How the heck do you gain experience related to your degree if you don’t have a job?
For a lot of us, we might be up to our eyeballs in schoolwork, or we’re taking care of family members, or maybe we’re already working just to pay for life—we might not be in the position to take part in co-op or pursue a job in our area of study.
In this episode, Katy and Emma chat with some of UVic’s career educators and community-engaged learning coordinators to talk about:
What to do if you’re approaching graduation and need work experience
How to get experience through your courses
Specific suggestions for different program areas like science and fine arts
How do you start a career when you don't have work experience?
How can you identify the skills that you have from your academics?
How doing coursework that connects with the community help you gain experience?
How can you gain experience related to your studies when you're in school, for free?
Our guests share their tips for gaining hands-on experience
How to support yourself financially while gaining experience related to your studies
How to find the perfect job for you
What skills and experience are most important for students seeking jobs?
How can you find out what it's like to work for a particular employer?
How can fine arts students prepare for work and post-graduate studies?
Why your time at school is about the now and why it's important to be yourself
How can science students prepare for work and post-graduate studies?
Episode credits
How the heck do you gain experience related to your degree if you don’t have a job?
For a lot of us, we might be up to our eyeballs in schoolwork, or we’re taking care of family members, or maybe we’re already working just to pay for life—we might not be in the position to take part in co-op or pursue a job in our area of study.
In this episode, Katy and Emma chat with some of UVic’s career educators and community-engaged learning coordinators to talk about:
What to do if you’re approaching graduation and need work experience
How to get experience through your courses
Specific suggestions for different program areas like science and fine arts
What is Work It: A UVic career exploration podcast?
You spend a quarter of your life at work - you deserve to find a career you love!
Hosts Katy and Emma talk with guests from across industries about their careers: what they love, what they've learned, and how they got there.
Plus, you'll get actionable advice to help you succeed at work, like how to feel confident in job interviews, what to do to avoid burnout and more. Explore career options and meet your goals with Work It.
Emma Ulveland:
Hello everyone and welcome back to season 2 of Work It, a UVic career exploration podcast. This is the show where we're connecting with inspiring UVic alumni who are doing something that brings them joy or makes them proud. This season, we're also connecting with our amazing team of career educators at the University of Victoria to get some guidance on everything from gaining work experience to looking for work that you love.
Emma Ulveland:
I'm your host, Emma, and I'm a graduate of UVic, back for my second degree and preparing to start another co op adventure in my new field. I'm joined today by my co host, Katy.
Katy DeCoste:
Hi. I'm Katy, and I'm a communications professional by day and a poet and a fella about town by night. Just before we jump into our conversation, I want to acknowledge that today we're recording at the University of Victoria, which is located on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen peoples. We want to extend our gratitude for being here on this land today and want to acknowledge, with respect, the Songhees, Esquimalt, and Wissanese peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. Something I've been thinking about a lot lately and that has been brought to me by many, many people who live and work here on this land is that we have responsibilities to the places we are and to all the beings that exist in those places, human and more than human and nonhuman.
Katy DeCoste:
And that's just something I've been thinking about and trying to embody.
Emma Ulveland:
Today, we're connecting with some of our campus experts to answer a huge question. How do we gain relevant work experience related to our degree if we don't have a job? For a lot of us, we might be super busy with schoolwork or taking care of family members or maybe we're already working just to pay for life expenses. We might not be in the position to take part in co op or pursue a job in our area of study. Fortunately, we have 3 amazing colleagues in the studio today to help us answer this question.
Katy DeCoste:
Selina Jorgensen works as the fine arts, humanities, and education career educator at UVic, and she has a special interest in arts advocacy. As a fine arts alumni herself, she combines her passion as a creative with working in supporting and empowering students as they explore and pursue all of their career goals.
Emma Ulveland:
Samantha Ogrodnik started her career as a French immersion teacher in the k through 12 public education system and now works as a educator at UVic, supporting students in the faculty of science and human and social development. She is also developing a new career education curriculum. Committed to lifelong learning, Samantha's currently learning Italian, her 4th language.
Katy DeCoste:
Oh my gosh.
Emma Ulveland:
Right? If you speak Italian and see her around campus, she would love the opportunity to practice her new skills. So feel free to say hi.
Katy DeCoste:
And last but not least, Rhianna Nagel runs UVic's Community Engaged Learning Office, connecting students with the opportunity to work with community organizations and UVic faculty members on hands on community engaged learning and research projects through their courses. Rhianna has created and supported hundreds of projects focusing on diverse areas of interest, like immigration in Greater Victoria, collaborative waste management, and sustainable food systems. We are so, so excited to welcome Selena, Samantha, and Rhianna today.
Emma Ulveland:
Yes. Welcome to the show, everyone. So let's dive right in, shall we? A huge question a lot of students have is across so many different academic program areas when they're getting close to graduating and now they're thinking, oh, it's time to start my career, but I don't have any work experience related to what I'm studying. What do I do?
Selina Jorgensen:
I think the first thing is to normalize and acknowledge that this is a transition, and transitions can be both scary and exciting. You're not alone in this process. Many students feel really anxious about moving from academics to the professional work world. Also, framing it as a direction and asking yourself, what's next? As opposed to feeling like you need a concrete plan right away can help in terms of stress and pressure.
Selina Jorgensen:
Most people these days try several different careers and jobs in their lifetimes, and career development is seldom linear. I think it's important to identify your competencies and get clear on what you're good at and what you like. So many of the skills you're developing within your programs of study are very transferrable, meaning they're valuable to employers and applicable to many different roles and positions within the sector in in other industries. By taking a bit of a skills inventory and identifying your transferable skills and how and when you've demonstrated these can help in how you want to present yourself on a resume or in an interview, as well as what types of work you look for. So for example, if you're a fine arts student, some of these would include knowledge of arts and aesthetics, analysis, communication, technical expertise, social and organizational skills.
Selina Jorgensen:
If you're in visual arts, not only are you developing your style and craft, but you're also learning teamwork and collaboration as you curate and display your work in group exhibitions. You're also learning how to think critically and examine artistic practice in relation to global movements and issues while creating narratives in curatorial practice, as well as individual products and bodies of work. Through your group critiques, you're learning to speak about your work to others, facilitate conversations, gaining public speaking and presentation skills, and learning to give and receive articulate these skills and abilities. It builds self confidence and helps people see their value and worth at the beginning of the job hunt. Definitely tap into your network and aim to strengthen and cultivate any connections in your desired industry.
Selina Jorgensen:
So this could look like attending events such as conferences, art openings, workshops, business mixers. Think about conducting some informational interviews with people who are doing cool things, things that you think you might want to do. Follow social media accounts of businesses, organizations, professionals who you find inspiring and interesting. Basically, learn as much as you can about specific industries and jobs so you can make informed decisions going
Katy DeCoste:
forward. I really love a lot of this advice, and something I am really hearing from you is a lot of students feel like their first job right out of school has to be the career that they wanna do for, like, the next 35 years of their life. And career journeys don't always go like that. You don't have to know what you wanna do forever. You just have to be willing to explore what you wanna do next.
Katy DeCoste:
I also love this idea of informational interviews. And something that I have found so valuable is doing those interviews not just with people who are a person I might see myself doing that job in 10 years or 15 years, but maybe someone who graduated 2 or 3 years ago, or someone who is close to where I am now and talk about what they did. I have found that so, so helpful talking to other alumni or recent grads about how they're navigating stuff.
Emma Ulveland:
Rhianna, what about community engaged learning as an option? Can you tell us a little bit about what it means and what type of experiences students could engage with and how they can take part?
Rhianna Nagel:
Sure. So community engaged learning is a course based option for students to gain experience, connect with potential volunteer and work opportunities, to build skills and knowledge, and to feel more connected with the community around them. This looks different in every class. It depends on what's being learned in the class and what's happening in the community that's relevant to that learning experience. It could take up a small part of the class, like an afternoon, or it could be the focus of the whole class for the whole semester.
Rhianna Nagel:
An example of this would be a professional communications class could work in small groups to create communications plans for a local organization. And they could do this as a final course project rather than an abstract communication plan that just goes to their professor. Or it could be that a chemistry class might do a stream water sampling for a local habitat restoration organization rather than doing an abstract dirty water sample evaluation in the lab. In either way, they're still using the same content and knowledge that they're learning in the classroom, but they're applying it to the community context and contributing to things that are happening in the community. So the feedback I hear from students is that they really appreciate the opportunity to meet people in the community and to do class projects that are relevant and useful to the community, rather than just assignments that can sometimes be rather abstract and are just handed to their professor.
Rhianna Nagel:
So that doesn't mean that community engaged learning courses don't involve some article reading and paper writing. These are really important elements of those learning experiences as well, and they also help the students connect their experience and community with the theory in the classroom.
Katy DeCoste:
I love the whole idea of this. I think especially for students who are in programs that aren't necessarily vocational, that aren't targeted towards one specific job outcome, it can be really challenging to think about, oh, I'm doing this class and, like, what does that mean in terms of, like, what I might do for a job one day or what I might contribute to my community one day. And I'm hearing that this is a way that students can actually see and envision that and get to practice it. I think something that we've talked about a lot is that co op or other work experiences might not always be accessible to all students depending on their degree or other life factors. And so they might feel like they don't have a good way to be gaining experience while they're in school, especially gaining experience in what they love to do or what they might see as oriented with their future career.
Katy DeCoste:
Obviously, the advice would probably change depending on individual circumstance, but I'm really curious if you have any tips that you might share with students generally who are having this struggle.
Samantha Ogrodnik:
I would tell them to do things and meet people. For science students, doing any kind of hands on experience or work integrated learning is super helpful. You can try to get hired working in a lab on campus, do a work study, or join a science club. Doing this will help you to clarify and deepen your understanding of your interests, and it also helps you to connect with others who are actively engaged in the things you're curious about. If you can't get hired in a lab, ask to volunteer.
Samantha Ogrodnik:
We are social creatures, and connecting to people and community is a basic human need. The people in your life can be an important source of support, but they can also help to open doors for you regarding open lab positions and help you to meet other people like faculty members who support student groups. You never know how the person you meet today could introduce you to a world of possibility you didn't know existed. Visit your department's website often and look at the events listed. Attend the events and talk to people.
Samantha Ogrodnik:
Be brave and take that first step to introduce yourself to other students and make genuine connections. Finally, you can also join professional associations that are related to your program. Many have free memberships for students so you can see what conferences, webinars, or professional development opportunities that people in that career are doing. Some also have job boards that you can look at. Reading a job description of a job you may want to have one day is a great way to learn about the qualifications and experience you need to start working on now.
Rhianna Nagel:
For community engaged learning opportunities, most of them are very accessible different. And sometimes there's travel and accommodation and have you, included,
Rhianna Nagel:
expenses that students have to pay extra for. And there also could be research experiences that students have to go elsewhere to do that research, and so there are costs associated. Apart from that, though, most of our course based community engaged learning is completely free apart for the tuition cost of the experience. And the barrier is simply knowing about those experiences. So I think the main thing that students can do is to talk with either their academic advisor or with the community engaged learning office about what community engaged learning courses are available to them in their degree.
Emma Ulveland:
This is great advice. Thank you so much for sharing it. And I wonder if any of you happen to have any personal experience with finding these kinds of opportunities in your own professional careers at any point that you might feel like sharing with students?
Rhianna Nagel:
So when I did my undergraduate degree, I was a little bit older when I started it, and I really wanted to learn in a hands on way. I was studying agriculture and sustainable food systems, and I wanted to do that outside of the classroom. And there were some of those opportunities in our program as it was developed. But I also really went outside of my comfort zone and sought out self directed studies options that I could do in a community engaged way and did applied research in farms in Argentina and in Uruguay and in the Fraser Valley, all within the self directed studies that was community engaged. And it was really beneficial to my degree program and what I was learning and understanding what that work looked like in the actual field.
Rhianna Nagel:
That's awesome. Thank you so much for sharing that. It's great to get those personal experiences so that people can think of creative ways
Emma Ulveland:
great to get those personal experiences so that people can think of creative ways that they might be able to access something in terms of their own career.
Selina Jorgensen:
Well, I think any kind of work integrated learning will give you knowledge and insight. It allows you to try things out, see if you like it, maybe you're not so keen on it, providing you with a realistic view and helping you make those informed choices going forward. So some of the options other than participating in co op here at UVic include a work study program here on campus. Some students end up assisting in research projects with faculty. You can join a campus or community organization.
Selina Jorgensen:
Definitely in arts and culture, volunteering is super key and there's lots of long term and short term options. We have a volunteer board on our portal that's available for all students and more information on our website. Again, networking absolutely is a powerful way to connect with others and learn. So sign up for organizational newsletters, social media. Start figuring out who's doing what in the community by attending conferences, seminars, forums, round tables, open houses, exhibitions, all kinds of events that allow you to broaden your network.
Selina Jorgensen:
Also, researching specific organizations and industries to learn about their values and the career opportunities there and apply and accept term and part term positions. So often these lead to more permanent placements and get you known to employers.
Katy DeCoste:
I remember when I was in undergrad and I had, like, $0 to my name and was doing full time courses, I used to volunteer for arts festivals because often, if you volunteer, they will let you go to all or part of the event for free. So just a little, like, hot tip, if you can't afford music festivals or other such things around town, volunteering is a great way to get a little bit of experience and also see what's happening out there.
Emma Ulveland:
Yeah. And that's such a good point because the cost of living has been an increasing issue for students and young people trying to make their way.
Katy DeCoste:
Butter is $8. It's twisted.
Emma Ulveland:
That is so sad. Yeah. It's one of those things that no matter where we are in life, we're all feeling it. Yeah. So cost of living and trying to support yourself while you're trying to also follow your passions, volunteering's a huge aspect of gaining experience.
Emma Ulveland:
Is there anything that anyone can share about how people can still support themselves financially while trying to gain these experiences in following what they want to do in life?
Selina Jorgensen:
A first step is to really consider your personal motivators such as what kind of lifestyle you wanna live, your work environment that you'd like to work in, the meaning and impact you hope to create with your work. And I'm a big fan of using goal setting strategies like smart goals to help map out next steps. I think that's a really helpful tool to keep you on track. You may need to find or stay in this survival job at first while you're moving through the process of your professional job hunt and that's totally okay. I mean, life happens.
Selina Jorgensen:
We need money. We need to pay rent. We need to buy food. It can take time to land your first professional position. So if you find yourself in this situation, just try and leverage within your current job.
Selina Jorgensen:
Are there any leadership opportunities or additional training that you can participate in? Perhaps your dream job is finding a communications and marketing role within a large organization and this can be appealing for many reasons. You know, there's stability and wage are drivers to that, But you're working as a barista in a coffee shop. Is there an opportunity for you to contribute your skills in marketing and communications to this business? Are there social media accounts that you might be able to manage and promote?
Selina Jorgensen:
Are there events that you could help coordinate or spearhead? So not only does this show your ability to take initiative to your current employer, but it also gives you more to add to your resume, CV, and or portfolio. And most importantly, it aligns with the work you're seeking for the future.
Rhianna Nagel:
So one thing I also think about the balance between our passions and how we meet our monthly bills, we don't need to fulfill all of our passion in our jobs or careers, and that won't happen. There is never going to be the unicorn job that fills all of our passion. We are certainly more and we do more than our work. So that's a really fundamental thing for us always to remember. I also think that we can be passionate in a lot of different areas.
Rhianna Nagel:
Like, we can be passionate about our knowledge, our skills, our modes of work. We can also be passionate about social and environmental issues or causes. So it's a balance also of those different passions with our financial needs.
Katy DeCoste:
Yeah. I know for me as a youth and, like, ostensibly a member of Gen z, one of my biggest priorities in job searching after I finished graduate school was what is a job that allows me to have the best and most fulfilling parts of my life when I'm not at work. And I think partly that's a generational mode of thinking. Lots of younger people and I think students don't necessarily see work as the place where they will find all or even most of their fulfillment. I know folks who work in jobs that are not full time because it allows them to devote a lot of time to organizing.
Katy DeCoste:
Or I know folks who are in jobs that don't necessarily offer a lot of advancement opportunities, but have a really regular schedule and, like, good benefits. And it allows them to go to Derby practice 4 times a week. So whatever it is for you, you might find a job where you are doing your passion work or you might find a job that lets you do your passion work like some other place. On a sort of flip side, I'm curious about what you're hearing from employers. What skills and experience seem to be the most important right now for students or young people who are seeking jobs?
Katy DeCoste:
Do you think there's anything that's really changing in that space?
Selina Jorgensen:
So as we move into this new normal phase where things like AI and skilled labor shortage influence the market in many different ways, we hear a lot more about the value of soft skills in the workplace. And this is reflected in the Conference Board of Canada's Employability Skills 2000, which highlights competencies such as communication, problem solving, critical and creative thinking, adaptability, and working with others, teamwork and collaboration. People can be taught and trained how to do like a specific task or use a specific technology. It's a lot harder to teach and train how to be motivated and curious. So I think 3 key areas that employers are looking at and value right now are things like digital literacy, so knowing how to use and integrate industry specific technology.
Selina Jorgensen:
Leadership skills, the ability to teach and train others and inspire and empower. And communication skills, being able to explain complex ideas to others, share information in a variety of ways to different audiences.
Samantha Ogrodnik:
To reinforce what Selina said,
Rhianna Nagel:
What I hear from our community partners is how beneficial it is when a student knows how to take initiative. What does that mean, and what does that look like? I think it depends on the context, but it's partly knowing when to put yourself forward and just dive into something without having all the information about how to do it. And I think it's also about knowing how to work collaboratively. So it really aligns with the World Economic Forum and what they're describing.
Rhianna Nagel:
So not necessarily taking initiative to be, like, the shiniest person on the team, but taking initiative to get things done and to stick through with it. The other piece
Selina Jorgensen:
of it too is also knowing how to step back and ask for clarity and more information from a supervisor. I know for practicums in like social work and counseling and things like that, supervisors really appreciate and look for candidates who are able to know when it's time to escalate the issue. I think that that's important.
Rhianna Nagel:
Knowing when to do it and then knowing to ask questions to clarify.
Emma Ulveland:
I'm assuming that these are the kind of skills and the kind of things that people can learn in community engaged learning opportunities. Is that true?
Rhianna Nagel:
It is true.
Samantha Ogrodnik:
How did you know?
Rhianna Nagel:
So in terms of the skills that students are learning through community engaged learning, they're quite diverse depending on the experience. But certainly there are a lot of communication skills, whether that be communication as a group, if the work is being done collaboratively with peers or communication with community partners, both in terms of honing a project and understanding the expectations of a particular project, but also in terms of asking for clarification when it's not clear what is to be done and of sharing work and receiving feedback on work. I often hear from students that it can be both extremely intimidating, but also very rewarding when they receive their first piece of feedback from a community partner on whatever collaboration they're doing with them. They say that it's very different than receiving feedback from their professor because it feels a lot more personal. It's a lot more relational because they've developed something together with the community and they feel a sense of pride of the work that they're doing that maybe they don't necessarily feel in a typical class assignment.
Rhianna Nagel:
And another skill that I think is really beneficial because it is a fundamental component of experiential learning more broadly, and of course, specifically community engaged learning, is the ability to reflect. Reflection is a skill that we have to hone over time, and it doesn't come to us just automatically. So in these classes, there are a lot of opportunities to learn those skills and develop personal approaches to reflection that help us in our lifelong learning journey. To reflection that help us in our lifelong learning journey. I think we've talked a lot about how students can build
Katy DeCoste:
skills and experience or even just envision the type of role they might wanna have when they finish school or later on in their career. But something I've learned working in communications for a variety of different organizations and departments and units is that the role is one thing, but very often it's the organization you're working for that makes or breaks your fit in that job and and what role it might play in your career. What ways can students find out what it's like to work for a particular organization, especially if they're not doing something like co op or traditional work experience?
Selina Jorgensen:
So aside from, like, informational interviews and volunteering, wages. You might even find insider information on Reddit, although that's pretty subjective. Often, you can get a lot of information from the company's website, specifically by reading their mission and value statements. I think we kind of ignore that page on a website typically, and actually there's a lot of clues there. With BC Ferries, I like this example because they were recruiting to hire, like, tons and tons of people.
Selina Jorgensen:
And I had a look at their website. And on their mission statement, it was all, like, customer service and people filtered through the whole text. And so to me, that gave me a clue that if I was going to interview for that company, then I probably would wanna talk up my interpersonal skills, my communication skills, how do I work with others. So that's the type of information you can glean from a website on their missions and values.
Emma Ulveland:
That's super helpful, and I love that tip. And I think that's one that anybody can do and everybody should do.
Samantha Ogrodnik:
Reaching out to professionals on LinkedIn or through alumni networks to ask them for a brief chat about their experiences is also super helpful to learn about what work life is like at an organization. Some people call it informational interviews or some people call it a coffee chat. But the thing is, what do you say to these people at this coffee chat? Well, start off by telling them your name, give them some background information related to your goals and experience, your reason for contacting them, and your request. It's important to let the person know what you're asking of them.
Samantha Ogrodnik:
The best thing about these kinds of conversations is that it's a win win situation. You think the person is interesting, and they think they're interesting. So ask them about their story, what it's really like to do what they do at work and how they got there. You can also attend career fairs and networking events where you can interact with employees and the recruiters. This can give you a sense of the company's priorities and how they value their employees.
Samantha Ogrodnik:
I know for me, when I first started working here the month before I started actually working at UVic, I was doing a practicum. And during my practicum, I reached out to many people and did many informational interviews or coffee chats. And I'm working with those people today. And I learned a lot about UVic and its values, and I learned that I really did wanna work here.
Rhianna Nagel:
I think another opportunity for exploring what a particular organization is like is getting out and participating in what they offer. So if it's a community that puts on events, go to their events. If it's a community that runs a community garden, go to their community garden. If they host volunteer days, go to those. If it's a shop that you're interested in, go to that shop and, you know, window shop and see what the employees are behaving like.
Rhianna Nagel:
Do they look happy? Are they miserable? Do you feel good in their environment? Are you having fun? That probably is a pretty good indication of what you'll feel like in that particular organization.
Emma Ulveland:
Yeah. That's something I think a lot of us young people could take more advantage of, especially because a lot of us are like, I could look it up online. But it's not always the same as going in person and talking to people like you were saying, Samantha, and getting to know people and getting to observe people in their natural work habitat, you might say. So great advice. The art of
Katy DeCoste:
the vibe check is so important. Another thing that can be super useful is if you know someone who has left that organization, talk to them. Like, sometimes if you're at a career fair, you're gonna get really great information, but it might be information that is designed with an eye towards recruiting. If you're able to talk to people in other types of contexts, you might get a fuller picture.
Emma Ulveland:
Yeah. Right on. So we've talked a lot about some big picture general things that students can do, and I kinda wanna get a little more specific. So I'm wondering if, Selena, I can ask you what you would tell arts and humanities and education students where co op might not be an option for them, some things that they can do to prepare for work after they graduate.
Selina Jorgensen:
Participate. Try things. Do things. Volunteering is always useful. You can not only gain hands on experience, but also a better understanding of the internal workings of an organization.
Selina Jorgensen:
You can develop genuine connections with others, and that expands your professional network. And sometimes these connections can show up as a mentorship relationship or a valuable reference down the road. Another thing I think about arts and culture, having a bit of an entrepreneurial spirit is beneficial in this sector. I like the quote, you are the niche. The beauty of being a creative is that you have the ability to look at things with your own unique lens and be innovative and curious.
Selina Jorgensen:
This could look like selling your work at markets or pitching a workshop to an arts learning center. So taking the initiative to organize events, exhibitions, projects, this can give you valuable content for your resume or CB. You meet new people, and you widen your network. If you can find or gain experience in event planning, administration, communications, marketing, and sales, all of these skills can be incredibly useful in this sector. Within the arts and culture sector, we often find position such as a coordinator or visitor engagement assistant, gallery assistant.
Selina Jorgensen:
These can be great entry points to this sector. Also, I would encourage folks to apply for temporary assignments and contracts as much of this sector is grant funded and project based. I've known people who have moved from contract to contract but because they've built up their reputation or personal brand, they continually get work. If you wanna specialize, you most likely need more training. Either a master's degree or some kind of distinct certification coupled with on the job experience.
Selina Jorgensen:
For students seeking work in like archives or curating, you're probably looking at a master's degree in curatorial studies or archival and library information studies. An undergrad in visual art can prepare you for further studies in architecture. An undergrad in philosophy can be a first step towards a law degree. I like to look at education and learning like layers in a painting. The combinations are endless yet they reveal and better define the vision as you go along.
Katy DeCoste:
You're so right. And I think for creatives, especially who are early on in their career, there can be some anxiety about like, oh, it's such a tight market. AI is a thing. Everyone can do what I do. But not everyone can do what you do, and your perspective is 100% unique to you.
Katy DeCoste:
That's why employers hire people, not programs, to do these things. So try to hold that truth as much as
Rhianna Nagel:
you can when you're on your journey. On that same note, it's so important to be yourself while you're in school and think of your time in school not as preparing yourself for some future imaginary self, but as your time for yourself in this moment of time, as you move through space in your learning journey towards whatever comes next and the danger of not being yourself while you're in school, preparing for post graduation, whatever that looks like, is that you could find yourself not very happy in whatever comes next. So I think that's an important part of the puzzle of preparing for post graduation work.
Katy DeCoste:
I think that is such great advice. And as someone with a master's degree that really does not need that master's degree, according to the description of my job, First of all, I don't regret doing it for a minute because it was super fun and I got to study what I like, but also, I am always encountering skills that gave me, like, ways of thinking that gave me that make me better at my job.
Emma Ulveland:
Absolutely. You can never go wrong with more knowledge. That's my personal motto.
Katy DeCoste:
I would probably just toss that same question over to you, Samantha. I know that the jobs people are hoping for and also, like, the spaces and hiring and types of organizations can be pretty different between arts and sciences. So I'm wondering if you have specific advice along the same lines for science students.
Samantha Ogrodnik:
For sure. Well, some of the stuff is quite similar. Do what you can to meet other people in the field, whether it's classmates, club members, people attending special events. These are all people who might lead to something down the road. Go to office hours, ask questions, get involved in research, take field schools, apply to be a teaching assistant or lab instructor, volunteer in research labs, apply for research awards, volunteer for relevant groups or community projects.
Samantha Ogrodnik:
You can also learn what the program specific competencies are for your program and learn how to articulate them. You are learning so much right now in your courses, and that is super relevant and transferable to other situations. Every skill or ability that you have learned from other jobs, such as problem solving or project management or communication skills, could be something that an employer will find really important. Some examples of possible entry level science jobs, I will just give a small list because I can't possibly mention them all, but since the fundamental job of scientists is research, research jobs are available in all fields, industries, and organizations, universities, private companies, not for profit organizations, and government. Students can possibly get entry level jobs working in research labs, medical labs, at pharmaceutical companies, becoming a research assistant, doing clinical research assistant or coordinator jobs, becoming a pharmacy assistant, quality control analyst, sales representative for scientific products, or even some kind of junior level scientist role.
Samantha Ogrodnik:
Many science careers do require additional training or an advanced degree. However, for those students wanting to go further with their education, like medicine, for example, start learning now about the steps you need to take to get there. It's a long road. Consistent academic excellence is quite important. Students should start early with preparing for the MCAT, get clinical experience to fully understand the realities of patient care.
Samantha Ogrodnik:
It's a good idea to create a plan with a timeline that includes deadlines for all the steps, including a financial plan. Seek out mentors in the medical field who can provide insights into the profession and possible shadowing opportunities. Investigate a few med school programs and really read the information on their website and their application process. It's usually very clearly laid out. But if not, you can always send an email to a grad adviser with your questions.
Samantha Ogrodnik:
Do things and meet people, including me. Students can make an appointment with me to talk about anything I said today or ask me any other science career related questions.
Katy DeCoste:
I think the thing that resonated the most with me was go to office hours because that can be the first step to, like, 90 percent of the other stuff you said. Going to office hours and talking to a professor whose course you're enjoying or whose work you're interested in can be the first step to learning about opportunities like funded research internships or research assistantships. It can be the first step to building the relationship that will allow you to ask for the letter of recommendation you might need to apply to law school or med school. It can be really, really scary to go to office hours. I think we sometimes think of it as like triage for when you're doing badly in a course.
Katy DeCoste:
But even if you feel like you're doing fine, you can still go. Come with a question about the readings for the week or about your final project or even just a general question about what the course is about or the professor's research. They'll probably be really happy to talk to you about it. It's something easy that you can do while you're in school that can set you up for a lot of good things.
Samantha Ogrodnik:
Those are really great ideas. Every time I was in university attending any kind of program, I would make a point to visit the professors in their office hours and ask questions and just to make a personal connection. Some people would call it networking. That's not what I used it for at the time. I just wanted to connect with the person that was teaching the course because they were really interesting, and I wanted to know more about them.
Samantha Ogrodnik:
And I wanted them to know me, and it might not take you anywhere, but it will also just really give you a great relationship with another person.
Emma Ulveland:
This was such helpful advice. Thank you so much to all of you. Thank you, Samantha, Rihanna, and Selena for coming today and for having this conversation with us and for sharing your knowledge and your wisdom. We were so grateful to have you here today.
Selina Jorgensen:
Thank you.
Samantha Ogrodnik:
Thank you.
Katy DeCoste:
Thank you. Work It is developed and distributed by Co-op and Career Services at the University of Victoria and hosted by Emma Ulveland and Katy DeCoste . Today's guests were career educators, Selina Jorgensen, Samantha Ogrodnik, and Rhianna Nagel, who is manager of the community engaged learning team. Our theme music and art were created by Emma Ulveland with audio editing by Emma Ulveland. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, you can subscribe to Work It wherever you get your podcasts, and you'll never miss an update.
Katy DeCoste:
To learn more about career possibilities and resources from UVic, visit uvic.ca/career-services.