This is another in the series about co-op, internship, or other experiential ‘on the job’ learning experiences students can seek. To be blunt, for some students it is just about getting enough money to pay for school, but for others, it is about experiential learning, what you can learn and benefit from a job while you are at university. The latter is the rationale behind most co-op and internship programs, it is not supposed to be about the money, but about the learning!
You may find yourself hunting for jobs throughout the term. Some students assume that all of the good jobs are posted early in the term. This is not generally the case - lots of cool jobs come up mid-term and later. This year (time of Covid) we have been told that some employers are recruiting later than usual. So, don't give up and keep looking. At Waterloo there are flexible co-op pathways which will give you new options. They can be found here. Waterloo's Centre for Career Action can also help you strategize your job hunt.
If possible, it is probably best if you can find your own job in advance (for some of the work periods, terms) and avoid the academic disruptions that come from the job hunt: resume and cover letter writing, applying, interviewing, etc. There are two ways to pull this off:
Use your network to locate and ‘sell’ yourself as an intern or co-op student
Neighbours, family, family’s business/employment network.
Paying attention to official rules and regulations about conflict of interest, type of job/work allowed, etc.
Return to the last (or a previous) employer - remember: this is the only REAL way to demonstrate that the last employer valued you enough to actually hire you back - should do this once or twice in your work cycle!
If you are a junior student, remember that you might not be that much different from a high school senior looking for work and you need to highlight what concrete ‘value’ you can give the employer, hopefully gained in your first term or two at university. This is what we call the money-shot and it is something you place at the top of your resume to get the reader’s attention. What are 2-3 points that will get an employer’s attention. Not - I am a good communicator, I have passion, I am a good team player. Be more specific about what you can actually do that would help an employer! Why should an employer take the time to read more?
You should really only apply to jobs you will accept. If you are doing ‘look sees’ and are not serious, employers can often tell and you are not being fair to other students - for example, a student who really might have wanted this job did not get the interview because of you. It is also disrespectful of the employer’s time and effort; this can impact their perception of the school and impact future student opportunities.
If you are not one of the superstars and top elite, you need to figure out ways to get your resume to be read, looked at:
Avoid applying to positions where there are 000’s of applicants, or even over 30-40.
Remember, employers will interview perhaps only 6 and once they find 6 of the best, they will not really look closely at the other resumes.
Apply to jobs that no one else wants - location, type of work.
This will lower the pool of applicants and allow your resume to be seen.
If you get one of these jobs, your agenda is to nail it, get outstanding on the evaluation as this will be a great ‘indicator’ on your resume