Student Job Link's Resources

For students and graduates a major stumbling block when it comes to employment is their lack of experience.  For individuals looking to build their career profile and increase their 'hireability' there are many ways that it can be done.

Now you may ask what is your 'hireability', well,  simply it is your ability to get hired. This can be seen as your combination of education, experience and personality. But for now I am going to stick with experience and how you can work on bettering the experience that is put on your resume.

While you are going through your educational process you need to be conscious of the decisions you make when it comes employment. Everyone can make their way through a diploma or a degree earning money at various positions but in the end those various positions usually add up to nothing. Sometimes decisions have to be made to take a position where you earn a little less or nothing at all but the experience will increase your 'hireability'. The various forms of experience that will increase your 'hireability' are: volunteering , practicums, internships, co-op's, and apprenticeships.  Many of these that were just listed are great opportunities for many students but for the most part are not taken advantage of. 

Volunteering is probably the least attractive form of experience on that list but if done strategically volunteer experience can significantly increase your 'Hireability' factor. As most of you know volunteering is as simple as performing a service willingly and without pay. If you search the internet there are many resources that provide listings of only volunteer positions .  For some volunteering opportunities that are currently available you can check out Charity Village .  The Charity Village  site went online back in 1995 and has become the leading online source of information, news, jobs, services, and resources for the Canadian nonprofit community.  To give a boost to both your resume and a not for profit organization go get yourself into a volunteer position today. 

 Practicums are usually a great option  due to the fact that it is designed to give students a supervised practical application of previously studied theory.  However, a practicum is a college course so unless you are in a specialized field of study that has the practicum already incorporated into the program it may be pretty tough to get experience through this option.  So I would suggest if your decision came down to a program without a practicum or a program with a practicum, I would probably lean towards the latter. 

I think another great form of experience building can be done through co-op's and for the most part co-op programs are not taken advantage of as much as they should be.  A co-op is similar to a practicum as it is a structured method of combining classroom-based education with a practical work experience. A co-op assists students in making the school-to-work transition a little easier through experiential learning.  To get involved in a co-op you need to be sure that you keep your eyes open for the opportunities in your program, a lot of the time these co-op offices do not advertised very well to the students.  For more information about these programs I would go and visit the co-op office at your school, it is usually found in the employment and career services center. 

 One of the better experience building options is an internship. It allows a student to work in various types of temporary positions that particularly emphasize on-the-job training rather than merely employment. For the most part interns are college or university students that are provided an opportunity to gain experience in their field. By getting your foot in the door as an intern this may allow you to start building your network of contacts or gain additional school credits.  An internships may be paid, unpaid, or partially paid. Paid internships are most common in the medical, architecture science, engineering, law, business (especially accounting and finance), technology and advertising fields.   Internships in non-profit organization such as charities and think tanks are often unpaid positions. These positions may be part-time or full-time; typically they are part-time during the school year and full-time throughout the students summer.  If anyone has the opportunity to gain some experience as an intern I would suggest that you jump on it as soon as possible. 

  Finally, apprenticeships are one of the best options out there.  Most of your training is completed on the job while working with an employer who helps the apprentice learn their trade. After becoming fully qualified the apprentice normally stays on board for an agreed period of time in exchange for the shared skills of the practitioner. An apprenticeship may include theoretical education that may be provided through the employer or an educational institution.  For those of you already in a trades position that are looking to increase or maintain your 'hireability'  get involved in a apprenticeship program. This will greatly increase your value to your existing employer or one of your potential future employers. 

 Your 'hireability' is all dependant on the decisions that you make while you attend school. If you are proactive and work at increasing your 'hireability' your career profile will reflect it and it you sit on your hands that will be reflected as well.