“During my job-hunt, I found tons of jobs on company websites that weren’t advertised elsewhere. Many students use job search engines and their schools’ career centers to find jobs. If more companies could use these outlets to post their jobs, it would be beneficial to both students and companies.”
—Amanda Perkins, Student, Queen’s University
I attend the commerce program at Queen’s University and, starting in week one, there is recruiting. Many of the large firms come to Kingston and host information sessions, mock interviews and networking events.
Although the employers are usually looking at third and fourth year students, I decided to attend some of the information sessions last year as a second year student.
I attended sessions in different fields such as insurance, marketing, accounting and finance to get a taste of what the jobs entailed and whether or not I would be interested in that field.
I went to many of these sessions knowing that they would not be interested in hiring me for the summer, but I felt it was valuable for me to attend to learn about the different companies and to make some connections.
I began my official job search in December. I searched online by going to the main job search engines or company websites that I thought I would enjoy to work for and applied to any positions that interested me.
This was a long process as many of the jobs posted had long online applications that were tedious and time consuming to fill out. Unfortunately, job after job, I was rejected. The rejections early on motivated me to keep on applying. By April, I was tired. I had applied to over 100 jobs, all in different fields and specialties, and was not accepted by a single one.
I came home during my exam break, and found a job at a local pub. I was excited to finally be hired after an exhausting job search!
In the first few weeks as I was being trained, I didn’t receive many hours, so I looked for something else part time. I found on Kijiji an unpaid social media internship for a fitness blog. I emailed the company right away and I received a response a few hours later. I then went to Toronto for an interview. It was an informal interview, where I had the opportunity to talk about my interests and strengths rather than answering formal questions. I left the interview feeling confident and, thankfully, was hired a few days later.
I have found a good balance between a fast-paced waitressing job that involves interacting with customers, and a second job where I can exercise my writing skills and knowledge of fitness and nutrition.
Where I am now
In August, I will be heading back to Kingston for my third year in the commerce program. I am going on exchange in the winter term to Ljubljana, Slovenia.
My recommendations for employers, schools and career-centres
During my job-hunt, I found tons of jobs on company websites that weren’t advertised elsewhere. Many students use job search engines and their schools’ career centers to find jobs. If more companies could use these outlets to post their jobs, it would be beneficial to both students and companies.
My recommendation for students
Thinking back on my job hunt experiences, I probably wouldn’t have done anything differently. I believe being persistent will benefit students in the end.
Timing is also another factor to consider. It helps to apply to companies when they are looking for employees, instead of in a slow season when they will take your resumé and put it on file for later.
There are jobs out there, you just have to put in the effort to look for them!
Also, talk to people! I have made some great contacts over the past year just by being at events and making connections. There is only so much you can show about yourself online. Being in person and meeting people gives them a better picture of who you are and what you can bring to a job.
This #StudentVoice belongs to:
Amanda Perkins
Student
Commerce
Queen’s University