Hi,
I just completed my 2nd year for commerce and was wondering how competitive the commerce internship program is. Like what are the employers looking for. I myself have a GPA of around 10 while experience as a tutor and an accounting intern. However I am not very involved in extracurriculars. Would that effect me greatly or would experience and grades be enough?

hey so i dont have direct experience with the internship program but in general for working with the big companies, they use grades as a cutoff point for their pool of applicants. and thats really all the purpose that grades serve. they would then look at your experiences and involvement. if you can show leadership, communication, customer service and community involvement through your experiences on your resume then that is good.

I my self was not very involved in extracurricular (but i did have some) and was more involved in volunteering outside of school.

Hope that helps

Give me a pm if you want a more detailed answer.

But long story short, grades matter very little as far as getting a commerce internship position. It's everything else that sets you apart - your experiences, your resume/cover letter, the layout/format of your resume/cover letter, how you describe your experiences and what value you bring to the company, your interview skills...etc

Look at what everyone else is doing...... and then stay away from that.

Hey, doing my internship right now (just started today actually =D). I got a gpa of high B and some years' of part time work experience and some industry experience. Oh I also had a D. Like no extracurriculars at all (meaning nothing in school) had no time for that stuff. Yeah grades are definitely counted as a cutoff in that it will help get you selected for interview , I know a lot of people below B did not really get interviews at least in first round. As long as you have experience I dont think they care if its in school or not, might actually be better if not because its a lot more effort to do stuff outside of school since you have to travel and whatnot. You just have to know how to talk in your interviews, dont be overly happy (that can make you seem crazy) or overly monotone (no interest then no one wants to work with you), you just have to be normal and knowledgeable and show you are passionate. You have to remember that lot of the interviewers will actually be your direct supervisor after you are hired (this is true in my case and a lot of my friends' case as well) so you have to convince them that they would want to work with you.

I'm not sure how its going to be for your year though because I get the feeling that your year might have more competition (meaning more people with high averages) since you guys were taking courses with first year students so I think it was easier for a lot of people in your year to get high marks in stuff like accounting because DeGroote tried to make those second year courses that are now first year easier to accommodate the first years (by the time you make it to second year you get uni lifestyle way more than a first year would plus there is a target average that degroote has to meet for commerce courses). But, I think you should definitely get an internship as long as you dont blow your interviews!