“We may be young, but we’re more than willing to prove ourselves. It is a good feeling to be trusted by a senior engineer, to know you are responsible for the success of the company.”
—Jordan Maretzki, Student, University of Calgary
As a Geomatics Engineer at the U of C, I applied for about six different positions. Of those six, I had three contact me about doing an interview. One, a company out of Alabama, never called me during our scheduled interview.
My interview with my eventual employer, Mentor Engineering, went extremely well. They were very impressed with my work experience. I had been working at Heritage Park (a “living historical village” in Calgary) for the previous five years, and they said they liked the fact that I showed progress through the ranks at Heritage Park.
Two of my interviewers used to work at Heritage Park as well, making the interview much easier for me as it gave us some common ground. They were also impressed with the consistency of my marks. Now, my grades are nothing to write home about, but they liked the fact that I stuck with it (my first year was rough) and improved every year. The exact word they used was “consistent.”
If could leave one piece of advice, it would be this: never underestimate job experience. Even if it is washing dishes or flipping burgers, you are learning how to work.
Employers don’t want to have to spend time teaching a raw kid how to be on time or how to behave, so that is where previous job experience really comes in handy. I truly believe that my job experience was a major factor as to why I was hired by Mentor Engineering.
Where I am now
I’m still working, looking to go back to school in the fall. My experience with Mentor has been nothing short of spectacular. I’ve gained experience with Project Management and had the good fortune to be able to travel to many destinations in the United States.
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This week, Western University Organizational and Human Resources grad Shannon Gallagher’s Student Voice story (originally published here March 25, 2011) was published in Metro newspapers across Canada.
“One thing I highly recommend for employers is to look beyond the education and look for any transferable skills a potential candidate may have.”
—Sally Gao, Graduate, Ryerson University
I graduated from Ryerson University with a Bachelor of Journalism degree in Spring 2010 with the hopes of finding a job in the media industry. I started looking for positions in my professional field in May and went through some interviews that didn’t lead to anything.
I realized that the biggest obstacle hindering my prospects of finding a job was my experience. Even though I volunteered to write for my school outlets, such as The Eyeopener and McClung’s Magazine, I didn’t get enough training and exposure to the real world work environment.
Without wasting my time, I researched many companies online using Twitter, Facebook and even YouTube to gather insights on which industry I should tap into. I considered getting an education in public relations and communications but felt I needed some work experience before I decided if that’s something I really wanted to get into.
Nonetheless, I finally got my first job at the end of 2010, where I was a Content Writer for a small online company. This job gave me the platform to try and learn new things, including SEO marketing, social media networking and branding. It opened my eyes to different career paths I could take and I became more confident in my job prospects as a growing journalist.
Where I am now
I recently went back to school to pursue a graduate certificate in Human Resources Management but dropped out of the program because I didn’t feel I was ready to change careers just yet. I volunteered for different online magazines and networked with people in the writing and editing industry.
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“Having the piece of paper is very important, but having the experience with it as well is what can get you the job right after graduation.”
—Sebastian DiLorenzo, Student, Ryerson University
After graduating from the Business Administration program at Humber College I was definitely confused and didn’t know where to start with my job hunt.
I kept on telling myself, “You’ve been in school long enough. Take some time to relax.” That was probably my biggest mistake.
The longer I stayed at my part-time job I lost motivation, became sluggish, and became rusty in regards to the skills I learned while at Humber.
Luckily for me, working at the store level of HBC I usually got interviews for head office positions every time I applied. I had two interviews for two different positions and both were not successful. I kept on asking myself, “Why? What don’t I have that the other candidates do?” I have years of in store experience and I am a recent graduate of a post secondary program.
Then I received a response back from the hiring manager that interviewed me. The one sentence he wrote in that e-mail that stuck with me was, “You do not have enough experience.” My high school and college professors always mentioned that education is very important and the key to successful employment, but there was definitely something they were leaving out.
After getting out of my month-long slump I decided to go to a bunch of employment agencies. The process of job agencies is you have to call to register with the agency, come in for an interview and perform the required testing. During my interview, the same line I received in that email hit me square in the face, but this time I came out with a much more positive result.
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“In times of austerity and uncertainty we should change the message. Instead of telling students to get a degree and find employment, shouldn’t we be teaching them to find opportunities and create their own employment?”
—Dennis Mazajlo, Student, Western University
Everyone knows what to do if you want to be an accountant: take the required courses in your third and fourth year, apply to the Big Four and you’re on your way.
Want to be a lawyer? Take an undergraduate degree with a strong writing or philosophy component, do well on your LSATs and pick a school.
The steps for certain careers are a matter of jumping through hoops. But what if the career you want is anything but conventional? What if the life you want is anything but conventional?
My name is Dennis Mazajlo and I’m a third-year student in Business Management and Organizational Studies at Western University in London, Ontario. I’ve wanted to be an entrepreneur ever since running a one-day ice cream store for my high school entrepreneurship class. Since then I’ve taken on other projects like creating an annual fundraiser for distance runners in my hometown.
I always produce my best work and get the best results when I’m invested in the work I’m doing. That investment comes when I’m given some autonomy or working with a small, passionate team. So why not jump in, right? I have lots of ideas, but there are two problems: debt and experience.
I don’t exactly come from a rich family, so I’ll be graduating with debt that I’d like to pay down first. Being a business student, I know that paying down debt by taking on more debt isn’t the best plan.
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#HireGenY Day is an ambitious, all-day conversation on Twitter between employers, students, career professionals and other thought leaders in the industry on issues related to campus recruitment and student job hunting.
Here’s how you can join the conversation:
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- Tweet using the #HireGenY and #TalentEgg hashtags
- Reply or retweet directly from the #HireGenY stream below
Click here to see the feed.
“Employers should focus more on students’ unique skills and diverse work experience, instead of always looking for the same skills and experience.” —Samiha Fariha, Student, University of Toronto Scarborough
In my first year at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), I applied for work study jobs. Soon after, I got a reply for one of the Research Assistant jobs I applied to, but got rejected from the 3 similar jobs I applied to previously because I submitted by resume late.
However I got an interview for the Research Assistant job which was working for the Professor in the Humanities Department. I prepared for the interview ahead of time, I practiced in front of the mirror several times and even wrote down the questions I might be asked in the interview.
My responsibilities included data gathering (finding and watching movies with corruption plots or themes made in Canada and Britain) and writing analytical summaries of the movies I watched. So it was a pretty cool job.
Where I am now
I am done with my work study job and I’m focusing on school right now. I am also currently volunteering as an Administrative Assistant and a Volunteer Assistant at UTSC.
My recommendations for employers, schools and career centres
The recommendation I have for employers is that they should be more understanding toward students. If a student does not have the required skills or experience for jobs they are applying for, they should not be so quick to assume that the student is unqualified.
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“I was beyond pleased to get a form e-mail from a company after I applied, telling me they were looking at more seasoned candidates, but thanking me for my application. Sure, it was a No, but at least I knew that. I could continue to focus on other postings and let that small glimmer of hope rest in peace.” —Lauren Stein, Graduate, Concordia University
It’s a rush, really, getting that e-mail or phone call. Hopefully you know the one. When those hours of rewriting, reformatting, self-branding and keywording have inspired someone, based on that piece-of-paper version of yourself, to ask whether the flesh-and-blood You might be available to meet. What’s almost better is actually knowing someone with the power to bypass that stack of paper-people, who can immediately get you some face-to-face interaction with a decision maker.
I was bursting with anticipation when I recently discovered, thanks to some LinkedIn sleuthing, an opening for a social media/communications position at a company that just happened to employ an old acquaintance of mine. I sent my contact a message immediately, pouncing on the opportunity, eager to find out who I could send my information to. As a recent graduate of the Concordia University creative writing program and an emerging writer, let me tell you, the worst part isn’t getting that rejection letter, it’s waiting for it to arrive.
The awesome part of working your network, as I’ve discovered, is that waiting is almost non-existent. I heard back from my contact the same day, not only with a request for my paper-self, but an inquiry about my availabilities so that an interview could be scheduled. Of course I didn’t blink twice, immediately adhered my CV to an e-mail, sent it off, and within hours had an interview set and some pep in my step. I didn’t want to think it was in the bag, but I won’t lie and say I wasn’t over-confident.
Things got a little murky when, the following day, my contact had to swap our interview to another time. Being that he would be around my neighbourhood during the weekend, my contact suggested we meet at a cafe which would, in turn, help me avoid schlepping across town to the company’s headquarters. Works for me, I thought, and proactively suggested a place and time.
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This week, Simon Fraser University environmental science student Yoko Lu’s Student Voice story (originally published here Oct. 11, 2011) was published in Metro across Canada.
“Leadership skills, community service, extra-curricular interests and a student’s passion for their field are all important attributes.” —Ceilidh Millar (with Lloyd Robertson), Student, BCIT
As a first year media communications student, here’s the scoop. The holidays are over and I’m back at school. During the break, I had a chance to catch up with friends who were home from university. By all accounts, they’re having the time of their lives. They regaled me with stories about cool parties, wild weekend trips and antics of living in residence.
OK, am I missing something here? My post secondary experience has been the exact opposite. Long days of classes, evenings and weekends filled with assignments and studying… pure slog!
Forget about those wild dorm parties. In my dorm there’s complete silence by 9 p.m. – everyone is in their room studying or passed out from exhaustion!
I found my first end of semester experience overwhelming! 8 finals in 4 days…brutal! I spent my evenings at the campus broadcast centre cramming for exams and editing film til 3 in the morning. Ah, beautiful sleep… is now my idea of fun!
Was I at “No Fun Tech?” Had I chosen the wrong school? Over the break, I had time to reflect on why I selected this college in the first place. I chose BCIT because it has a great Media Communications program. I wanted a program that focused on practical training in addition to the academics. The program covers both aspects and students can be secure in the knowledge they’ll be well prepared to enter the job force. BCIT has one of the best track records of producing top graduates who are sought after by employers.
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