Services We Offer

One of the most frequent questions we get here in the Career Resource Centre is always:

"So...what exactly do you do here?"

Today I'm here to answer this perpetual question. You'll quickly find that just about anything that you have questions about regarding your career path or any preparation involved in pursuing that path is covered through one of our many services.

Here's a snapshot of some of the things we offer:

• Assistance with job search (all kinds) and locating volunteer opportunities, both on and off campus
• Locating resources regarding working/studying/volunteering abroad
• Help with preparing for interviews and finding resources to help you practice your interviewing skills
• Online and order-a-workshop series on the subjects of resume and cover letter writing, portfolio development, and more
• 15 minute drop-in resume, cover letter, and curriculum vitae review services with a trained Career Assistant
• Other experiental programs to complement your degree including Mentorship, Experience, Volunteer, International, Advantage, and Med Plus programs
• Assistance in researching opportunities in post graduate programs and going over necessary application documents (including teacher's college, post graduate college diplomas, and all other graduate studies)
• In-house print resources on a variety of topics including resume writing, building a career portfolio, teaching abroad, entrance exams, networking, professional etiquette, and more!

So I think this question really becomes - what don't we do at Career Services?

Stop by to find out more about how we can help you achieve your short and long term career goals.

See you soon!
Lia

 

Taking Care of Business: BCDO at Brock!

If you're a Business student, you may already know and use the Business Career Development Office (BCDO) on a regular basis. You may know that it is an invaluable tool geared to help Business students SPECIFICALLY with resume building, professional development, networking and degree exploration. For those of you who have never heard of the BCDO, or have heard of it and never used it, I write to you today to let you know that this amazing resource is there for you, Business students, so USE IT to your advantage!

Basically, the BCDO is an office there to help you:

• understand and determine career options with your degree
• create a resume and cover letter that will impress employers
• conduct effective job search and succeed in a competitive job market
• meet employers and network with industry professionals

Pretty much all the same stuff we offer here at Career Services, except specific to Business students!

There are a few differences:

Career Services:
 - drop in resume and cover letter reviews
 - more broad range career information
 - alumni can use us after they graduate, no cap on our services

BCDO:
 - due to the specific resume reviews they provide, appointments are necessary
 - walk-in hours and resume clinics are available
 - after one year, limitations on access to the BCDO occur
 - The BCDO offers a specific Business Job Postings section through Career Zone

NOTE: Business students can STILL come to Career Services for any of their career needs, from degree exploration to resume reviews, and even career planning. The main thing is that the BCDO offers very specific information, geared exclusively toward Business students. But we encourage all students to recognize all of the student services and resources available to them on campus and to take advantage of everything!

To book an appointment with the BCDO, just log in to Career Zone!

For more information feel free to visit the BCDO website, or email Stephanie Sugamori at ssugamori@brocku.ca for more details.

Brittany

Guess Who

He is tall, has blue eyes, wears a red sweater and blue pants, and is super educated on careers!

Who is he you ask?

Jack McIsaac of course!

Jack is Career Service’s wonderful avatar who is super involved.  He knows about all career events happening on campus and he can help you stay connected to the Brock Community. He posts a variety of career/international information on his facebook wall and Twitter account. Jack also uses his pinterest board as a way for students to connect themselves with what is new and interesting in the career world.

Jack is very friendly and would love for you to add/ follow him on all of his social media pages. You can follow him on facebook at Jack McIsaac on twitter @JackMcisaac and finally on pinterest at jackmcisaaccs.

So add away and learn all you can about what's current in careers! If you have any questions or comments about Jack feel free to ask me or Jack himself on one of his walls.

Have a fabulous Thursday,
Rosemary

Advantages of Part-Time Jobs

So it's a brand new school year and classes are well underway. What are you going to do to fill those spaces between lectures, before (or preferably after) you're done your assignments, and to make some extra cash?

...Well, you're going to apply for a part-time job, of course!

Working during your studies poses many valuable advantages to your university career. Just as a few examples, you will:

• Be able to learn valuable transferable skills such as organization, teamwork, professional etiquette, customer service...the list goes on! Not to mention you might have the opportunity to take part in other professional development opportunities depending on your employer
• Meet new people & network with professionals - not to mention you will also have the opportunity to snap up some wonderful references from your employer
• Expand your resume and gain experience for your future career path (your part-time job may even open up doors for you in the future and turn into full-time work!)
• Learn more about a specific field and/or industry
• Help finance your education and other expenses
• Diversify your schedule and take a break from schoolwork/other commitments

So as you can see, working during university has many benefits, even for the modern-day busy student. If you're interested in part-time work, check out CareerZone for current opportunities both on and off campus. For more general searches, take a look at the Find A Job section of our website, or as always, stop by the Resource Centre for more tips & tricks.

Happy job-hunting!
Lia

PS. It's wonderful to be back writing the blog for 2012-2013. Looking forward to an exciting year!

Welcome Back Brockers!

So by tomorrow school will have officially been back in session for one whole week, and doesn't it feel like its full speed ahead? In Career Services we definitely feel this way. With Shop for Jobs just behind us and so many of you looking for part-time jobs, we have been happily busy with helping you guys!

We just wanted to take the time to welcome you all back, and let you know that our school year hours are Monday-Friday, 9-4:30pm! We are located just inside the South Entrance of the Learning Commons. Remember to come by with questions about your degree, finding a job, graduate school applications, you name it! As well, drop by with your resume and cover letter and we can review it for you no problem! It only takes ten minutes.

Hope to see you all soon and here's to a successful and productive year to all!

Brittany

Introducing the New Career Assistants!

Career Services is excited to introduce you to our 6 new Career Assistants for the 2012/2013 school year! Joining our lead CA and three senior CAs, the new Career Assistant team will be happy to answer all of your job and career related questions throughout the rest of the school year.

We thought we would take the time to introduce our new staff by asking them each a career related question to find out a little bit more about them!

Ben (Recreation and Leisure Studies)
Q: If you could have any fictional job what would it be?
A: Leprechaun because I can eat all the Lucky Charms I want and charm all the ladies at the pub.

Nella (Psychology - 3rd Year)
Q: What was your first job and what did you like/dislike about it?
A: My first job was at Highland Country Markets. I worked at the meat counter of the butcher portion of store. I only liked some of the people I worked with other than that I disliked EVERYTHING from management, to never having a Saturday off, to having to serve bits of pigs and cows to customers. Hard to believe I stayed for a year!

Becky (Tourism and Environment - 2nd Year)
Q: When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: Ok, so when I was younger I was invited to my friend's awesome pool party every year and her dad would video tape us and ask us questions. My answer to "What do you want to be when you grow up" was "a figure skater!". My friends dad was like "No really, what do you want to be when you grow?" and I replied "No really, a figure skater".

Kylie (Concurrent Education (J/I division) Minor in Geography and English - 4th year)
Q: If you were a professor what subject would you teach?
A: I would teach geography because of the variety of strands available. Specifically, social and cultural geography are interested to me because it examines people's interactions in different spaces and traits of cultural groups within society. For these reasons, I would teach geography.

Jami (Public Health - 3rd Year)
Q: What is a career that everyone always says you would be good at?
A: Animal rescue and/or care

Shawn (Kinesiology - 4th Year)
Q: Would you rather work under the ocean, work on land, or work in the sky? Why?
A: When you're under the ocean you cannot see the light, and if you're in the sky your heads in the clouds. I would work on land because of how much wonder it has. The world is a book, and if you don't explore then you read only one page. The day I stop understanding the land we call Earth, is the day I stop living.


Returning Student Staff!

Lia
Position: Lead Career Assistant
Program: Child and Youth Studies (4th Year) 
 
Ashley 
Position: Senior Career Assistant
Program: History of Art and Visual Culture (3rd Year)

Brittany
Position: Senior Career Assistant
Program: English Language and Literature and Dramatic Arts (5th Year)

Rosemary
Position: Senior Career Assistant
Program: Child and Youth Studies, Minor in French (4th Year)




As a reminder, we are now open from 9-4:30 from Monday to Friday for the school year! 

See you soon!

- Ashley and Brittany