul together. Day in and day out, he was dialling strangers, chasing overdue payments.
Eventually, he moved to a more “prestigious” role as a recovery officer at a top bank. But it was the same job, just a fancier building.
After some months, the job became mundane and boring, and Emeka realized that he was becoming depressed. All he did every day was call customers to ask them for money. He felt that anyone can do that, and it wasn’t the reason why he relocated to Canada.
That’s when he met Paula.
She told him about Business Analysis—a career Emeka had never even heard of. She connected him to TCA, and before long, Emeka found himself on a discovery call with Steve.
He had doubts. He didn’t believe he was technical enough.
“Can I really do this? Isn’t this for IT people?”
But Steve saw through the fear. He reminded Emeka of his banking experience, the systems he used daily, and how his story could be his strength—not his weakness.
And with that, Emeka made the decision and registered the same day.
But transformation isn’t a straight road.
The classes were great—but halfway through, Emeka almost quit.
He was going through a lot in his personal life. He called Steve and said he wanted to quit.
But Steve didn’t give up on him. He told Emeka stories about other people—a schoolteacher and a support worker—who also made the switch and are now doing really well.
Steve reminded Emeka of why he joined in the first place.
That call changed everything for Emeka
“It was like my eyes opened. And that was when I decided, We die here—for Business Analysis.”
Suddenly, everything started clicking. He started to see so many similarities between his previous experiences and what Business Analysts do – this was like an epiphany for him.
The live project brought the theory to life. The tools, the frameworks, the feedback—all of it gave Emeka something he hadn’t felt in years: belief.
After finishing the course, Emeka started applying for jobs.
At first, he got a few interviews—but no offers. He started to feel down again.
“Maybe I should just focus on my collection job… Business Analysis may not be for me."
But his TCA mentor refused to let him quit. She encouraged him to keep trying.
Then—one day—he got an interview with a top consulting firm.
He prepared like crazy.
And then… the email came:
“We are pleased to offer you…”
His joy knew no bounds. This is something he had worked hard for, prayed for, and pushed for, and now it has come to pass.
In his words
“ It was one of the most satisfying moments of my life. Having to put in the work and now seeing the results come through. Since then I have gone for other interviews and made an interesting discovery.
No one is born a Business Analyst, they have to go through a training process to learn the profession and then leverage their previous experience where necessary to build on the training. I was worried initially, but when I entered the field, I realized that I was even more knowledgeable than my colleagues because of the robust training I received from TCA. And right now, the biggest mistake any recruiter or hiring manager can make is to invite me for an interview; once they do, they're completely finished and will have no other option but to offer me the job.” These were Emeka’s words during his discussion with our lead coach, Steve.
Even when he got another interview, during the final stage of the interview, the interviewers said that they would get back to him in 3 weeks with an update. Emeka said “You don’t need 3 weeks; you can give me the job now. I am the one you need for this position.” The interviewers were shocked at the audacity. Brethren, 24 hours later, he received an email saying…Congratulations…you have secured the job.” Offer number 2!
Incredible breakthroughs lie on the other side of fear. Fear makes us want to give up too quickly, and once you conquer that fear of failure and fully commit, you will be amazed at what you are capable of and will have lines fall for you in pleasant places.
If once timid Emeka can transform into an audacious Business Analyst, then what is stopping you?
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