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metronews.ca
work & education
Persistence will surely pay off SUBMITTED
STUDENT VOICE AMANDA PERKINS TALENTEGG.CA
I attend the commerce program at Queen’s University and just finished my second year. I began my official job search in December. I searched online by going to the main job search engines or company websites that I thought I would enjoy working for and applied to any positions that interested me. This was a long process as many of the jobs posted had long online applications that were tedious and time-consuming to fill out. Unfortunately, job after job, I was rejected. The rejections early on motivated me to keep on applying. By
Amanda Perkins
April, I was tired. I had applied to over 100 jobs, all in different fields and specialties, and was not accepted by a single one. I came home during my exam break, and found a job at a local pub. I was excited to finally be hired after an exhausting job search! In the first few weeks as I was being trained, I didn’t
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receive many hours, so I looked for something else part-time. I found on Kijiji an unpaid social media internship for a fitness blog. I emailed the company right away and I received a response a few hours later. I then went to Toronto for an interview. It was an informal interview, where I had the opportunity to talk about my interests and strengths rather than answering formal questions. I left the interview feeling confident and, thankfully, was hired a few days later. I have found a good balance between a fast-paced waitressing job that involves interacting with customers, and a second job where I can exercise my writing skills and knowledge of fitness and nutrition. Thinking back on my job hunt experiences, I probably wouldn’t have done anything differently. I believe being persistent will benefit students in the end. Timing is also another factor to consider. It helps to apply to companies when they are looking for employees, instead of in a slow season when they will take your resumé and put it on file for later. There are jobs out there, you just have to put in the effort to look for them. TALENTEGG.CA, CANADA’S ONLINE CAREER RESOURCE FOR STUDENTS AND RECENT GRADS, WANTS TO HEAR YOUR STUDENT VOICE. SHARE IT AT TALENTEGG.CA.
Canada is a leader in providing managed services and is holding a job fair to fill F/T and P/T Cooks, Cashiers, Starbucks Baristas, General Helpers, Tim Hortons staff, and Supervisor positions at the University of Toronto downtown campus.
JOB FAIR
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2011
How to unplug the professional you Leaving those workaholic ways at the doorstep ISTOCK
If connecting with clients comes before hugging your hubby at home, you may want to re-evaluate your workload.
DREW HINSHAW
LIFE@METRONEWS.CA
When you’re hooked on workahol, living through the smartphone decade doesn’t help. Reachable everywhere, at all hours of the day, today’s workforce can be forgiven for feeling like a servant class to BlackBerry overloads, buzzing with new commands. If you don’t take a step back to draw boundaries between the conference room and the living room, work life coach Sue Thompson says, you could sacrifice your free will to a phone. “We no longer have a work life and a home life,” she says. “We have a life and we really need to decide how we want to live that life.” Chances are you haven’t had time to ask yourself that existential question, says Shirin Khamisa, founder of Careers By De-
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August 9th and 10th from 10AM-3PM University of Toronto, New College Residence 40 Willcocks Street, Toronto, ON
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sign. “Look at your habits, get a reality check,” she says. “Is the way you’re functioning really serving you? If you’re texting at the dinner table, how is that affecting your interaction with your family? If you’re a young, single person, how does always being connected affect your personal life?” Keeping your thumbs surgically attached to the phone could hurt more than your dating career, she notes. It could destroy your actual career. “Often times working less makes you more productive,” she explains. She encourages you to ask yourself: Is it truly worth hammering away into the deep night, before slumping to work the next morning, tired, hollow, and ineffective? “Start thinking in terms of results,” she urges.
Create a Switch
Trouble disconnecting? Create what career counsellor Courtney Anderson calls “a mental switch.” “Take that switch and say ‘I’m off, I’m logging off,’” she recommends. “Take personal time. Otherwise, with technology, it’s possible to be always working.” “You have to create a psychological barrier more than anything,” agrees Thompson. She suggests a change of clothes. “Dress professionally for work,” she offers. “That way, when you get home and you take off those clothes, that’s your psychological barrier that shows you’re at home.” If not you could lose perspective. “If you don’t make that serious effort, it’s all going to blend in,” she says. “I’m sure in five or 10 years, it’s going to be even harder.”