Blog Entries
June 2020 Virtual Corporate Tours: Top Takeaways
Justin Kawaja, Work Integrated Learning Coordinator, Graduate Career Services
We wanted to share our top 3 learnings from our first Virtual Corporate Tours, held June 17 and 24, 2020.
- Don’t be afraid to take risks. At some point, we all make mistake – and it’s how we learn. It was very surprising to hear this advice from representatives of TD Bank and RBC. Although Ali Massoudi (VP, Commercial Banking TD) added the caveat of taking “calculated risks”. It’s important that we apply our critical thinking to all situations we tackle.
- Career paths aren’t a straight line. Be curious. Be willing to take on new challenges. Be open to opportunities you would not consider. As Chenlu Shao (senior economist for the Department of Labour and Advanced Education) stated, when we get out of University, sometimes we don’t land the job we immediately want, but we try other opportunities and learn from them. Which gets us into the final important lesson…
- The hidden job market. When we’re open to getting outside our comfort zone, taking opportunities we might not regularly consider, we learn – and more importantly we make new connections. During our Economics Corporate Tour, Ian Munro (Chief Economist) and his team from the Halifax Partnership emphasized the importance of networking. When you get curious, ask questions, dig in and research, you can open connections to what we call “the hidden job market”, which is accessed by making personal connections with people.
And one excellent way of accessing that hidden job market is through the Halifax Partnership’s Halifax Connector Program. It’s an excellent opportunity that helps new immigrants and recent graduates grow their professional network in Halifax – check out the link for additional details and program eligibility. As always, here at Graduate Career Services, we’re here to help prepare you for any and all networking opportunities, and to help you on your career journey.
GCS Virtual Job Club
Job Club Details
Date: June 26, 2020
Time: 11:00am - 12:30pm
Registration Link: Click here
Job Club will be facilitated using the online platform, Microsoft TEAMS. In order to participate, you will need to download the software on your computer prior to joining. To access the TEAMS Job Club Group, use the registration link above.
If you have any issues joining, please email sobeygradcareerservices@smu.ca. We look forward to seeing you online this week!
