EngSoc, what’s good in the hood?? Andrew, your friendly neighborhood Spi- *cough* VP Academic with another hot-pressed Iron Warrior article! My article this week is geared more towards four-stream, first-year engineering students. That being said, I feel the message of the article is valuable to all engineering students.
Rankings come out today, November 1. If you’re reading this article in the afternoon then they’re already out *gasp*, which marks the end of the ‘Main-Matching’ process. To recap, this is the period after interviewing where you see what employers ranked you on WaterlooWorks, and you subsequently rank them. After this ranking period transpires, WaterlooWorks runs a matching algorithm to determine what companies students will be matched with. After the ‘Main-Matching’ process, some of you will be matched with employers – but a significant portion of students (especially first years) will not.
To those students who’ve gotten jobs – I’d like to extend my congratulations to you. If you’re in four-stream first-year, you’re past one of the most significant hurdles of your degree: landing the first co-op job.
However, to the majority of four-stream first-year students who are still looking for work: hang in there. I’ll say from experience that it’s easy to think less of yourself for not having a job at this stage of the process. It’s easy to look at other people’s success and compare yourself with them. It’s easy to let these things harm your self-esteem. Here’s my advice for you: don’t.
When I was in 1B (as an eight-stream engineering student) looking for my first co-op job, I didn’t land my first interview until two weeks into the continuous round. I didn’t have any interviews in the main round. I didn’t get ranked by any companies. I didn’t rank any companies. By the time I received my first interview, I had applied to over 100 jobs. It wasn’t until after final exams (a week into the Spring term) that I finally landed my first co-op job. It’s sad to say, but this is typical for first-year engineering students.
So, if you’re a student who is still looking for work – here’s my advice to you: don’t be discouraged. Keep applying to jobs, keep refining your résumé, and keep your head up. EngSoc provides services to help you in the job hunt process. If you’re looking to get your résumé critiqued during the continuous round, EngSoc is holding another Résumé Critique workshop TOMORROW, November 2nd, from 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM in RCH 3rd floor atrium. Furthermore, we have resources available on our website (https://www.engsoc.uwaterloo.ca ) for résumé writing (such as templates and general tips), as well as an online résumé critique service called ‘résumé rescue’, where you can request to get your résumé critiqued by an upper-year in your program (https://www.engsoc.uwaterloo.ca/resume-rescue/ ).
As always, I wish you all the best in your studies and the co-op process. If you ever need to talk to about anything, you can reach me at vpacademic.b@engsoc.uwaterloo.ca , or find me in the Orifice (CPH 1327)
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