Hey guys,
I have a question about work-study jobs. How difficult is it to get a job on-campus?
I have applied a lot of times but never got even a response for a interview.Can anyone give me any tips, please.

Thank you

Your ability to get called for an interview depends on the size of the applicant pool. For example, if 100 people are applying for the job, the employer is going to interview less than 40% of those people.

The hiring team will be looking at the resume and cover letter to make a decision. Specifically if it's written well, addressed to the correct person, free of spelling, grammar and formatting errors. Then they look at people's experiences and if they have experience related to the position. If they don't, they look at what the applicant learned at the previous places of employment/volunteer experiences and see if and how they apply to the job.

Originally Posted by deeO

I have applied a lot of times but never got even a response for a interview.Can anyone give me any tips, please.

Thank you

Get your resume critiqued. Most of the times students don't have a strong resume. Also, be sure to have someone look over your cover letter it should be about a full page in length and be sure to prove that you possess the qualities and skills needed for the position. Career Services really is amazing and no, I'm not saying that because I work here. I say that because they have supported and help me discover how great my strengths truly are. There are mock interviews as well. However, if you have not been given a response for an interview I would say that you are not reaching your maximum potential when it comes to your resume and cover letter.

I think the most difficult part of finding a job is actually having experience for something. I was looking for summer jobs (note the past tense, I've pretty much given up), and everything I looked into required like 2-3 years experience. I've gotten plenty of interviews, but just didn't win out in the end.

It makes it hard for anyone who has little or no experience. I myself have pretty much only had volunteering experience, which I don't think many employers take seriously. Then jobs at like No Frills, they tell you you're overqualified.

Anyway, as for Work Study, get on that really early - like August 1st early, when it starts and spend some time writing cover letters. I don't think employers like generic ones so much.

Oh, also, sometimes students supply resumes with all of their experience (big no no). If my resume had all of my experience it would be about 5-6 pages. However, my resume is always one page and one page only. Get your top positions, be sure that it is targeted to the specific position to prove that you're the ideal candidate. Also, if it's kept to a page it shows that you've put more effort into it since you respect the employer enough not to waste their time by putting things that aren't applicable. For instance, if you're applying for a research paper mentioning that you delivered newspapers in grade 6 won't really help you out.

We do have drop-in hours at Career Services to have your resume critiqued. I HIGHLY recommend it. Even I've had my resume critiqued a few times (and my cover letters)

Originally Posted by feonateresa

Then jobs at like No Frills, they tell you you're overqualified.

Two ... or maybe three years ago I got rejected by Tim Hortons. =(
Nevertheless I found a waitressing job and told my manager that I wanted to be more well rounded so I picked up shifts as a hostess, expo and even the dishwasher. When I applied for my job at Career Services I told my boss that not only was I well rounded, but I was also committed to the company, willing to learn, a leader (because I did shift leads) etc. You can draw at so many more skills from positions than people think.

thanks a lot guys

i didn't know it was this hard to get jobs on campus!!

Originally Posted by Kanishka

i didn't know it was this hard to get jobs on campus!!

It's not hard. You just need to put the proper amount of effort into your resume and cover letter. Also, sometimes there are 60 people fighting for one position so please apply to more than one job. In addition, do NOT use the same cover letter and resume for more than one job.

All I know is that some jobs posted on Oscar are pretty far away, if you don't have stable access to transportation, there is no point in applying. If some jobs that are located in Toronto, or somewhere in Hamilton, be sure to see lots of competition.

Originally Posted by Bobby66

All I know is that some jobs posted on Oscar are pretty far away, if you don't have stable access to transportation, there is no point in applying. If some jobs that are located in Toronto, or somewhere in Hamilton, be sure to see lots of competition.

Those are full-time or summer jobs. If you would like a job on-campus it will most likely be McWork.

On the topic of resumes: I've had the pleasure of working with my current company for some time now. We hire students from McMaster through OSCAR, and I myself was hired this way. Having been there a while, I now get to flip through students' resumes, and help shortlist applicants.

Here are a few things I've observed where I work, maybe some will find it useful:

1) 1 job ad on OSCAR receives about 50 applications in a week.

2) About 45 of those 50 applicants have absoluetly 0 experience that would be helpful for the job in question, or that meets the required skills listed in the job posting.

2) Many resumes are filled with errors. Typos, spelling, even mistakes such as addressing it to the wrong company.

3) Many resumes are way too long. I've seen many resumes where people had very little to say, but still managed to use up 4 pages. My boss won't even read them. 1 page cover letter, 1 page resume. You don't need any more.

4) A one resume/cover letter-fits-all can be spotted a mile away.

5) Volunteer experience doesn't do much. Everyone has it.

6) Experience that can directly be tied to the job in question instantly makes you stand out above the rest. See #2.

7) Once someone sees a resume that they like, they stop caring about new ones that come in. It's probably a good idea to get an application in as soon as an ad shows up.

^ Yeah, exactly my point. If you have no experience, you're screwed. And if a job requires virtually no experience, you're overqualified for it. I guess internships and co-op in upper years is the next option.

Since I've never actually had a part-time job before, what would you guys include on a resume application and cover letter for your first job?

Originally Posted by feonateresa

^ Yeah, exactly my point. If you have no experience, you're screwed. And if a job requires virtually no experience, you're overqualified for it. I guess internships and co-op in upper years is the next option.

Yeah, it does take a bit of luck to get your foot in the door, but once you do, you will always have experience to build on form that point on.

That's the problem. You have to be given a chance in order to GET that experience :(