Summer and Part-Time Work

Before you start looking for work, know what your goal is. Do you need money? Build your network? Learn or improve a specific skill? This will allow you to assess opportunities to ensure they meet your needs.

Most students start their job search with online job boards. The Career Centre provides a job posting service that is free for employers and for the exclusive use of University of Toronto students. You can view the job postings through your Career Centre Online account. A number of offices on campus offer summer and part-time positions that are not always posted on CConline. See the Working on Campus Tipsheet for more details.

Online job postings represent only a small percentage of what is available. In any job search you should tap into the hidden job market to increase your success rate.

Summer Work

Tip:

Make sure you attend the Summer Job Fair and the Volunteer & Internship Fair to see the wide range of possibilities out there.

When searching for summer work you need to start early. Some positions are posted in December and many job fairs and deadlines occur in January. If you are thinking of going overseas, you might need to start a year in advance to have your paperwork in order.

One of the largest employers of students for summer work is the government. The various levels offer a number of summer programs specially geared to students.

Federal Public Service Commission hosts the FSWEP program that provides 8,000 summer opportunities to students returning to full-time studies
Ontario Public Service offers a number of Summer and internships with their ministries.

The National Research Council (NRC) also offers a Summer Employment Program for students with interests in research and development, library sciences, communications and marketing.

The Ontario Public Service runs a Summer Experience Program every year and offers students positions such as lab assistant, environmental research assistant, assistant tourism advisor and the list goes on.

Some industries have a high demand for seasonal workers. They are a good place to start if you have limited experience since they allow you to pick up valuable transferable skills such as communication, teamwork and interpersonal.

• recreation (camps, athletic facilities)
• hospitality/tourism (restaurants, hotels, tour companies)
• entertainment (live theatres, theme parks)
• labour (construction, grounds management, garden centres)
• retail

Related Tipsheet: Summer Work Search