Job Searching 101 on Campus

Greetings Yorkers (past, present-day and future),

I am hoping that everyone has been having an impressive summer so far, and if you haven’t, then what are you waiting for! There is still so much time left, so not to worry. In this post I will be answering two fundamental questions about job searching: Where to go to apply for a position/prepare for an interview and Who is available to help the application process easier

WHERE

The career center is the go-to place for anything and everything job-related.  Their located at 211 McLaughlin College for all questions and concerns (so go ask some)! If you go to www.careercentre.yorku.ca you can find job postings, which are available to apply for are various positions you can narrow your search down to such as: contract, permanent, summer jobs, on-campus, off-campus, and so forth. You will also see the following three positions: Work/Study, York Engaged Students (YES) & College Life at York (CLAY). To be eligible for these positions you must fill out the student financial profile (SFP) available at www.sfp.yorku.ca (which you should be doing anyways to get access to $60 million dollars’ worth of scholarships/awards/bursaries). Before I go ahead with the Who part I want to describe the three positions so you have a better idea on what’s what.

Work/Study: Work/Study positions help you balance your expenses while offering your valuable work experience and giving you flexible hours. Work/Study positions usually schedule hours around your school schedule to ensure student success.

Examples of Work/Study Positions: Fine Arts Student Ambassador, Red Zone Student Ambassador

York Engaged Students (YES): The YES program gives students a chance to gain skills to assist them in preparing for the post-undergrad world.

Examples of YES positions: Student Ambassadors, Student Therapists

College Life At York (CLAY): College Life At York (CLAY) is a work/study position available on Keele campus, where you have the opportunity to enhance the student experience in the college system.

Examples of CLAY positions: Alumni Affairs Developer, Academic Resource Adviser

WHO

The Career Centre is not only the place to go to find certain jobs, but it is also the place to go to make the application process much easier in terms of resume writing, cover letter review, and much more. The Career Centre offers free workshops all year long on various applicant concerns such as “Making a Great First Impression”, “Dining Etiquette”, “Suit Yourself: Personality and Career Choice” and so much more! Most of their workshops are available to RSVP online on the website! Later on you can also receive a letter of recognition (upon request) from the Career Center stating that you attended these workshops (which can your awesome preparation for a future employer!)

100 REASONS TO LOVE YORK U (PART ONE)

Heya guys! I hope ya’ll are a bit more confident after reading some of the amazing and insightful blog posts from my fellow RED Zone Ambassadors! (Check out Ernest’s post on some important dates:  http://mysavior1990.wordpress.com/2013/05/26/welcome-to-yu-yu-yu/ as well as Chris’ series on “YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ______” at http://thenewyork-er.tumblr.com/tagged/needtoknow.)

Earlier this week I got in a heated discussion with an old friend who is attending UFT on why YORKU (Insert CHEERS, HOORAHS, FIRE TORCHES!) is AWWWESOME! And… long story short, I won (obviously). So I will be giving you guys 100 Reasons why YOU should LOVE YORK!! I will be releasing 10 very important reasons weekly so keep an eye out ya’ll.

Before I get into my glorious and magical reasons, I would like to give a shout-out to my fellow RED Zone Student Ambassadors’ and twitter peeps for giving me their input on what should be on this list. Also a very special shout out to a particular RED Zone Student Ambassador: Nicole!! For helping me when I got stuck at 70 something (it happens guys!). Some of the reasons she gave I never even thought of (showing that there is SOOO much to love about York!) Check out her blog at: http://www.1inreallife.blogspot.ca/ 

1. Our Learning Skills Services: The Learning Skills services provides free workshops on: time management, exam preparation, study secrets (oo la lala) and much more. This is an EXTREMELY valuable resource ESPECIALLY for first year students. They help make your transition into university as smooooooth as possible! Attend eight workshops and get a passport for success (which can be valuable if you need to petition later on) Check out their event calendar at: http://www.yorku.ca/cds/lss/calendar/

2. York’s Student Financial Profile: This service makes finding money for school a breeze! Fill out the online application and York will match you with money, they take all the guess work out of it, what’s easier than that? Get your money smarts on at: http://sfs.yorku.ca/aid/sfp/

3. Cheap Meal Plans: York offers one of the cheapest meal plans in CANADA! Take advantage, have your food security for the year! View the plans at: http://foodservices.info.yorku.ca/meal-plan/

4. The Unique RED Zone: The RED Zone is a student-led transition program and there is nothing like it anywhere else! We operate Mon-Fri 10 AM-4 PM in the summer time at Vari Hall 1005 so come by (we’re lonely!). More info on us at: http://redzone.yorku.ca/

5. The Leadershape Retreat: We are the only university in Canada to host the Leadershape Retreat, a six day intense and interactive leadership-building experience (I don’t want to say more then that, it’ll ruin the surprise!). From someone who has gone, I can say it is truly an amazing experience. Get your leadership on at: http://www.leadershape.org/

6. Our Unique College System: Our college system helps further build spirit and pride through creating smaller as well as more tight-knit communities! It is extremely similar to Hogwart’s house! Get some college knowledge at: http://futurestudents.yorku.ca/colleges

7. The Unique Architecture: Some of the architecture at York is breath-taking (and this is from a science student who typically doesn’t even notice these type of things). If you don’t believe me, then look at this BlogTO article on our Life Sciences building being featured in the Five Ten Best Buildings in Toronto: http://www.blogto.com/city/2013/04/what_are_the_5_best_new_buildings_in_toronto_from_2012/

8. Let’s talk about Sustainability baby!: York University has been listed as one of Canada’s greenest employers for 2013 (YAY US). We are very sustainable at York and will even stop selling water bottles on campus starting from 2015!! Read up on our green at: http://www.yorku.ca/sustainability/

9. Butting Heads!: Conflict is bound to happen everywhere, and York University is not an exception to this universal law. Which is why we have the Office of Student Conflict Resolution (OSCR for short!) to help you deal with all your non-academic conflicts! Read about the different service to get some conflict resolution (and some peace of mind!): http://www.yorku.ca/oscr/index.html

10.YORK IS U!: Keep an eye out for York is U from the get-go people! WE LOVE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS (WE LOVE YOU!!!!) and of course everyone else (WE LOVE YOU TOO!!!), We have events all year long such as: York’s Birthday, The Terry Fox Run and much more. You can volunteer for us as late as the DAY OF THE EVENT for some hours, a snazzy  volunteer t-shirt and life-long friends (hehe). Read about us at: http://yorkisu.ca/ (we got a fancy new page yay)

This marks the end of the TOP 100 REASONS (PART ONE) hope you learned something new! Until next time, Yorkies!! 🙂