Branching out beyond your major
Anne-Katherine Le (she/her) is a third-year Arts and Business student with a major in Sociology. Anne discusses her experience working in the technology industry as a Faculty of Arts student and shares tips on how she approaches applying and interviewing for co-op jobs.
Anne's co-op journey
Work term one: In her first work term, Anne worked for the Arts Advancement Office as an arts advancement engagement associate. There, she worked on several projects, most notably the graduating class sendoff of 2024 and created the website to highlight those graduating.
Work term two: Most recently, Anne was a tech support assistant at Campus Wellness. She got the opportunity to work in the back end of several different pieces of software as well as work more hands-on with various technology-related issues across Campus Wellness.
Q&A with Anne
What drew you to an information technology (IT) co-op position?
“I have a huge background in tech. Growing up, I was the designated IT person in my household. I also really like video games, so I got into that at a very young age. From there I was just always curious. I would dive into things and teach myself coding, Photoshop and Adobe. Those were things that I always did for fun.”
“I never thought of applying it to a work environment. But as I grew up I realized that these are skills that I can apply to jobs. I considered majoring in Computer Science or Math but when I sat down and really thought about pursuing it, I didn’t think I would be happy long-term.”
“I didn't have the passion when I stepped into a classroom of being told how to code or what to do. It just wasn't me. I code for fun. I just didn't see myself doing it in an educational environment.”
“Doing an Arts degree kind of benched me from taking technology related positions. When I saw this position was open and it didn't have specific majors associated with it, I figured, why not? What’s stopping me from applying? The worst thing they could say is no, and it changed the way I thought about it.”
How do you stand out from other students when you're applying and interviewing for jobs?
“There's two aspects to that for me, one, the interview and then two, the actual application.”
“I think a lot of co-op students don't realize that résumés can reflect you as a person. The way I go about my résumé is not conventional, I add sprigs of colour and personality to it. I recognize that some employers don't like that, sometimes they do like a clean-cut résumé. But I’d rather include it as who I am, then not include it just to get a job.”
“I try to keep my résumé on two pages. I know people like doing one, but I feel like you can't really tell them who you are in one page so I let myself do two. If they don't like that, then again, so be it.”
I think a huge part of standing out is having confidence in yourself, not only in your résumé but also in the interview too. I know people say it all the time “go there and don't be scared.” But I also think that if you go there and you are scared, it's okay. The interviewer probably understands that you're a student and you're afraid.
“Another thing I do that makes me stand out is I ask a lot of questions. It's not intentional, but I tell myself if I have something I want to know, I need to ask them now. If I don't ask them now, they hire me and I find out later it's something that I hate, I don’t want to be stuck with that because I was afraid to ask questions.”
“I know that when I do interviews online, I have a situated desktop and I don't bother changing my background. My background shows a lot of who I am and has posters that show my personality. I want to be authentic to who I am in my interviews.”
“I know it's really scary to think about not finding a job but at the end of the day you want to have the confidence to say; “this is me” and feel okay to show up authentically to who you are.”
What is the most interesting thing you've done while on a work term?
“I think the most interesting thing when I come out of this work term is helping Lance, my supervisor, go through the tech inventory. I think that's also going to be one of my proudest achievements. It really feels like I'm going to leave a mark on Campus Wellness as a whole. But not only that, I'm also going to learn so much out of it.”
“This is something that a Computer Science or Engineering student can do, and I aced it. It's like a pat on the back, knowing I can do what those students can do, even though I'm not in that faculty. I think there is a little bit of a stigma around Arts students. People sometimes look down on you when you say you’re an Arts student.”
“From this experience I’ve learned that Arts students are just as capable as any other student out there. I think having this achievement coming out of it is really something that I would pat myself on the back for and already am patting myself on the back for.”
“The tech inventory definitely has been my favorite thing to work on, plus something that I'll be proud to leave behind even if I don't completely finish it.”
What advice do you have for other co-op students, especially other Arts students?
“Don't let your program stop you from doing what you like. If you want to try fields that you feel like maybe you're not sure about, just do it.”
“The worst thing they could say is no, but the best that they could say is yes.”
“Apply to every role, every organization and every location where you can. If these companies give you that chance, it can open doors for you. Even coming out of this job now, I already know that this is going to open so many more doors for me. Connection-wise yes, but also personally too. I'm going to be reassured that I did this job, I can do this job again, right?”
“Don't let your doubts limit yourself. Go for what you think you can do and also be aware of your own skills. I think people really undermine their own skills and abilities, especially if it's something that you do for fun, not professionally. Like I said, I learned to code, I use Photoshop and all that stuff just because I wanted to. Give yourself credit for all your skills because all your skills in some way will be beneficial to you in a workplace setting.”
What's next for you?
“I get asked this question a lot and I always answer, “I don't know” and I live by the saying; “I will go wherever the wind takes me.””
“What’s next for me is probably school. I'm going to try to get through my third and fourth year. In the sense of where do I see myself working for my next co-op term? I have no idea.”
“I think coming out of this job, my next steps would be to become more comfortable to cold call companies that I'm interested in and ask if they have a position for me. Also trying out things that I typically wouldn't try and that goes for a lot of things.”