Career Blog
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It can be scary to think about the future, especially when you are surrounded by fellow classmates who are all obtaining amazing job opportunities that they have always dreamed of. To help put your nerves at ease, consider the following five tips to start you on your journey to getting your dream job.
1. Perform a self-assessment
Assess your skills, interests, and values. This means developing a list or a mind map of the key skills you currently have, what kind of job you are looking for and how it would match with these skills, and what you would like to accomplish through that job. For example, you may be a master at public speaking and a job as a news anchor could benefit from this skill. You also value integrity so providing an honest representation of current events while captivating your audience would match the skills required. As you create this list, you will be able to see where you lack knowledge and then be able to research for opportunities to improve on these weaknesses. To aid in this process, meet with the Career Counsellor at the Telfer Career Centre through Career Launch.
2. Do not be discouraged by a seemingly irrelevant work experience
If you have worked as a cashier at a retail store for the past few summers, you may feel that this puts you at a disadvantage compared to other candidates. However, your customer service experience has likely provided you with the ability to communicate effectively with various people, perform in a team environment, and develop strong leadership skills. Make sure to include this on your resumé. Your various volunteer experiences, hobbies, and extracurricular activities may even have allowed you to gain useful skills. Map your resumé around what these opportunities have taught you, and not on what you are missing. To learn how to craft impactful skill statements for your resumé that will wow recruiters (yes, even for a barista summer job), book an appointment for a resumé critique with the Professional Development Coordinator at the Telfer Career Centre through Career Launch.
3. You may not get it the first time
Your first job might not be your dream job and that’s okay; your first job may not even be in the right industry. Start small. If your dream job is working for the Bank of Canada, maybe starting in an office setting, or working as a teller, are both steps in the right direction. As you hold more positions, you will expand your knowledge and develop your resumé towards the exact career and employer you want. Everyone starts somewhere.
4. Start planning NOW
Start thinking about your future now. It is easier to move positions early on in your career when you do not have as many financial or family responsibilities. The Telfer Career Centre holds various networking events for professionals, in addition to career workshops that can help you identify your abilities and market yourself effectively. Use these networking opportunities to talk to professionals in your area of interest and collect their business cards so you can follow up with them to answer any outstanding questions.
5. Be realistic
No job is perfect. For every job, there are going to be good and bad factors to be considered. You must be realistic: you cannot expect your dream job to be without any drawbacks. Most importantly, you must focus on the positive points, because they can outweigh the negative ones. For example a collaborative and supportive work environment, flexible work hours, and interesting projects to work on, can more than make up of the occasional long hours.
Go get that dream job!
Source: www.monster.com/career-advice/article/6-tips-for-landing-your-dream-job-hot-jobs
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I’m not sure if any of you have experienced this, but a thought that has been on my mind since I’ve started thinking about life after university has been whether I want to work for the private or public sector. As someone who has experience in both sectors, I find it even harder to decide, but I have found many opportunities and advantages for both.
The first thing that comes to people’s minds when they hear “public sector” is the government. The fact that Ottawa has a large population of governmental employees definitely contributes to that thought. What I’ve noticed with my experience in the government is primarily how focused they are on recruiting students and incorporating a work-life balance element. With the baby-boomers retiring, it will be our generation that soon will be pulling the reins.
Governmental departments and agencies hire students, and they do this through FSWEP (Federal Student Work Experience Program), internal pools, CO-OP or even word-of-mouth recruiting. I got my job through FSWEP. And yes, it did take a long time to hear back. So for those of you whose applications have been sent to managers and haven’t yet heard back from them, it takes time, so don’t be discouraged!
The government also collaborates with the YPN (Young Professional Network). This network offers many activities and networking opportunities for youths, which allows students working for the government to have exposure to not only other students, but to different employers as well. Furthermore, being a student and working for the government means there is a possibility for bridging, which essentially means that students can be integrated into positions after the completion of their educational program.
The private sector seems to be a popular choice for many, and I’ve often heard from others that depending on the company, there is more room for growth, particularly “career progression.” A lot of private companies are smaller in size, with sometimes no more than 40 employees, which contributes to the idea of faster growth and promotion. In my personal experience, I was able to see career progression put into action. Once my colleagues were comfortable with their job duties and performed successfully, they were given more responsibilities, and within a year, some were promoted.
Organizational culture is also a huge factor that I’ve seen emphasized in the private sector. It’s true that within the sector one will find many different companies, each with their own set of values and beliefs, which makes it easier to determine which one best resonates with you. Interestingly enough, many private sector companies have government departments and agencies as their clients, so there is a level of collaboration between them.
At the end of the day, the public and private sectors offer many things, some very similar, and some very different. It’s important to determine the factors YOU would value in your future job, and use these to guide you to your ideal job. If possible, try to get experience in both sectors. You can also get advice and suggestions from friends, family, career specialists, etc. about which sector to choose, but at the end of the day, nothing beats your own experience. Always be mindful that whether an opportunity you choose works out or not, you will always learn something from it.
