Blogs

For some employers today, a degree has become the minimum requirement for most entry-level jobs. Having spoke with this year's winner of the SCOY Award of Merit, Terence Chu, the solution to this conundrum, for me, became apparent.  

Consider the benefits of doing an international co-op and exchange.

Learn how communication is one of the most important skills to develop at work. 

Adrian Quiroz is a fourth year student of French, Linguistics, and Speech Sciences at Simon Fraser University. After teaching English in France, he wanted to share his tips for success. Read more to learn about Adrian's experience, and his invaluable tips!

What’s your dream job? Like many students, Christina Guan has some big dreams.  But her dreams actually became a reality this summer.  Find out how this SFU student was able to utilize her skillset and land an internship of a lifetime.

Moving through your work term, it is valuable to consider what you will take from your co-op experience that will benefit your future career. Kimberly Blair recommends keeping three things in mind: portfolio, contacts, and resume.

Applying for jobs can seem tedious and through my experiences, I have compiled six tips that can help you improve your results and get noticed!

I am a Lefty, a techy, and as my coffee mug says, a “hawt geek”. This is what I can proudly say after finding myself through my first co-op placement. On day one, I thought I signed up for work, but what I really signed up for was a second family at Left of the Dot Media Inc. 

Meet Lindsay Wainwright, 32, who has already completed her second year of medical school at UBC even though she is just graduating with her SFU B.Sc. this June.

Justina Di Stasio is an English student at SFU who also is a member of Canada’s national senior women’s wrestling team competing at the 2015 Pan Am games in Toronto.

Moving away from home is a life changing experience. It is a combination of exciting and scary, happy and sad, and everything in between. Throw in a new city and a new job and everything just intensifies. One of the first questions that come to mind are what do you do and where do you start?

Ever feel like interviews do not go your way, or they feel out of your control? Find the one thing you can control: your confidence! Natalie reflects on some of her old co-op interview experiences, and shares some strategies she has learned to bring confidence to your next interview.

Before finding his first co-op placement, Shem Navalta found himself frustrated that his “ideal” job wasn’t available to him. In this post, Shem talks about his experience with searching for his first co-op job and provides advice on how to be open to opportunities that will help you grow. 

How do you land a co-op when you’ve only flipped burgers or only possess experience in an entry level position. Madison lists 5 helpful tips that she learned from the process of applying to co-op positions with little to no true professional experience.  While it’s definitely harder, what’s life without a little challenge?

Kelly shares how her experience with SFU YWIB helped her in her career.  Find out what 5 lessons she learned, and what lessons you should know!

"My big picture goal is to work in policy to strengthen the health and well being of Aboriginal Peoples by working to combine Aboriginal children, families, communities and health into a single concept that is so interconnected that they can not be teased apart to be treated as independent entities." Read Sheryl's story of determination, and continuing her education as an adult and mother.

"My proudest moment was being the first of a class of 12 from NEC to graduate at SFU. There are so many obstacles one must crawl over to get a degree especially being an older student" Read Karen's story of overcoming obstacles and rising to success. 

I spent a year working in a special needs kindergarten classroom and learned endless career and life skills to help me work towards my goal of becoming an Occupational Therapist.

Thinking about doing a co-op? Read about Carlie's co-op journey and how this experience has taught them the value of connections. 

What is the role of a technical writer? And what do you do working as one? Communication Co-op student Brent Restivo answers these questions, outlines the workflow of a typical technical writing project and takes you step-by-step through an actual on-the-job scenario.

Two Beedie undergraduate students, Luming Zhao and Xiwen Zheng, successfully secured full-time roles at the prestigious PwC Shanghai office after completing their co-op work terms there. Read to learn more about their experience, how they did it, and how you can too! This article was previously published in SFU News on June 8, 2015.

You might have noticed some amazing co-op stories written by your fellow peers on the OLC, but have you ever considered sharing your story?  Here are five reasons why you should write for the OLC.

Follow Soloman on an adventure to Los Angeles as his company "throws" him out to sea on a large vessel to test out filming at sea. Here's the story.

In a country filled with monks, crazy drivers, and frequent power outages, things were different living in Burma. After four months, it started to feel a bit like home. Here’s a glimpse into my unique experience as a political intern for the Embassy of Canada to Burma (Myanmar). 

June is Aboriginal History month. It is an opportunity to share, not only the troubling reality behind the Aboriginal/Canadian relationship, but to understand the impactful and important contributions to Canadian society by the Indigenous cultures of this country.

You can sell yourself in person, but your resume has to get you there.

You meet a lot of intelligent people working in research, but intelligence isn’t going to get you far as a researcher. The ability to communicate with your peers and to external viewers is critical to being successful. Read on as Charlies shares his experience working amongst research lab groups and why it’s a valuable skill to be able to communicate to those both in and outside your field.