Where do our graduates work?
At the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability (SERS) we guide students as they select a strategic mix of elective subjects and skills to complement their core courses. The process of developing this individualized learning plan helps students to exceed the hiring requirements for a wide range of jobs in consulting firms, environmental or community organizations and federal, provincial and municipal government agencies. Some are self-employed in their own enterprise.
Graduates of our undergraduate program have also gone on to advanced study in fields such as natural resources, business administration, urban affairs, regional planning, communications studies, environmental design, law, education, sociology, geography and biology. We've placed our graduates at top universities in Canada and internationally. To see what our alumni have to say about SERS, please visit our Alumni Profiles.
How does SERS prepare me for the world of work?
We teach you how to be adaptable by introducing you to a wide range of topics and perspectives that encourage you to move beyond your comfort zone. We do this because the job market changes so rapidly that any technical skills you learn could be obsolete by the time you graduate. You must be able to notice what is happening around you and respond to changes.
We also teach "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. As a SERS student, you will learn how to design, research, analyze, and implement new approaches to environment and resource management and issues.
Technical skills are taught within specific courses, for example, ecological analysis, geographic information systems and statistics. We encourage students to learn other specific technical skills via non-SERS courses that best suit their particular interests.
By emphasizing both the social and technical skills throughout our flexible plan of core and elective courses, students acquire a suite of skills that makes them both more adaptable and employable.
Careers
In a survey of our recent graduates, 50% went on to pursue graduate studies, while the other 50% found employment even before they graduated! 90% of our former students were employed within six months of completing their education and none were unemployed.
What jobs are available with a Bachelor of Environmental Studies (BES) degree from the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability (SERS)?
An informal email discussion list with over 500 SERS alumni revealed that our graduates go on to careers in their field. We've had students who now work as:
- Ecologists (public and private sector) – includes every permutation including senior scientists and park ecologists or wardens
- Environmental Lawyers and Arbitrators (dispute resolution specialists)
- Environmental Assessment Field Officers (public and private sector)
- Primary and Secondary School Teachers
- Sustainable Development Officers (often international; several work for the United Nations or NGOs, and others work for corporations that have sustainability policies)
- Environmental Planners and/or Health and Safety Officers
- Green Technology Consultants (e.g., green buildings, alternative energy)
- Landscape Architects
- College and University Professors
- Environmentally-oriented Entrepreneurs or Financial Officers (e.g., arbitrage and other stock market analysis roles, especially related to ethical stock and mutual funds)
- Professional Musicians and other entertainers
Your path to success starts with what one employer has described as the "SERS Plan":
a well regarded mix of natural, physical, and social sciences so SERS graduates have technical and people skills and the ability to solve real world messy environment and resource problems.
Another spoke to the fact that:
in SERS you can be mentored – by a professor – from day one if you take advantage of SERS' close-knit, experiential learning approach; this is great for education, understanding how the world really works, and for networking and recommendations once you near graduation.
Don't like any of the jobs we listed above? No problem – our students land and even create their own positions. Our alumni are self-motivated and innovative. Join SERS and be schooled in reality. We prepare you for a job but we also prepare you as critical thinkers and scholars for life as befits a university education.