I ask K Xie, a past Schulich Leader about his experiences with work terms during university.
January 3, 2021
Kevin X:
"I think that seeking out work experience during undergraduate studies is really important. Firstly, it helps you determine if your career of interest is actually appealing to you and if you might enjoy some other alternatives more. My first internship was in a more traditional software development role and although it was good experience, I knew that it wasn’t something I was very passionate about. Later I did a work term doing research at a lab and that moved me towards wanting to pursue graduate school.
Internships are a great opportunity for learning and try out new things. Being an undergraduate students, the expectations and responsibilities on you will be lower and gives more slack for mistakes and on the job learning.
Also, it is valuable to realize what skills and knowledge are demanded in a real position. Depending on your area, a lot of it won’t be covered in courses and it is good to get an understanding of what material is worth prioritizing and what material might not be relevant to your career.
Taking extra work terms, might lengthen the time to completion for your degree but it is definitely worth it. In the end, it is much easier to find employment or other opportunities after graduation if you have the experience on your resume and quite a few people will go back to work at their internship places after graduation if it was a good experience. Related to this is the networking benefits as these experiences give a great opportunity to form work relationships with already established people in the industry which is invaluable after graduation and further down the line."