How Ontario Tech's Career Centre Supports Your Success
Vocational wellness: defined as gaining personal satisfaction and enrichment from one's work. This can apply to the academic work we do in school or the work we do in paid positions. Vocational wellness involves using your skills, talents, and gifts to gain personal satisfaction, happiness, and enrichment from your work in order to live a fulfilling life. It also encourages us to seek new, rewarding experiences through volunteerism and other work that aligns with personal interests. It’s through this work that positive change can be enacted.
We interviewed Career Counsellor Nancy Mak from Ontario Tech’s Career Centre to bring you the information you need to work on your vocation wellness!
What services does the Career Centre offer?
The Career Centre offers a wide range of services, including one-on-one career counselling and employment advising, as well as group workshops and job preparation sessions. They also host the Career Carnival, employer networking opportunities, the Further Education Expo, job fairs (including the Reverse Job Fair), the Get Experience Fair, and iLaunch events throughout the year. For students who haven’t yet used a Career Centre service, these events are also a great place to start!
What is the Career Development Plan?
The Career Centre wants students to be able to explore career options and get to know themselves. This model encourages students to consider and reflect on their interests and what comes naturally to them. It also encourages self-exploration. This allows students to reflect on their personality, interests, and values. Once that’s done, the Career Centre can help students explore career options and pathways. Some students may worry about a lack of jobs in their fields of interest. In this case, the Career Centre would help them find labour market data, allowing them to make evidence-informed decisions. Once the student identifies a career they’d like to move forward with, the Career Centre can assist students in making an action plan for long and short-term goals. This may include volunteer experience, co-op internships, information interviewing, or even job shadowing.
Ultimately, this process is meant to help students (and alumni) narrow down their career interests. Positive and negative experiences with job exploration can help clarify career goals. Having these conversations with students and tailoring their career development plans can help guide them through this potentially stressful decision-making process.
What are the most popular Career Centre services among students?
- Resume Writing and Cover Letters: The Career Centre can help students tailor these documents so they’re attention-grabbing to potential employers.
- Interview Help: The Career Centre provides interview preparation tips, online resources, video interview practice, and one-on-one appointments.
- LinkedIn Workshops: In these workshops, students can learn about the benefits of having a LinkedIn profile, the keys to having a good profile, and how to connect with recruiters and potential employers.
What’s the difference between career counselling and employment advising?
Career counselling involves meeting with a career counsellor to do some career exploration. This service can help students determine if they’re in a suitable program for their career of interest, or if their program can provide potential careers of interest. Career counselling focuses on the student’s interests, strengths, and values, as these can be used to help them find a career they would enjoy. If you are feeling unmotivated in your degree or struggling to cope with stress surrounding your career path, this may be a good service for you.
Employment advising involves meeting with an employment advisor for personalized advice on resumes, cover letters, interview skills, job searching, and more. An employment counsellor will work with you on the areas you need assistance with.
Which Career Centre events & programming should more students attend or utilize?
The networking events and workshops are great opportunities that are sometimes underutilized. Networking events offer students a chance to establish connections in the job market prior to graduation, which enhances their readiness for post-graduation employment. Surprisingly, statistics reveal a disparity between graduates' perceived readiness for the job market and employers' assessments, indicating the significance of gaining practical experience. Nancy’s colleague, Natalie, urges students to engage with employers, understand their expectations, gain insights into various industries, and expand their professional network, emphasizing the value of building contacts early on.
Additionally, attending workshops will help students develop essential skills for networking and interviewing. There is something for everyone in career services, so students are encouraged to explore and leverage these opportunities.
What advice would you give to students who may feel unsure of what they want to do after university?
This is one of the most common concerns that students come to the Career Centre with, and it's important to know that they are not alone. It’s not uncommon to be unsure of where you want to take your degree or to want to switch programs. These concerns are what career counselling is for!
Nancy advises students to get as much experience as they can through job shadowing, volunteering, or co-op. This way, you can get to know the day-to-day tasks of what a career might look like and can give you a better idea of what you want to do. Networking is also useful here, as it can give you a feel for what a job entails, if people in the role feel inspired by what they do, and can simply allow you to get to know people within a career of interest. Getting different kinds of experience in a potential field can help confirm whether you want to pursue it or find another path. This also helps to expand a student's network and discover further opportunities that they wouldn’t have known about before.
There are also online career assessments that can help students understand their preferences for job environments, their personality, or their strengths and interests. The Career Centre can advise students on what career assessments they can do, as well as debrief with students regarding their results.
What career advice would you give to first-year students?
According to Career Counsellor Natalie, the transition from high school to university can be quite overwhelming for first-year students. The learning and teaching methods differ significantly from those in high school, leading many students to struggle with feelings of belonging and academic performance. Some may even begin to question their chosen program and whether it suits them. Active participation in campus clubs and activities can greatly alleviate these challenges.
Utilizing the guidance provided by first-year Peer Mentors is highly beneficial for navigating academic and career-related concerns; the Ambassador Program also offers opportunities for mentorship. As students become more involved, they’ll become more aware of available resources such as the Careers Centre, which will hopefully encourage them to take advantage of these resources.
What is the best way to get in contact with the Career Centre, and what kinds of appointments are offered?
Students and alumni can contact the Career Centre by emailing careercentre@ontariotechu.ca or by calling 905.721.8668 ext. 3824.
The Career Centre offers both online and in-person one-on-one support appointments that can be scheduled online through the Student Life Portal. There, you can book a career counselling or employment advising appointment.
If you are not sure how to book an appointment in the portal, you can also reach the Career Centre by emailing careercounselling@ontariotechu.ca or calling us at 905.721.8668 ext. 3392.
Was there anything else students should know?
Nancy encourages more students to come to the Job Fair on campus. This event can help to address some concerns regarding gaining experience and finding work. It’s an excellent opportunity to network, since hiring employers are invited to showcase their companies and discuss potential employment opportunities with students. Three job fairs each year: The Job Fair hosted in conjunction with Durham College; the Part-Time Job Fair; and the Summer Job Fair.
In the days leading up to the Job Fair each year, the Career Centre recommends reviewing Job Preparation Tips and/or booking an appointment with the Career Centre.
