In Canada, getting straight A’s is not enough to help you get your dream job. Employers in Canada prefer candidates with “experience”, ideally professional work experience over academic achievement. Whereas in your home country, things might be different – employers tend to care more about your level of education and academic achievement.
Don’t just focus all of your energy on getting good grades. Instead, balance it out with gaining necessary experience that will allow you to launch your career in Canada after graduation. One way to do so is to “get involved” in extracurricular activities such as volunteering, starting a student organization, participating in case competitions and more.
When we talk about getting involved, we refer to two things, getting involved on-campus and getting involved off-campus. Both options have their own benefits in many ways. For today, we are going to focus on getting involved on the campus!
Getting involved on campus comes in many different ways. We are going to give a few examples so you can decide for yourself which option interests you the most.
The goal of getting involved is to gain valuable experience and demonstrate leadership and teamwork skills. This is a great opportunity to showcase your talent and in the future include it in your resume.
- Participate in a student initiative
There are various student initiatives that are going on in your school such as fundraising, student ambassadors program etc. We recommend getting involved with the initiatives that truly interest you and fit well with your career choice after graduation.
- Join a student club
Clubs are social groups of people sharing the same interests. There are clubs for different interest areas such as marketing club, finance club, entrepreneurship club, tennis club and more! Find something that interests you and join the group. This is a great way to make new friends and gain valuable experience.
- Start a student organization
Don’t forget, you can always start something on your own if none of the existing clubs interests you. Find a niche topic that has a mass appeal to other students and brainstorm ideas on how to bring the club into reality. You might have to recruit a few other friends to join you to start. This is an excellent way to build leadership skills.
- Become a student mentor
Mentoring someone is another great way to learn and gain leadership experience. If your school offers a student mentor position or peer educator position, don’t hesitate to apply!
- Participate in competition
Participating in competitions or projects will challenge you to think outside the box and show your technical skills. Experience like this will show the employers that you are able to work in a team and come up with solutions to real world problems.
