Summer at the Ryerson Career and Co-op Center

This summer, I have been working at the Ryerson Career and Co-op Center (RCCC). My journey with the RCCC began in the fall of last year when I was a Campus Engagement Ambassador (CEA). During my time as a CEA, I built relationships with various professors across campus, resulting in class talks to over 2,000 students. I informed them of important events happening on campus along with sharing the resources the RCCC has to offer. My role at the RCCC has now transitioned into a Resume and Online Profile Advisor (ROPA).

As the name suggests, as a ROPA I help students develop their professional documents such as their resumes, cover letters and online profiles. Every day presents new opportunity for growth as I deal with students from various backgrounds and a wide range of work experience which is what I really enjoy about the position. It’s also very rewarding to see the progression in the students’ professional documents and confidence as I work with them. Along with aiding students with their career journey, I’ve had some students come back and tell me they’ve landed the job I helped them prepare for which makes working at the Career Center even more worthwhile.

In addition, my co-worker Georgina and I have been given projects to complete during our down time. One of my favourites would be creating a marketing plan to promote the ROPA services and the annual STEM Career Fair. As a marketing major, this project gave me insights into how to storyboard a social media plan along with understanding the strategy that goes into a marketing plan.

I also had the opportunity to help plan the training for the incoming student staff with Emily Jones, the Student Staff Development Advisor and my co-worker Simran. This was one of the highlights of my summer as I’ve gone through training twice with the Career Center and I was able to have an impact on the incoming staff and brianstorm new and creative ways to not only prepare them for their careers at the RCCC, but also to welcome them to their new work environments.

The Career Center has also opened me up to several interesting and fun opportunities. I had the pleasure of being interviewed by CBC Radio alongside my coworker and friend Laiba. We spoke about how students are preparing for their future careers along with how they are preparing for jobs that don’t exist yet - an interesting and thought provoking topic which was a highlight of the interview. I’m extremely grateful that Brandon Sloan, the Strategic Communications Advisor provided excellent support throughout the interview process to ensure I was radio-ready.

Aside from the great opportunities and skills I gained at the RCCC, the best part of my job would have to be the people. Working at the Career Center is exciting and rewarding and everyone is welcoming. The other student staff have gone from being my co-workers to being great friends.

I’m fortunate to have a summer job which is more than a way to earn money, but also serves as an avenue for me to grow and establish strong relationships which I know I’ll carry on into my personal and professional life.