2017 Industry Career Fair Magazine

Industry Career Fair Entry-Level Getting Ahead

How to

How to Get into

Positions in the

When Going Back

Engineer Your

Tech with an

Tech Industry and

to School

Job Interview

Arts Degree

the Skills You need to Land Them

Contents 3 5

Upcoming Events Getting Ahead When Going Back to School

8

How to Engineer Your Job Interview

11

How to Get into Tech with an Arts Degree

13

Entry-Level Positions in the Tech Industry and the Skills You Need to Land Them

2 Online Career Fair Magazine

Upcoming Events GRAD SCHOOL FAIR

WHAT RECRUITERS WANT

If you think you’re not done learning, this is the fair for you! Learn more about opportunities for higher learning through graduate studies or professional programs.

Over 60 schools to connect with - local, national and international. Find out if there’s one right for you.

BANKING WEEK

Ever wondered what a recruiter looks for in a potential candidate? The biggest mistake you could make in an interview?

Or, how to stand out in the application process? Come out and chat with Recruiters/Talent Acquisition Specialists from 5 different industries. Learn more about their organization and how you can make yourself stand out in the application process.

Did you know that banks hire grads from all faculties? Stop by for a coffee chat to check out the range of opportunities in careers in banking and finance.

Check the Career Services event calendar for more details on these and other workshops and company info sessions.

Oct. 3, noon - 4 p.m.

Oct. 10, 4:30 - 6 p.m.

Oct. 2 - 5

Communications Security Establishment

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS SUCCESS IN CANADA Nov. 2, 3 - 6:30 p.m.

Learn how to succeed in your personal and professional life, while building resiliency and developing community in Canada.

Centre de la sécurité des télécommunications

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WHY WORK FOR NEXEN? Because you value innovation and seek opportunity.

Tap into your spirit of adventure – join Nexen, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, as we put innovative ideas to work to get the most energy out of every barrel. Our high standards of integrity and governance have earned us a global reputation for valuing the big picture: people, safety and the environment.

Check out Nexen for the best opportunities to grow your career.

The Nexen Student Connection

@nexencampus

Getting Ahead When Going Back to School

by Jennifer Caven The final days of summer have passed and many of you will find yourselves back on campus navigating your way through yet another school year.

To help you get, and stay, ahead, here are some easy tips to avoid becoming overwhelmed by the transition from fun to (basically) living at the library.

CONNECT WITH YOUR PROFESSORS Email your professors as early as possible to touch base. You can introduce yourself, explain what you hope to gain from the course, and inquire about any advice they may have for managing the course load.

Once classes have started, follow up on your initial communication by talking to them in person when you meet your professors face-to-face. Communicating with your professors early on will demonstrate initiative and allow you to develop a more personal relationship with them before the term gets too busy.

WHY YOU SHOULD GET TO KNOW THEM Whether you are a new student or in your graduating year of university, establishing a relationship with your professors is essential for two key reasons. First, it’ll allow them to know you by name when you participate in class discussions and recognize who you are when you email them in the future. Thus, instead of feeling like just one of hundreds of students the professor might teach across multiple classes, you’ll have a more personalized educational experience.

The second reason is that you may eventually need one or more of them to write you a letter of recommendation.

Many graduate programs require letters of recommendation as part of the application process so having a network of professors who know you on a personal level gives you a great advantage. Similarly, potential employers may also like to see letters of recommendation. Better yet, professors can tell you about job opportunities with employers they know and help you land your first job outside of university. These are valuable relationships just waiting happen—don’t miss out!

SET A MEETING WITH YOUR ACADEMIC ADVISOR, ASAP It’s in your best interest to connect with your faculty’s academic advisor, go over your course selection, and make sure that you’re on the right track. While September can be a busy time for them due to the influx of first years, squeezing in an appointment here will give you time to add and drop courses before the deadline.

This is especially crucial if you’re a first year. I attended university with some classmates who either did not know who their advisor was or set up a meeting with them until their second year or later and this definitely caused them to run into some difficulties.

Your advisor can also direct you to any additional academic resources offered by the school that you may want to make use of. For example, most institutions have learning centres where you can be paired with a tutor to help you study for and

complete assignments for certain classes.

These services are completely free and can give you the extra support needed to ace your classes.

EXPLORE EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES ON CAMPUS Extracurricular activities are a great way to meet new people, discover new interests, and blow off some steam. Look for an activities bulletin board or Facebook group and keep an eye out for when your school will be having their clubs fair.

Links to extracurricular activities may also be available online through your school website. Start looking early so you can figure out what you want to do and add your name before spots fill up.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for at your institution, you can always take initiative and start an extracurricular yourself! When I attended university I often saw the Quidditch Club competing on campus. Trying new things allows you to meet groups of people you might not otherwise encounter. Potential employers are likely to love seeing a diversity of experiences on your resume, so participating in a few extracurricular activities that are completely different from one another can demonstrate your varied interests and the fact that you readily adapt to new situations and challenges.

The key to transitioning back to school is preparation. Getting a jump start on getting to know your professors, understanding your course outline, setting an appointment with your academic advisor and signing up for extracurricular activities will definitely help you have a positive and successful experience in the coming academic year. talentegg.ca/incubator/2017/09/11/school-2

2017 Industry Career Fair 5

SED Systems has an international reputation for excellence and delivers systems to customers around the globe.

We specialize in developing complex

Photo: ESA

hardware and software systems for cable, satellite, test, and defence applications.

We are advancing with cutting edge technology in all of these market areas and work with our customers to design products and solutions for their world class systems.

From the satellite radio you enjoy in your car to the three 35-meter antenna systems we built for the historic Rosetta space probe and Philae lander on Comet 67/P, SED's Engineering and Technical capabilities lead the way.

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352

University of Calgary grads currently work at Stantec

We collaborate across industries and disciplines to bring energy and resource, infrastructure, environmental, and buildings projects to life.

Design your career with us. stantec.com/designyourcareer

Michael Fernandes, University of Calgary graduate 2010

Stantec is an Equal Opportunity Employer dedicated to Affirmative Action, Workforce Diversity, and the principles of Employment Equity.

How To Engineer Your Job Interview

by Ishani Nath If you’ve just graduated and are starting a new job, you’re probably pretty low on the career ladder right now.

After making it through an intense nanotechnology undergraduate program complete with four co-op placements, Laura Burgess has learned how to engineer a great job interview.

With help from Waterloo’s Co-op and Career Services, Laura trained up quickly. She learned that the major difference between engineering job interviews and other job interviews is the technical content.

In high school, she liked the idea of combining creativity and technical skill to solve complex problems. With a background in math and problem solving, Laura pursued this interest through the University of Waterloo’s Nanotechnology Engineering program.

“In an engineering interview, it is common to be asked to solve problems on the spot,” she says.

“This could be a question or two, or a few pages of problems the interviewers want you to work through.”

Laura set to work learning about every tiny piece of technology, but when it came time to interview for co-op positions, she faced a big challenge.

Like most university grads, Laura’s experience with job interviews was mainly limited to parttime positions and, while her past helped her with the general process of going in and meeting with prospective employers, the content of the actual Q&A period varied dramatically.

Engineering interviews were a whole new ball game.

8 Online Career Fair Magazine

One of the biggest challenges she found when facing engineering interviews was the problem solving portion. Completely different than any other interview process, it involves complex problems that you can’t always prepare for.

She says the toughest situation she faced was being handed a booklet of queries ranging from electrical circuits to pharmaceutical formulations.

She was tasked with completing the booklet, right then and there, while her interviewer loomed over her shoulder checking her work.

To prepare for engineering interviews, Laura recommends the following: • Research all aspects related to the job description so that you’re able to perform any tasks that they ask in the interview process.

• Learn about what the company does on a high level as well as the details of the specific area or group that you’re being interviewed for.

• Review previous work experience and know the details of your projects since interviewers will typically ask about your role in a job and what you contributed to any previous employers.

• Study any notes or textbook material relating to the job since technical questions and problem solving is often involved Now completing her master’s in Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto, Laura has some advice for students interviewing for engineering jobs: “Prepare and know your material, but keep a clear head,” she says.

“Confidence and a clear mind are crucial to performing well at an engineering interview.”

talentegg.ca/incubator/2012/09/18/ engineering-interview/

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How to Get into Tech with an Arts Degree

by Jason Field Any recent graduate will tell you: a Bachelor of Arts degree doesn’t get you as far as it used to.

Many traditional fields are increasing the educational requirements needed to get hired, and the costs associated with higher education continue to rise. It can be hard to feel like there are enough opportunities to justify the negative effects of student debt.

In tech, though, that’s not really the case.

There are a huge amount of tech jobs open right now, and not enough skilled workers to fill them. Some fields are even developing coping mechanisms to deal with all the talent migration into the relatively lucrative world of tech.

It’s not that anybody can get a job (getting a foot in the door can still be pretty tough – more on that in a minute), or that you don’t need to be a skilled, talented, and

hardworking person (you do). It’s just that, partly because of the skills gap, a lot of employers are open to applicants taking non­-traditional pathways into tech.

Which means it’s okay to not have a formal tech education – as long as you can show employers you possess the digital skills they need. But what if you don’t have any digital skills? What if you’ve never written a line of code in your life?

For starters, “digital skills” doesn’t necessarily mean coding. “Tech” is a huge field, and needs a huge array of talent.

UX – short for User eXperience – design prioritizes soft skills, such as empathy and how to fit information into context, over hard skills like coding. You can be a successful UX designer without knowing how to code at all.

(That said, learning a little code can really up a UX designer’s pay rate. It’s also just a skill worth knowing, but that’s a conversation for another time).

What a User Experience Designer does is figure out how users navigate a digital product, and how to help them accomplish their goals. It involves negotiating user wants and needs and the technical requirements of any given product. It’s running tests, and planning, and re­ configuring systems to ensure they work and work well. It’s a field that lets you leverage knowledge from any number of backgrounds or personal interests. It’s also a field that does a lot to humanize complex systems, and introduces delight into the way people interact with technology.

There’s a huge demand for UX designers (scan any tech job board). Which makes sense – companies that prioritize design massively outperform those that don’t. So if you’re graduating from university, and aren’t sure yet how you’re going to turn your degree into a job, consider spending this summer adding some of that special UX sauce to your resume.

A good place to start? BrainStation, which offers in­-person courses, workshops and enterprise training in Toronto, Vancouver and New York, has a part-­time UX Design course, as well as a full-­time UX Design bootcamp. talentegg.ca/incubator/2016/04/13/techarts-degree/

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Apply today at imperialoil.ca/careers

WP02335 17 08

Entry-Level Positions in the Tech Industry and the Skills You Need to Land Them

by Lauren Sutherland Technology today impacts almost every industry.

What was once called “The Internet of Things” has truly become “The Internet of Everything,” and as the demand for newer, sleeker, and more innovative tech increases, so do careers in this exciting field.

The Technology industry is currently one of the fastest-growing fields in Canada, making it a great place to start looking for a career. A career in Tech isn’t limited to Computer Science majors – there are positions available to people with experience in the humanities, business, customer service, or sales. If you are creative, analytical, and an excellent communicator, you may be more suited to a career in Tech than you think.

Read on to learn about entry-level Tech jobs and the skills they require to see if one of them is right for you.

WEB Web development primarily targets front-end web design, such as creating intuitive user interfaces and building web content.

Web Developer Basic requirements: • Undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Mathematics or Related Field • Fluency in multiple programming languages, such as JavaScript Web Developers are responsible for designing and implementing websites, as well as creating, changing, and maintaining software. This relatively new field is in high demand – pretty much every modern business requires an online presence, which provides plenty of opportunity for professionals in this line of work.

There are many facets to a Web Developer’s work. The foundation of this profession lies in understanding programming languages and conducting basic web systems analysis. However, successful Web Developers must also be excellent communicators with top time and self-management skills, which are essential when working with clients. Plus, they are creative thinkers with an understanding of design and emerging technologies.

Software Engineer Basic Requirements: • Undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology or Mathematics • Fluency in programming languages such as Hypertext markup language (HTML), C++, JavaScript, Flash, and Structured Query Language (SQL) • Strong programming skills As their titles suggest, Software Engineers design software and use coding or programming to instruct a computer to perform a desired function. Much like Web Developers, Software Engineers provide a vital service to businesses by creating or expanding their online platforms. Since an online presence is now a necessity for most industries, people with the following skills are an asset.

First and foremost, Software Engineers need to be fluent in multiple programming languages. If you aren’t sure whether to pursue a career in Tech just yet, it’s a good idea to try your hand at learning a programming language, such as Javascript, or enrol in program certification courses to gain proficiency in coding. Besides these foundational skills, Software Engineers are creative problem-solvers who are quick to adapt to new technological structures. As this line of work is largely client-based, success will come to those who can communicate clearly and complete tasks quickly.

2017 Industry Career Fair 13

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY The field of Information Technology analyzes how computers store, receive, and transmit data. Almost all industries rely on telecommunications, and IT roles have become ubiquitous in computer hardware and software development, electronics, internet management, engineering, healthcare, and e-commerce. If you fit the following profile, there are a lot of opportunities in IT waiting for you!

IT Consultant Basic Requirements: • An undergraduate degree of any field, but most likely in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, Business, Science or Mathematics • Familiarity with different information technologies and operating systems IT Consultants are basically the doctors of Tech. They diagnose computer problems, monitor processing systems, install software, and perform tests on computer equipment. Of course, a strong understanding of information technologies, including operating and security systems, is essential for this role.

Creativity, a love of problem-solving, and patient teaching skills are also key qualities for applicants, as IT Consultants may instruct clients and colleagues how to operate their technology. The ability to be a strict self-manager is a definite bonus for this position, since oftentimes this work is independent.

TECH CAREERS IN BUSINESS, CUSTOMER SUPPORT, AND SALES While web, software, and IT positions require specialized knowledge, the Technology Industry is first and foremost a business that requires multifaceted teams with diversified skills. Technology, like most industries, offers positions in business management, customer service, and sales, which are open to students from a range of disciplines. If your background isn’t in Computer Science, don’t rule out working in Tech! Emphasize the transferable skills that you have gained in your education and work experience, such as self-management and communications skills.

Business Analyst Basic requirements: • An undergraduate degree in Business, Accounting, Science, or Finance; often requires a Master’s degree for advancement • Candidates hoping to enter this field whose degrees are not listed above may want to pursue a certificate in Business Analysis • A strong understanding of the Technology Industry and its integration into business A Business Analyst surveys and documents how a business operates while assessing the best way for the industry to integrate new technology. People who can analyze the most effective way to add new technologies to existing structures are perfectly suited to this role. Analysts need to be excellent communicators, as they connect the company and its audience by translating client needs to the company and by helping the client understand the business. Fearless public speaking skills and familiarity with technical writing are also great abilities to bring to this position, since these professionals act as translators between the business, the client, and the public. The abilities to listen closely, negotiate, and provide outstanding customer service are key skills to emphasize when applying for this position.

Technical and Customer Support Basic Requirements: • Open to all graduates • Experience in customer service and support, knowledge of technological operations and products • Technological certifications are an asset Customer service is often the make-or-break aspect of a business. People in these positions address their customer’s inquiries and assist them with any issues they are experiencing. Customer Support professionals in the Tech Industry need to have a thorough working knowledge of operating systems, as well as the ability to patiently instruct clients how to use them. Excellent listening skills, a ceaselessly social attitude, and above all, problem-solving skills are foundational to this position and will be valued by any business that wants happy customers.

14 Online Career Fair Magazine

This department is a great place to start a career for a few reasons. Firstly, it is not program-specific like other Tech professions, meaning that these roles are open to employees with diverse educational and work experience. Secondly, these positions usually include comprehensive training, which provides employees with a unique opportunity to build industry knowledge from the get-go. Furthermore, in terms of diversifying your resume, Customer Service is a core aspect of most industries. Experience in this field will leave you with transferable skills that are valuable across the board.

Project Coordinator Basic requirements: • The requirements vary, but for positions in Tech, Project Coordinators usually require either an undergraduate degree or a high school diploma with certificates in project coordination or project management This is another role that does not have highly specialized requirements, but depends more on the individual’s skillset. If you are a strong leader with outstanding organizational and communication skills, you may have what it takes to excel in this position. Coordinators make sure that their team’s projects are completed in an efficient and effective manner, and they correspond with everyone involved to integrate the various tasks. Top time management skills are a secondary requirement for this role – luckily there are tons of scheduling and task management apps that can help you keep your team on track and impress people in Tech at the same time!

SALES REPRESENTATIVE Basic requirements: • Open to all graduates • Experience in sales Sales Representatives are a vital part of the Technology industry because they are responsible for driving a business forward. They develop relationships with customers and clients and promote their product to develop revenue, which fuels company growth. Anyone who has experience in sales knows that it’s about more than just selling a product. Employees in these roles represent their company brand and communicate directly with customers to place their products in the real world. Versatile experience in customer service, an outgoing attitude, and unparalleled interpersonal skills are paramount for this position. A genuine enthusiasm for working with people and an in-depth knowledge of your product will further ensure your success in the market.

Still wondering whether you should work in Tech? This emerging industry offers exceptional learning experiences and the opportunity to watch a business grow from the ground up. It’s innovative, creative, and incredibly diverse; this multidisciplinary field is only becoming more relevant to all kinds of businesses. It has never been a better time to get involved with the “Internet of Everything!” talentegg.ca/incubator/2016/03/01/entrylevel-positions-tech-industry-skills-land/

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QUALIFICATIONS Engineering Degree

WHERE

Industrial, Mechanical, Manufacturing, or Chemical

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At the Energy, Manufacturing, and Technology Career Fair

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Canadian opportunities Canadian opportunities at ExxonMobil at ExxonMobil

• Exxon Mobil Corporation brings together • Exxon Mobil Corporation brings together a diverse and talented workforce to take on the world’s toughest energy challenges. workforce to take on the world’s toughes We give all of our people the resources and opportunities they We give all of our people the resources an need to make an impact.

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