By Julian Faita

Developing your career prospects can take a lot of hard work and dedication, especially as a student! This is probably because career development can mean different things to different people. For some it is finding a meaningful job, for others it is being an entrepreneur, and for some it it is going back to graduate school. We spend so much time on picking the right major and choosing the right courses, that oftentimes we forget the impact getting involved in extracurriculars can have. Joining design teams, student groups, and research teams can really help with landing your dream job coming out of university. Then again the more I think about it, the more I realize that there is no one right path for everyone. So I thought that we should ask an expert who has thought about all these questions that we overthink every single day.

Meet Samantha Slewa

Samantha graduated from Ryerson University in 2020 with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a specialization in Mechatronics. She started the program in 2015 and completed an internship after her third year. Currently she works as a Technology Consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Samantha spends her free time trying new recipes, playing the guitar, and learning Spanish. Fun fact: Samantha is an expert chess player!

Undergraduate Journey 

During her four years in university, Samantha spent 16 months interning with Toronto Hydro in 2018-2019. She worked in the downtown Toronto office as a “Senior Technical Student – Generation Planning & System Studies” while producing technical standards and developing scripts using Python. She spent her final year at Ryerson as a Teaching Assistant for the Introduction to Engineering Design course (MEC325) taught by Dr. Filippo Salustri and Dr. Patrick Neumann. Samantha spent her time studying hard while balancing work as well as extracurriculars. In addition to all this, she also served as the Vice-President of Communications for the Ryerson Mechanical Engineering Course Union (MECU) where she managed the social media platforms and designed graphics for the organization.

Samantha Now

During her last year at Ryerson, Samantha applied for the position of Technology Consultant Associate at PwC. After successful interviews, she was hired for this role in February of her last year at Ryerson and started working there this September. Samantha is working full-time from home and loves her job! She attributes the successes in her career thus far to a few tips and tricks.

Tips & Tricks

Samantha clearly has some insider knowledge of how to land your dream job and develop your career. Lucky for us, she was open to sharing this knowledge!

1. Try to get involved in as many extracurriculars as possible (within reason) as early on as you can! This is a great way to show employers your skills with little to no work experience. Make sure to showcase your extracurricular experience on your resume and emphasize the skills that you’ve used along the way!

2. Get your resume reviewed by the Ryerson Career & Co-op Centre (RCCC)! Ryerson has numerous great resources to help you build your dream career and that all starts with getting your resume reviewed and critiqued by a professional. The RCCC  is super helpful and will definitely help you make sure that your resume is in tip top shape.

3. Prepare for your interview in detail! Make sure you know tons of information about the job and the company to showcase that you are invested and truly interested in the position. This way you can ‘wow’ the company with your knowledge and hopefully impress your interviewer.

4. Don’t let a rejection keep you down! When applying for jobs don’t let rejections hold you back! Oftentimes, you won’t know why you didn’t get a job and it could be for any number of reasons. Don’t let this get you down and keep applying! There are lots of jobs out there that you’ll be great at.

All in all…

Just remember that career development comes in many different forms, through school, extracurriculars, and even your own personal growth! Keep in mind the tips of getting involved as much as possible, getting your resume reviewed at RCCC, preparing for your interviews in detail, and not letting rejections hold you back. For further insight into where your Ryerson degree can take you, attend the “Career Pathways” Masterclass on Tuesday November 17th from 4pm to 5pm.

**As of April 2022, Ryerson University has been renamed Toronto Metropolitan University**