Gradlife

Jump to Comments

By guest blogger, Jessica McSavage, Master’s student, OISE

 

A new academic year is almost upon us and whether you are returning to school or are brand new in your graduate program, you are probably working on figuring out your weekly schedule, searching for the cheapest places to grocery shop (or eat out!), maybe scrambling to find a place to live and making sure you can pay for your tuition. I’m not the biggest foodie but I can help a bit with that last one. Apply for a work study position!

It’s a program facilitated and partly funded by Enrolment Services here at U of T and any student taking at least a 40% course load per semester is eligible. Yes, that means us graduate students too! I know we sometimes miss opportunities to get involved if it seems like only undergrads partake, but please do not make this mistake with work study, or any campus opportunity for that matter.

There are over 1000 positions available for the 2015/2016 year and they are hiring NOW! Positions range widely in scope and latitude, virtually every department has multiple jobs that enable you to gain practical experience while studying. I recently completed a summer work study with Student Life working on the Co-Curricular Record and it was a great experience relevant to my program of study and career interests. Work study hours can vary but average out around 8-10 per week and can be flexible in the scheduling, so you can negotiate working less certain weeks and more in others to fit in with your courses and other commitments.

So why participate?

• Practical Experience! If you love research, find a work study position that involves that very thing. Many professors hire work study students to assist in their own research projects. Want to have a career in marketing? Try out a marketing role for a department on campus.\

• Branch out from your department! Broaden your experience and put those transferrable skills to use. It will come in handy when you are applying for those full time positions and have a varied job experience.

• Built in Networking! You will automatically get to know people in the office where you work and will forge connections with people that are currently working in roles you aspire to, not to mention creating friendships with your peers.

• It’s paid AND it’s around campus. You can probably find a position on campus to cut down on the commute and it gives you that little bit of money to pay for those costly textbooks.

• It’s CCR Eligible! Start building your Co-Curricular Record now. It’s an invaluable tool to help you search for, find, and participate in activities and helps you to articulate the skills your learned through that experience. (By the time this post is published, the deadline will have expired for the Gradlife opportunity but there are still plenty of opportunities available, including working with the CCR-ID:61329.)

So how do I apply?

Right now! Go to the Career Learning Network and login using your UTORid. Once in, use the left hand sidebar menu and follow Jobs>Work Study>Work Study Jobs. From there, you can view all postings or narrow your search for more specific opportunities.

Hiring is on-going at the moment and will continue for most of September, so hurry on over and start applying.

Am I ready?

Need some resume, cover letter, or interview tips? Connect with the resources at the Career Centre at your campus! Login to CLN and view all of the current workshops available, each campus has their own calendar and you can sign up there.

Career Centres | St. George | Mississauga | Scarborough

Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity fellow grad students!

Jessica McSavage is currently a second-year Masters student in Higher Education, Student Development and Student Services, former CCR work study student and current administrative assistant at the Career Centre.

Photo credit: google images