Career & Financial Advice

Chelsea Marsolais is a peer facilitator with Career Studio, a new service at VIU that assists students with writing resumés and cover letters, interview skills and career exploration.

She recently helped Joe, a VIU student whose last name we agreed not to use.

One of the questions I get asked frequently is how to best tailor a resumé to a specific job to increase the chances of getting called for an interview.

Think of the job posting as the employer’s “wish list.” With that in mind, don't be afraid to apply if you don’t fulfill the entire wish list. If you feel confident that the job is a fit, you are motivated to do the job and feel that you have the skills to get the work done, apply! 

In the resumé, your objective is to show the employer all the ways that you meet their needs. The employer wants to know three things:

Are you looking for help with writing a resumé or cover letter? Want some advice on how to prepare for an interview? Wondering what career options might be a good fit? This fall the Centre for Experiential Learning is launching a new service, called Career Studio, to deliver services vital to building lifelong career planning skills.

The school year is over, warmer weather is on the horizon, and you may be starting the search for a summer job. Whether that job is in your field of study or not, it’s important to understand what employers are looking for.

“Regardless of how strong your ‘hard’ or technical skills are, ‘soft’ skills are key,” says VIU Career Services Officer Paula Deering.

It’s the first week of summer session! This issue of the Pulse is your guide to success this semester, including how to access student services, the library’s getting started guide, on-campus work opportunities and pub hours. Also don’t forget to check out our tips on getting ready financially for the next year.

Applying for scholarships, awards and bursaries requires a lot of planning and preparation. The key is to start early – before Grade 12! – and get strategic. Here are five tips to help you prepare.

In celebration of National Work-Integrated Learning Month, the Centre for Experiential Learning (CEL) wants to bring awareness to the various career and work-integrated learning services VIU has to offer.

Looking for work while going to university can be a stressful and time-consuming task. Seeking a job that is relevant to your program of study can make the search even more complicated. The good news is that VIU has its own online job board that offers thousands of opportunities specifically geared towards students and their programs of study.

VIU just added two new career services staff members who will focus on getting more employers to hire students, and helping students become more successful in work-integrated learning opportunities (like co-ops and internships) and transitioning to the workplace.

The best way to find out if you are truly passionate about something is to try it out for a while.

That’s just what fourth-year Computer Science student Nina Gill did with her recent co-operative education experience. After taking a course on cyber security, the 25-year-old wanted to explore whether a career in this area was for her.

Over the past year and a half, federal and provincial governments have introduced COVID-19 relief measures aimed at supporting students – one of the groups hardest hit financially by the pandemic. What does this mean for you? It means there are more funding options available than ever before to help you return to school.

With all of these supports in place, you may be wondering what you need to do to get started. Check out the following funding options and start realizing your goals: