Mc Gill Career Centre CAPS caps mcgill ca

Mc. Gill Career Centre (CAPS) caps. mcgill. ca Anie-Claude Lamarche Cindy Mancuso Catherine Stace

About CAPS • • • Two locations: Downtown Campus and Macdonald Campus Five department specific career centres/advisors: Law, Management, Medicine, Engineering, and Education Main services: Career Advising & Job search 18 staff (7 career advisors, 3 student positions) Funded through Student Service fees 3 career advisor positions and 1 career resource position are funded through the MELS fund Some stats (2006 -2007) • Posted 7000+ jobs last year • Serviced 30, 700 Students (all faculties) – Undergraduate advising appointments: 2008 – Graduate advising appointments: 868 • 17 events targeted to specific Arts departments

Arts advising team UNDERGRADS • Anie-Claude Lamarche • Département de langues et littératures françaises and Arts (Social Sciences) • Catherine Stace • Math & Stats, Linguistics, Geography, Arts (Social Sciences) • Cindy Mancuso • Arts (Humanities), Language & Literature, Psychology GRAD STUDENTS (Master, Ph. D, and Post Docs) • Susan Molnar • Lorna Mac. Eachern

What we’ve learned about Art Students including their needs and concerns • No direct career path • Have many career myths • Often feel lost and unprepared for the world of work • Difficulty identifying their marketable skills • Difficulty translating their interests and skills into career options • Little knowledge of career possibilities and industries • Tend to undervalue their education • See Graduate studies as the only way to get a “good job” • Tend to enjoy their program of choice • Often have interesting experiences beyond school (therefore have a well rounded profile) • Often engaged in extracurricular activities and volunteering • Tend to be flexible • Work well with feedback

CAPS Services for Undergrads Individual advising CV drop-in 5 days a week Programs • • • PACE (in partnership with counselling service) Job Search Club Mentor Program (in partnership with alumni association) Workshops • • 50+ general workshops a year (e. g. : CV writing, interview skills, cold calling, …) Targeted workshops for specific departments (e. g. : “What can I do with my English Degree? ”)

CAPS Services for Undergrads Events • Career Week (November): Panel discussions and specialized workshops • Career Month - Backpack to Briefcase (in partnership with Alumni association) Company Information Sessions, specialized and targeted workshops and panel discussions (work with student associations) Career Fairs: • Non-Profit & Public Service Fair, Social Work, Management Job Postings Capscoop

Services for Graduate Students • • • Individual advising Monthly newsletter Graduate career week Workshops (general and targeted) “Artist Among Us” event (Redpath Museum – March 14 th) Ph. D support group (in partnership with counselling services) PACE for Grads (in partnership with counselling services) CV drop-in twice a week Faculty recruitment campaign (simulation hiring committee)

The challenges we face and how you can help Challenges: • Being known by students, faculty and staff • Making connections with individual departments • Reaching students early on in their career at Mc. Gill • Attaining a level of commitment from students (e. g. numbers attending workshops and panels) How you can help: • Become a career partner • Encourage your student association to contact us – Assign a departmental contact person • Ensure that your departmental advisor knows of CAPS • Promote CAPS to any organization in which you are involved • Give us feedback and suggestions

Thank you & Happy Holidays