Our students and graduates are valued by employers across the public and private sectors. The skills and knowledge they’ve gained in SERS help them to understand how human societies are embedded in, and dependent on, the natural world.
Our students and graduates work within, between and across disciplines and ways of knowing. The knowledge we draw on comes from many sources, perspectives, fields and disciplines rather than just one. That’s crucial - the future of work is changing quickly.
In SERS, we are committed to getting you ‘future-ready’ with a wide range of skills and competencies you’ll need for an environmental career with purpose and impact.
Check out these recent SERS graduates to get a sense of what some of our students are accomplishing, and where they are working.
Skills
- You’ll learn to be adaptable, with knowledge of a wide range of topics and perspectives and be ready to move beyond your comfort zone.
- You’ll learn critical "people skills" because even the most talented technicians still need to interact, explain and work in a team. This means that we place a premium on refining your analytical and communication skills.
- You’ll learn how to design, research, analyze, and implement new approaches to a wide range of environmental sustainability and resource management issues.
- You’ll have the opportunity to receive career-specific training through a wide range of in-class experiential and field course opportunities, and UWaterloo’s world leading co-op (paid internship) program - a great way to build career experience and make money at the same time.
- And you’ll have ample flexibility in your program to add career-focused diplomas and minors, including our diplomas in Environmental Assessment, Knowledge Integration, and Ecological Restoration and Rehabilitation as well as a minor in Parks.
Careers
Ninety percent (90%) of our graduates are employed in related careers, or in advanced degree programs within six months of completing their education. You’ll find SERS alumni in a wide range of meaningful environmental careers… careers that make a difference to people and our planet:
- Conservation managers, including park ecologists or wardens
- Sustainable development officers (often international; several work for the United Nations or NGOs, and others work for corporations that have sustainability policies)
- Environmental and social impact assessment specialists
- Policy analysts or managers for government agencies (e.g., Canada Water Agency, Environment and Climate Change Canada)
- Applied ecologists (e.g. for consulting engineering firms) or environmental consultants
- Primary and secondary school teachers
- Environmental planners and/or health and safety officers
- Green technology consultants (e.g., green buildings, alternative energy)
- Landscape architects
- College and university professors
- Environmental lawyers and arbitrators (dispute resolution specialists)
- Environmentally-oriented entrepreneurs
Jump start or amplify your career planning, and make the links to your SERS degree. Visit the co-op resource pages and take advantage of JADA (Waterloo’s innovative AI-powered Job Aggregator and Digital Assistant). Make an appointment with the Centre for Career Development and get support to build the resumé and interviewing skills that help you communicate your strengths.
