Fiona T.
CEO & Former Berkeley Career Director | Expert in Career Coaching
Studied at San Francisco State University
Works at QuantMinds
Hiring Manager
Available Monday at 4:00 PM UTC
Usually responds within 1 hour
Questions? Start chatting with this coach before you get started.
Fiona's Coaching Offerings
Custom hourly
Fiona also coaches for Master’s Programs, Quantitative Finance, Capital Markets & Trading, Leadership Coaching, and Investment Banking. View all.
Fiona’s Career Coaching Qualifications
Coaches professionally
Experience level: Executive
300+ people coached for Career Coaching
Fiona Taft is an exceptional career development coach with a proven history of guiding graduate students and executives toward meaningful and high-impact career outcomes. At UC Berkeley’s Master of Financial Engineering Program, she has successfully coached hundreds of students in career discovery, networking, interview preparation, and offer negotiation, contributing to industry-leading placement rates year after year. Her strategic use of data analytics to inform coaching practices, coupled with her ability to align career services with evolving industry demands, has consistently produced measurable results. At Stanford University, she coached executive education participants in enhancing their professional trajectories, helping them leverage business acumen and leadership skills for advancement. Fiona’s holistic and personalized coaching approach, grounded in deep institutional knowledge and employer engagement, makes her a standout leader in career development.
Fiona also coaches for Master’s Programs, Quantitative Finance, Capital Markets & Trading, Leadership Coaching, and Investment Banking. View all.
About Fiona
I started my career in finance being a controller for start-up organizations. But I found my true passion was coaching through my many experiences in Higher Education. I began my Higher Education career at Stanford Graduate School Business in Leadership Development. I learned many techniques and business acumen through my experience in the classroom at Stanford GSB. In not so many words I have my MBA from Stanford with the amount of sessions I facilitated and supported during my 8 years running Executive Leadership programs. In the next phase of my career I found myself at UC Berkeley Haas Business school in the Master of Quantitative Finance Program, first in Admissions, then as the Director of Career Development and then as the Executive Director of the program. But again I found my true passion was coaching students and Alumni and celebrating their outcomes in getting a full time job at their dream firm and promotions within big banks, hedge funds and Fintechs! Now I have my own coaching and career development firm!
Why do I coach?
I became passionate about coaching during my time at Stanford University when I was developing leadership programs and reviewing applications for Executive Leadership programs. Many applicants were struggling in their careers to get to the next level in organizations like Google, Meta, Amazon and other tech organizations. I found myself coaching many different levels of leaders in their career. Many of my program participants often told me I wish I had this content and insight earlier in my career. I had an epiphany for my passion for coaching and mentoring other. Fast Forward to my time at UC Berkeley Haas when I was coaching Master students and Alumni on their career strategy and trajectory. I found that many alumni didn't know how to level up their career once they entered at the associate level, how could they get promoted to a PM, Manager or a VP. I found I really enjoyed sharing leadership strategies, coaching techniques and mentoring with people at all levels of their career. When I started to move farther away from coaching in my career as Executive Director I didn't find as much fufillment and happiness in my career. "You have to do what you love" This lead me to start my own company so I could focus on coaching and career development full time. I truly enjoy coaching individuals in all careers paths but especially on Women's leadership, Finance and Quant Finance.
Work Experience
Chief Executive Officer
QuantMinds
November 2024 - Present
Hiring Manager
At QuantMinds we aim to build a thriving global community of quantitative finance professionals, fostering growth through education, networking, and innovation. We are a Quantitative Finance community and offer career services in Career Coaching/Mentoring, resume, cover letter and Linkedin reviews, Admissions coaching and strategic career planning.
Executive Director, Masters of Financial Engineering
University of California, Berkeley
February 2024 - October 2024
Admissions Committee
Evaluated the life-cycle of the admissions process, made final decisions on admissions, establish high level relationships with Faculty, firms and Alumni, Advised students on job opportunities, internships and salary negotiations.
Director of Career Development, Employer and Alumni Relations at MFE
University of California, Berkeley
December 2021 - June 2024
Admissions Committee
Reviewed Admissions applications, essays and profiles and gave recommendations for admission. Coached students on career readiness, resume optimization and strategic job search with Finance and Quantitative Finance firms. Established strategic relationships, career events and bespoke hiring opportunities with top finance firms, hedgefunds and FinTech firms and MFE Alumni. Created Career workshops in Strategic Job Search, Resume Optimization, Linkedin & Networking Strategies, Behavioral Interviewing, Business Etiquette, Job Market Updates, Mock Interviewing and Salary Negotiation Coached and Advised students and alumni on job search strategy, resumes strategy, salary negotiation and networking strategy.
Senior Associate Director of Marketing & Admissions for MFE
University of California, Berkeley
July 2021 - December 2022
Admissions Committee
Reviewed applicants for Admission to the Master of Financial Engineering Program and was a part of the Admissions Committee. Evaluated application and career readiness.
Assistant Director, Executive Education
Stanford University Graduate School of Business
January 2016 - November 2020
Created and Managed Executive Leadership programs for Fortune 500 companies and individuals. Coached individuals on how to become leaders, managers and accelerate to the C-Suite
Presidential Associate - Accelerated Development Program
Stanford University Graduate School of Business
September 2018 - March 2019
Partnered with organizations to build Execute Leadership programs for C-suite Executives, Managers, High Potential Leaders and DEI.
Program Manager
Stanford University Graduate School of Business
April 2013 - January 2016
Special Events Manager
Stanford University
August 2011 - September 2012
Controller
Jupiter
May 2000 - June 2007
Managed financial P&L and balance sheet of Jupiter Hosting, Inc (1120S DE Corp). Responsible for reconciling the accounting records. Tracked business expenses, cash flow, and all other financial related activities through first round of financing (Angel). Managed payroll (ADP), and benefits program. Managed all banking relationships (Silicon Valley Bank and Bank of America).
Fiona was also given offers to work at
UCLA Anderson
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Education
San Francisco State University
Bachelors, Economics
1995 - 2000