BY DANIELLE LORENZ, MACINSIDERS
Exams are wrapping up for the term, and if you're done (or almost there) I'm sure you're thinking about the couple of weeks of freedom you will have and how awesome it will be to spend time with friends, family, and food.
This is all well and good, but many students do not realize that they should start looking for their summer job now too. A lot of companies do summer hiring in January, and as a result it seems a lot of students are scrambling to find somewhere to work come March. So my advice for you is to spend some of your time over the break looking for jobs and creating your job profile.
Have you set up an account on
LinkedIn yet? If you haven't, do it. It is (yet another) social networking site, but relates specifically to your job and job experience. You fill out a profile (that reads similar to a CV or resume), and find contacts from school or work, which in turn can put you in contact with people in various industries. You can check out
my profile to give you a better idea.
Also, remember that you do make a digital footprint, so if you have anything that could be the least bit incriminating on Facebook (pictures of drunken exploits), make sure your profile is set to private. A good way to check out your digital footprint is by Googling yourself. I've done it, and
my name shows up a lot (3.8 million times), because there seem to be several people with my name or one similar.
There are tons of options for students, which I outlined this summer
in this article. I've given a similar list below:
McMasterObviously, these are sites developed for Mac students, and some have jobs that will be on campus. Some of the OSCAR positions however are "open" so you will be in competition for these jobs with students from other schools too.
Job Search Sites (Specific)TalentEgg has the aim of finding meaningful positions for students and new grads; so you will not see generic positions here (CollegePro Painters, etc). Charity Village deals with the non-profit sector, so if you're looking at working an NGO or similar there are lots of options for you here too. Job Bank shows all of the jobs available within the Canadian government, and does have a specific search function for post-secondary students.
Job Search Sites (General)These are more "general" job boards...so often they don't have a lot of options available for students. But they are worth a shot.
Classified WebsitesThese sites function like classified ads in a newspaper...so there is no guarantee you will find a legitimate or good job here. But again, there is no harm in looking. Companies do use these sites because they are available for free, so you may find a diamond in the rough if you look hard enough!
If you haven't even started thinking about looking for a job for the summer, this can get those wheels turning. I do highly suggest however that you all start looking for a job sooner rather than later, otherwise you will end up looknig in March and get stuck with something you don't want!
