With summer coming up many students are off and looking for full-time jobs. I’ve been a student for several years so I know how hard it can be to find one. My sister, Stacey, has been in a scramble over the last few weeks having just finished her last semester at college. To complete the program she needs to do a second co-op job, and while the school provides a list of potential jobs, it’s up to students to get one.
After a few grueling weeks of searching, Stacey finally got into a greenhouse. While the job isn’t in our home city it’s exactly what she wanted to do. In helping my sister in her job search I’ve put together a few resources that might be useful to Athabasca Students.
Federal Student Work Experience Program
The Federal Student Work Experience Program has a database full of summer jobs available only to students. Signing up and filling out the forms is tedious but once you do it you’re on a list for government jobs all over the country (or whichever locations you indicate you’re willing to work in). On Friday I filled out an application indicating I’d be willing to work anywhere in Canada and by Monday I had a notification of a match. I’m in the Communications program at Athabasca and I was matched to a Communications Advisor Job.
I also noticed mention of part-time jobs during the school years on the FSWEP. While I couldn’t find any in depth information on part-time jobs during the school year it’s definitely worth looking into.
Young Canada Works
Young Canada Works is similar to FSEP but focuses on a few specializations and, from what I can tell, has a smaller pool of jobs. The two main categories of Young Canada Works are jobs in both official languages and jobs with heritage institutions (museums, historical sites, ect.). So if you speak French this is could be an amazing resource. One of the most interesting job postings to me is at the Vimy Ridge Memorial in France.
Summer Company (Ontario)
Looking for an untraditional job? Only available to students in Ontario, the Summer Company programs provide up to $3000 in funding toward your summer business venture. I’ve had a few friends who’ve done this program. One operated a market fruit stand and the other provided web design services as a freelancer. Unfortunately, the application deadline is May 8th but if you contact the nearest provider on the 11th you might still have a chance.
If you’re looking for a summer job and left it till the last minute hopefully some of these links will be useful. I would have loved to get these resources to students earlier but decided better late than never.
Philip Kirkbride is an AU Student with a penchant for travelling the globe while doing his AU courses.
