Originally published in the McMaster Daily News
One of these opportunities — the annual Student Staff Development Conference — gives student staff the skills to enter the professional world with confidence, all while engaging in fun and interactive activities with their peers.
The day-long conference, hosted in partnership by the Student Success Centre and Human Resources Services, allows student staff to engage in professional development, to network with their peers and to explore the many and varied career opportunities available to them at McMaster.
Participants engage in various skill-building exercises around networking, financial management and the application of transferrable skills.
“I enjoyed how much variety in the conference there was! I loved learning about social media, branding and how to develop ourselves professionally on LinkedIn,” said a past participant.
Recent alumni and current McMaster staff are also on hand to share their experiences of embarking on their careers.
“The panel of recent graduates/current students who work at McMaster was the most informative to me,” said another past participant. “Their earnest answers, coming from a perspective similar to mine, allowed me to reflect on my own career journey in a beneficial way.”
The conference is part of a larger strategy of preparing students for the workforce that includes work-integrated learning opportunities, career counselling and support, job shadowing, mentorship and job fair events.
“It is one of the ways our student staff get to engage in the same meaningful development and opportunities for connection that all employees at McMaster benefit from,” says Melanie Garaffa, Associate Director, Talent, Equity and Development in Human Resources Services.
The event is also a way to highlight McMaster as an employer of choice after graduation.
“When we invest in student staff, we are investing in the future of the university,” says Gisela Oliveira, Associate Director (Career Development, Global Mobility and International Student Success), Student Success Centre. “We have had many past participants go on to build careers here at McMaster, successfully building upon the foundation of lifelong employability skills they honed in their student staff roles.”