Career spotlight

Published: February 2023

Born and raised in Abbotsford, BC, Raj Tatra completed a degree in Business Administration at the University of the Fraser Valley, majoring in Human Resources.

His career path took a new turn in January 2021 when Raj accepted a part-time position with Gulf & Fraser, which soon turned into a full-time position. Since gaining more experience in financial services, Raj is focusing on developing his skills and expertise in lending, providing loans, and lines of credit and mortgages that help members achieve their financial goals.

Raj won the Rookie of the Year award for his work in 2021, for which he was nominated by his co-workers during Gulf & Fraser’s annual Employee Recognition program.

What is a typical day like for you?

As a Money Advisor, my typical day involves opening accounts for retail and business members, coordinating documentation, and connecting with members to let them know about special offers.

There’s so many opportunities and possible career paths at Gulf & Fraser. I'm grateful to be here!

What career advice would you give to someone who wants to work at a credit union branch?

Have an open and positive mindset. Take initiative and show that urgency, especially if you want to learn and grow.

You only fail if you don’t try. Because if you try and it doesn’t go as planned, at least you learned.

How would you describe the culture at Gulf & Fraser?

It’s balanced — I have a lot of fun while reaching goals related to my career. Everyone is so helpful and there’s a lot of push for younger people to learn and progress in their career.

Managers and VPs often share their stories and describe their journeys openly which is so interesting. It’s motivational to hear about their hurdles and how they overcame them.

What opportunities has Gulf & Fraser given you so far?

There are so many opportunities at Gulf & Fraser. I’m currently a member of Young Leaders, Momentum Network, and Live Better. All these groups allow members to come together, learn, support each other, and grow in different ways.

For example, Young Leaders is a group for people under 40 years where we learn about different career paths in the organization and have the opportunity to take part in national credit union events. We also participate in fun events like trivia nights and human library so we can get to know each other. Momentum Network also brings together employees from different branches to share our feelings and ideas and apply them to our respective branches.

I also recently took a course about the foundations of financial planning. It’s great to have access to different learning portals so I can continue taking courses that interest me.

How would you sum up your experience so far at Gulf & Fraser in one word?

Growth.