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Guest blog from: Julie Weisz, Healthy Grads Peer Health Educator

In between the first and second year of my Master’s in Social work, I decided to do a French Immersion program in Quebec to get a break from my time in Toronto, and to reflect.  While in Quebec, I had this constant nagging question – Was I really in the right program?  I had enjoyed my first year of Social Work, but my interests didn’t really align with what some people might label as “typical social work”.  I didn’t have a lot of interest in working in a hospital, in child protection, or in doing casework.  I liked other areas of the field, like teaching, and public education, and I began to wonder if I had chosen the right career path.

Who can help?

It took a long time for me to figure out what to do.  I was feeling stressed out and insecure about the program I had chosen.  I wanted to make sure that I was really in the right place and that I wouldn’t have to do another program after I was finished my degree in social work (because $$$!).  I tried thinking and reflecting on my own, researching, and annoying my friends. What I really wanted though, was someone I could bounce my ideas off of and who could give me feedback or more information.

This is when I decided to book a Career Advising Appointment* at the Career Centre. The career centre offers a range of services that are useful for graduate students. Aside from career advising and résumé consulting, they can help edit LinkedIn Profiles, have Drop-in Appointments for quick questions, and can help grad students strategize if they are considering pursuing careers in academia.

*FYI it’s not completely obvious where this is on the Career Centre website, it’s under the Tab “CLN” (Career Learning Network), you can also find it here: http://www.studentlife.utoronto.ca/cc/cln

Getting to the Career Centre:

I considered just dropping by the Career Centre, but instead opted for booking an appointment in advance online. As the Career Centre is part of Student Life, it’s located at the Koffler Student Services Centre (214 College Street), a short walk from Queen’s Park station. On days when the weather is particularly aggressive, I hope on the streetcar at Queen’s Park station to get there (don’t forget that transfer!). The Career Centre is located in a very open space on the first floor near the Second Cup…if you get confused like I did, just head to the reception desk and they’ll point you to the right place.

What Happened?

I was told to wait at one of the desks in the main room.  The appointments typically take place out in the open, but you also have the option of asking your counsellor to move to a private office if the “whole class” share idea isn’t for you. When I met with my career counsellor, I talked to her about my dilemma: Should I stay in a program I am uncertain of and risk having to pursue more education later? Should I stop now and switch paths?  She asked questions about what I wanted to be doing and where I was now, and how I felt about it all.  She helped me to realize what resources I already had, like friends who had graduated from the program, or who worked in fields I was interested in, and gave me tools and ideas that I could look into, like contacting people on LinkedIn for informational interviews.

Overall, it was a pretty good experience, though I do wish that the appointment could have been longer given that it was only 30 minutes and focused more on my specific questions without going into broader advice. That being said however, the appointment was definitely more productive than my many rants to friends had been. I left the Centre with some specific suggestions for research I could do on my own, and more questions I could ask myself.  Even though I have a few more weeks of pondering in store, I left the Centre feeling more secure in my ability to choose the right path for myself, and with some new resources to help me get there.

Julie is a second year Masters of Social Work student, in the stream of Social Justice and Diversity.  Aside from her academic interests in creative counseling, post-structural therapies, and public health, Julie also enjoys taking classes in theatre and random athletics (hot stone yoga, olympic weightlifting, etc) checking out the various parks around Toronto, and discovering the best ice cream in the city.