Shaping Up for Job Fair

By: Emma Duca, Peer Advisor

If you’ve stepped foot inside Laurier’s gym lately, you’ve probably found yourself struggling to find an available locker, waiting (im)patiently for a treadmill or having to work out with only a few inches of space between your mat and the sweaty person next to you. Suddenly the gym has become more crowded than the Toronto Eaton Centre on boxing day, and we all know why: New Year’s resolutions.

While you’re concentrating on getting fit in 2014, consider also making a resolution to get focused on your career-planning…starting with the upcoming Job Fair. You’ve probably seen the posters plastered across campus: on Wednesday February 5th, students and alumni from Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Waterloo, University of Guelph and Conestoga College are invited to attend and network with over one hundred employers from various organizations.

Now, if you’ve ever attended Job Fair or Career Fair before, you may have been slightly intimidated when you first walk in. But just like you were probably a little intimidated when you walked into a gym your very first time, its not as complicated as it looks. Think of the booths as the equipment lined up at the gym; you don’t have to spend time at every single one… in fact, you probably shouldn’t. A much more effective use of your time would be to decide beforehand what you would like to focus on, whether its core or cardio, summer jobs or a career track position, and plan your visit accordingly. Just as you spend time getting ready for the gym beforehand, digging out your running shoes and charging your iPod, spend some time preparing for Job Fair before you go. Research a few organizations that you’re particularly interested in, come up with some questions to ask the representatives, and have a few resumės or networking cards ready to hand out – how else will they remember you? Remember, unlike your workout sessions, Job Fair only comes around once a year (or maybe this is exactly like your workout sessions for some of you..) – so make the most of your time while you’re there!

If you’d like a little more guidance and preparation beforehand, make sure you attend the workshops being offered at the Career Centre on how to make the most of Job Fair (check the Calendar of Events for details).

“Make a Life, Not Just a Living”

By: Jess Amaro, Peer Advsisor

The other day I watched a TedTalks video of a lecture given by a thirteen-year-old student named Logan LaPlante.

Now, Logan isn’t your typical student. He doesn’t attend a traditional school with traditional classrooms or textbooks. Instead, Logan refers to his education as “Hackschooling”, which incorporates a number of different areas he’s involved in like creativity, technology and online resources, experiential classes and camps, and first and foremost: being happy and healthy. Every day he’s involved with new experiences and is constantly exploring not just the pages of a textbook, but the entire world around him, through experiments, research, internships, and…well…living!

In this TedTalk video, Logan brings up an interesting comment he heard when conducting an interview with an individual named Dr Roger Walsh, who has written about the “Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes” that Logan focuses on for his own happiness and health. Walsh noted that much of education today is oriented towards making a living, instead of making a life.

That line in particular really got me thinking about how crucial it is to do what makes you happy. Finding something you look forward to getting up for each day might not be an easy journey, but it sounds well worth it because of the sense of satisfaction and fulfillment it brings. And it seems as though now more than ever, both things are difficult to find.

Fortunately, there are so many different things that you can explore during your time here at Laurier! Being a Golden Hawk means you have access to so many different opportunities and resources that can help you discover who you are and what you’re passionate about, and how to turn that into what you do with your life. And yes, you guessed it – the Career Centre is one of many great resources at Laurier to help you with that process.

Maybe Hackschooling isn’t exactly an option, but Logan’s ideas about learning and finding happiness can still be applied in many different ways. The simplest way is to just get out there and try new experiences!

You can check out Logan LaPlante’s TedTalk here:

Two Sets of Eyes Are Better Than One

By: Shelby Weber, Peer Advisor

For some strange reason, many people would rather hand over their resumės to a complete stranger, than pass it along to a friend or family member. Our resumės contain information about our education, past experiences, and achievements, all of which our friends and family know about, but yet, it is a document that many people feel too vulnerable sharing with their peers, or people close to them. It’s strange that we would hide our resumės from those who will be most honest with us – like it is some sort of sacred document, or personal diary.

Protecting your resumė from people that will give you honest feedback is one of the worst things that you can do for yourself, as another set of eyes can catch small errors that you may have missed on your own. What seems like a top of the line resumė to you, could look quite average to your peers, or even worse, potential employers. If you want the perfect resumė, you must take advantage of all the people and tools set in place to help you.

Laurier’s Career Centre provides countless resources for students looking to improve their resumės. First, I would recommend attending the Resumė Writing Workshop. Second, I would recommend stopping by a weekly Career Centre Resumė Drop-In Booth on campus where one of your Peers (who is trained on resumės!), can provide you with some tips for improvement. Having your resumė viewed by a peer, or a Consultant means you have nothing to lose. But handing in a resumė (that has never had a second set of eyes) to a prospective employer means a job to lose!

Laurier’s Career Centre, and Peer Advisors, can help you craft a resumė that you will be proud to show not only to employers, but also your friends and family.