Entering the job market as a co-op student can seem daunting at first. It can feel overwhelming to search for a job knowing you may be competing with a large group of students. How can your application stand out?
We understand that as a co-op student, you might not have years of experience under your belt yet. That doesn’t mean you can’t catch the eye of recruiters. Here are five tips you can use as a co-op student to set yourself apart in a crowded job market, even with minimal experience!
#1 Expand your job search beyond Full-Cycle Service
The first tip to help you excel in a crowded job market is to expand your job search by using all the different resources available to you. Outside the Full-Cycle Service job board in WaterlooWorks, you also have access to other tools:
- The Employer-Student Direct (ESD) job board: The ESD job board has jobs that are already pre-approved for co-op credit but don’t follow the traditional rank/match process. Instead of interviewing and ranking within WaterlooWorks, you will connect directly with the employer and follow their timeline for the job application process.
- Job Aggregator and Digital Assistant (JADA): Co-operative and Experiential Education (CEE) has also recently launched JADA, a job aggregator and digital assistant available to all students. JADA is an AI-powered assistant to help you find potential co-op-eligible job opportunities outside WaterlooWorks and answer your questions about the co-op process. You can access JADA through Portal.
By exploring resources like the ESD job board and JADA, you can significantly broaden your co-op search and take greater control of your job application process.
#2 Tailor your application
Once you’ve found positions you want to apply to, tailoring your job application is the next key step. Look to highlight specific experiences and skills that align with the job. Using keywords from the job description can help to show employers how you and your skills align with what they are looking for. Prioritize showing off the skills that will be most useful to the role you are applying for in your résumé and cover letter.
Researching the organization you are applying to is crucial. Learn about the company’s values and think about how they align with your own. Mentioning those values in your cover letter will show the employer that you took initiative and are genuinely interested in the company. Showing how you would be a good fit not only in the role but within the company will help you to stand out among candidates.
Don't overlook tailoring to an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Many employers use an ATS to scan through multiple applicants, so it’s important to make sure your résumé is formatted in a way that is easy to read. This means using a simple format and heading titles. Check out the resources on the Centre for Career Development’s (CCD) CareerHub to help you with application documents.
#3 Showcase your transferable skills
When applying for jobs, we often think about what skills we want to showcase. While technical skills can be useful in the workplace, employers want to see a mixture of technical and transferable skills. Transferable skills are skills that you learn through experience and can be used in a variety of settings. Examples include communication, problem-solving, time management and so much more.
"These are the kinds of skills that are hard to train in the workplace. You can teach someone how to use a new software or tool, but it’s much harder to teach someone how to collaborate effectively or think critically under pressure." - Vanya Gnaniah, career advisor for Co-operative and Experiential Education
You can develop transferable skills in many places, not just at work. Think about volunteering, extracurriculars or classroom settings and what skills you have gained from those experiences that you can apply to other workplace situations.
Engage in activities you’re passionate about and find ways to relate them to the roles you seek. Whether it’s hobbies or experiences, transferable skills can often emerge in unexpected places. If you’ve developed a skillset in one area, chances are it will be useful in the next.
#4 Tell a story in your interview
Interviews are often the first face-to-face interaction you have with an employer, and first impressions are everything! Personal, impactful stories will help you to be more memorable among candidates. Rather than just sharing a list of your job duties with the interviewer, tell them stories about how you used and developed specific skills.
The interview is also where your personal brand can come in handy. Go into the interview knowing your personal brand story, as this is probably going to be one of the first things you share!
I think focusing on things that I was passionate about and legitimately enjoyed allowed me to speak better in interviews. That led me to do better work and to communicate with more consistency, clarity and relevance to what people were actually doing.
#5 Expand your network
Networking is a great way to build relationships in the work environment and can potentially help introduce you to future opportunities. The most common way of expanding your network is by attending networking events! There are many types of networking events, including some offered by the University.
Attend Employer Info Sessions, events hosted by recruiters to share information about their organization and build connections with potential co-op students. These Employer Information Sessions (EIS) are a great way to introduce yourself to potential employers and other co-op students. They also allow you to hear first-hand from former co-op students about their own work experience at the organization.
Finding networking events through organizations you are passionate about is another great way to network with people who have similar interests to you.
Hot Tip: Prepare questions ahead of a networking event and create a personal pitch for yourself to help ease into conversations, especially if you want to engage in a conversation with a potential employer. A personal pitch is a quick 30-second introduction including your name, program, field of interest and other information you want a potential employer to know about you when first meeting them. Preparing a personal pitch will help you to be confident when having that first face-to-face interaction. If you want to start small, simply joining a club or an extracurricular activity can help expand your network as well. Extracurriculars help you find people with common interests and there are a variety of clubs to choose from. Discover the over 200 clubs available at Waterloo.
Try a free workshop that cover all aspects of the job search from applications to career exploration.
Book a free career advisor appointment to help plan your future career and feel more confident during the job search process.
Best of luck with your job search – You've got this!