With the competitive job market, students are struggling to prioritize their academic goals

Have you noticed that it's becoming more difficult to get a job?

Some are fortunate to have an established network of people who help make securing a job easier. However, seeking a job solely on your own which can involve sending out several cold emails, endlessly browsing job boards, and creating a network, often proves to be more difficult than anticipated.

As a co-op student, it felt harder than necessary to secure a job for my first placement. Out of the 70 jobs I applied to, I only received four interviews.

Although this may not be the case for everyone, many students have also experienced this when it comes to job hunting.

The co-op program at McMaster University requires students to secure a job placement before their allotted work term. If a student is unable to get a job their work-term can either be moved to another semester, they may only be required to complete three work terms or they may also be removed from the program if they have not been actively searching for a position.

With limited prospects in the current job market, having to pursue one of the alternatives listed above can significantly impact our academic terms.

For many co-op students, in third year we often have our fall semester as an academic term whereas our winter and spring/summer terms are work placements. We then have a regular term during our fourth fall semester. In the winter of our fourth year, we begin looking for our next placement for the upcoming spring/summer and fall semesters of fifth year. We finally end our undergraduate careers on with one last academic term.

For a student whose work term is moved to another semester, also known as resequencing, they may not get into their required classes. We must enroll for the co-op course instead, while some of our required courses are only available during certain terms. Since students will be on work terms during the spring/summer semesters, it may become more difficult to catch up on missed pre-requisites as they are on a co-op placement during this time.

Although it is possible to begin catching up while on a work placement, co-op students are only allowed to complete one course per semester during a work term with permission from their supervisor. If your course is offered during these semesters, it can be difficult to balance this and full-time work.

If we fall behind, we don't have much room to catch up with courses. Failing to find a co-op placement in part due to the current job market being so limited faces us with dire consequences when it comes to obtaining our degrees. We are disadvantaged from successfully completing our academic requirements. We also may be putting our dreams of a thesis at risk as resequencing causes us to have a work term during our fourth year.

However, this struggle is not only limited to co-op students. The current job market has not been kind to any student. With positions being more difficult to secure, the stress we experience interferes with our academics.

The process of actually finding a job may not be the cause of stress for non-co-op students. The financial aspect of what a job promises can cause students to displace their focus from academics to job seeking. Meanwhile, many students need a part-time job to pay their expenses that OSAP and other financial aid services might not cover cover.

With jobs difficult to secure and the rising cost of living, we are detracted from prioritizing our studies. How can we, if we have to worry about next month's rent with no income to support ourselves?

When we worry about fulfilling our most basic needs like rent, food and tuition, it becomes difficult for us to focus on our education.

When we worry about fulfilling our most basic needs like rent, food and tuition, it becomes difficult for us to focus on our education.

I am not sure if you can relate, but I am more inclined to skip a lecture when I have more urgent matters to attend. Can't get into a course that is crucial for a concurrent certificate? I'm skipping a lecture to talk with an academic advisor. Can't secure a position for co-op with the deadline fast approaching? I'm skipping another lecture to try and find a solution.

Although these are conscious choices that I am making, the external influence of the tight job market becomes detracts greatly from my academics as I worry about the implications of not having a job.

This is something many students face. I hear it frequently when talking to my peers. Many of us are seeking jobs to help supplement what OSAP does not cover, but are struggling to get a job because of the current market. This constant struggle keeps us distracted from our academics, negatively impacting our performance.

It's tough finding a job in the real world.

As undergraduate students, we have access to resources that make the job-hunting process slightly less challenging. Jobs listed under the student-work program and co-op-specific job board are exclusive to McMaster students. Access to these resources limits the size of the applicant pool, increasing students' odds of securing a job.

Nevertheless, the process of job hunting doesn't get easier after we graduate. The co-op job hunting process is not a reflection of real-world competitiveness due to the supports and exclusive job board we are given.

With many companies cutting back their available positions due to a lack of funding, everything has become increasingly competitive. Being thrown into this without support can be challenging.

However, using university resources to your advantage to create a network can help improve your chances of securing a job. By connecting with your professors early on and attending campus events, you are building bridges to help facilitate the connections needed to get you into your field of work.

Using university to your advantage to create a network can help improve your chances of securing a job. By connecting with your professors early on and attending campus events, you are building bridges to help facilitate the connections to get you into your field.

Although job hunting is not easy, my biggest piece of advice is to keep working away at it. Maintaining resilience and working early ahead are the best things you can do to overcome the challenges we all face as students while maintaining your academic performance. By starting the job application process earlier, you will increase your chances of securing a position because the more jobs you apply to, the more likely it is to secure a position - it's a numbers game.

And remember, you aren't alone! Take advantage of the support McMaster has to offer. It may take some time, but you will be able to secure a position.

By relying on students to work overtime in their MSU roles, low-income students are being barred from MSU jobs

The McMaster Students Union provides over 300 part-time job opportunities for full-time undergraduate students. For many students, MSU jobs can be incredibly convenient as you don’t need to travel far — either you can do your job from home or complete your shift on campus. 

Additionally, MSU jobs can also be up your alley if it relates to something you’re passionate about. Whether it’s running a first-year mentorship program, editing for the student newspaper or running a food bank — there is plenty of space for you to pursue your interests.

However, it’s important to note that many of these jobs are contract jobs. While you can get a part-time job at Union Market or TwelvEighty Bar & Grill where you work on an hourly basis, a lot of MSU jobs state a range of hours in its contract. For example, the Student Health Education Centre Coordinator’s job contract says that they will work 10-12 hours a week, whereas the Women and Gender Equity Network Coordinator works 14-16 hours a week. However, despite what the contract says, many student employees find themselves working overtime — for free.

Students overworking their contracted hours are especially noticeable within the peer support services. For example, the Student Health Education Centre coordinator wrote in their Oct. 8 Executive Board report that they work 25-40 hours a week instead of their contracted 10-12. They then explained in their Nov. 5 report that although they have been logging their hours, they will not gain approval for many of them because then they would be considered a full-time employee. 

The Pride Community Centre, Women and Gender Equity Network and Maccess coordinators also wrote similar concerns in their reports. All of the coordinators highlighted the issue of having to pre-approve overtime hours with the vice-president (administration) that may not even be approved. This is difficult to do, considering that many tasks and meetings pop up that are hard to anticipate in advance. 

Students overworking their contracted hours is especially noticeable within the peer support services. For example, the Student Health Education Centre coordinator wrote in their Oct. 8 Executive Board report that they work 25-40 hours a week instead of their contracted 10-12.

Many of these part-time managers are then left to decide whether to fulfill tasks of their role adequately and work overtime or work their hours but not complete the tasks they need to do in their role.

The Maccess, SHEC and PCC coordinators have also highlighted that they are the only paid staff members of their service, so when a volunteer executive cannot complete their work, they often have to take over the role. The reports highlight that volunteer executives often work well above their hours in addition to being unpaid, so it seems unfair to task them with even more work than they currently do. As a result, the extra hours of work fall onto the paid part-time manager.

This is a systemic issue within the MSU. By forcing undergraduate students to overwork their contracted hours, we are telling students that to do a good job at your role, you have to work over your expected hours. That you have to do unpaid work to be a good MSU employee. Because of this implied expectation, low-income students are often barred from MSU jobs. 

You can even take the Silhouette as an example. The Sil’s section editors, like myself, are paid for 10-12 hours per week. But oftentimes, we work a lot longer than that. Last year when I and a few other editors logged our hours, we worked upwards of 15-20 hours per week on average. This is because in a week, we have to attend three to four meetings, find contributors to write for our section, write our own articles, edit anywhere from three to six articles, correspond with contributors, provide our contributors feedback and layout two articles. Sometimes, issues or complaints can pop up as well that we have to deal with.

Our workload is often impossible to complete within 12 hours — 12 hours per week is less than two hours of work each day! If we don’t do extra hours, though, we simply wouldn’t be able to publish the amount of content we do currently. The same goes for many other roles in the MSU — if you don’t work extra, you likely won’t finish the tasks you need to do for that week. But because we do so much extra work, low-income students are less likely to hold these jobs because they can probably find a job that doesn’t overwork them. As a result, students who are okay with doing a little bit extra for their job are the ones who end up in these MSU roles.

Our workload is often impossible to complete within 12 hours — 12 hours per week is less than two hours of work each day! If we don’t do extra hours, though, we simply wouldn’t be able to publish the amount of content we do currently.

If only privileged students can afford to be part of the MSU, there is an inherent lack of representation in the MSU — the student union that is supposed to represent all undergraduate students. The MSU relies on our ability to “put in the extra work” and if you aren’t able to do that, they’ll find someone else to hire. 

What’s worse is to be a competitive applicant for an MSU job, you often have to volunteer and do a lot of unpaid labour to appear more qualified. For many paid positions in the MSU, it is an asset to have volunteered or contributed to that service in the past. With the Sil specifically, it is an asset to have written or volunteered with the Silhouette if you want to be considered for a paid role because it shows that you have an understanding and passion for the Silhouette.

However, because volunteering is looked highly upon when applying for a paid role, people who have the ability to spend time volunteering — instead of working — have an upper hand in the job application process.

It’s clear that this is a systemic problem within the MSU. The MSU is something that should serve all of us. I’m lucky enough to be able to hold a paid role in the MSU, but I still find that time after time, the MSU has harmed me and many others because the “higher-ups” tend to be upper-class, privileged, white and overall, out of tune with the rest of the student body.