Wednesday, October 22, 2014

An Overview of Career and Work-Related Resources at UTSC

A Series
Article #1: The AA & CC Website

Looking for resources both on campus and online, pertaining to the topics of job search and academics may be rather challenging. For this reason, I have compiled a list of resources that will help students throughout their academic journey here at the University of Toronto Scarborough. This post will be the beginning of a series that will examine quite a number of these resources in greater detail. I will list links to everything discussed at the end of the blog post.

I’ve always found it is easier to find something when you know what you are looking for. In terms of career research, it is important to have a general idea of the skills you want to develop, career paths that interest you, and the qualities you already have that make you suitable for this career. At the Academic Advising and Career Centre, there is a useful online tool called the Online Self Assessment.

Online Self-Assessment (ONSA)

This tool lets you choose your best qualities and skills, as opposed to a questionnaire that evaluates your skills based on your answers. It allows you to reflect on what skills are important to you, and whether or not you need to further develop these skills. It takes about twenty minutes to complete, and upon completion, it generates a comprehensive report that shows your skills, best personal qualities, work interests, and values. You can make an appointment at the Academic Advising and Career Centre to discuss your results with a career counselor also.

Now that you have some idea of the type of career you want to pursue or what fields of work you are interested in, you can research this further using the other resources available to students.


This website is an excellent resource for students who are looking for jobs or trying to improve their study skills. As the name implies, there are two main aspects of this website:

Academic

Trying to study smarter? The AA &CC offers peer coaching. Bring your course materials to AC321 Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 12pm – 2pm receive assistance with time management, effective note taking, and other study skills. For one-on-one help, make sure you visit the Career Learning Network at www.cln.utoronto.ca, and book an appointment one week in advance.


Career

This section provides a variety of resources that can help students with research regarding employment. The “What Can I do With My Degree?” page lists potential jobs by program, skills relevant to the job, and has external links for further research. When you come across job titles that are appealing to you, you will start to get a better sense of what you want to do in the future.

For information about resumes, cover letters, and interviews, there are helpful pages on the AA &CC website. You can also sign up for the Resume Blitz on Career Learning Network, where you will have a 15-20 minute consultation with staff to improve your resume. These sessions take place in September, January and May. Be sure to have a printed copy of your resume.

Tip Sheets are also an important resource. There are tip sheets for a variety of academic and career related subjects. For example, there is an interesting one on procrastination, attributing the reason students procrastinate to fear of success. There is also a tip sheet on government work opportunities, which thoroughly explains the types of jobs available at the municipal, provincial, and federal branches of government.

Good luck on your midterms!
Angelin


Links to pages discussed in blog post:
3.     AA & CC resources page: http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/aacc/node/20
4.     What Can I do With My Degree? http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/aacc/what-can-i-do-my-degree





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