Not quite sure what you wanna do in the future? Wondering how your future workplace is going to look like? Need some career advice in general? Well, fear not, cuz this week we hosted our first online event of the year: the annual MSSA Career Panel! If you missed it, don’t worry- this article will have you down on the basics.
First, let us introduce our five panelists: Amier- a software engineer at Cardata, Ann- a PEY intern working as a consultant, Isabel- a part-time researcher at a cancer research center, Jen-Sion- an engineering technician working for the government of Canada, and Sammi- a business development strategist. We were very fortunate to have five extremely accomplished UofT alumni join us on a Saturday afternoon to share their experiences and knowledge with us.
We started off with some more personal questions, such as why the panelists chose their field of work, and what a typical day at work would look like. To our (at least my) surprise, many panelists actually were not set on what they wanted to major in, even more so what their future career was going to look like. It took them a few years of trying different classes in University and careful thinking to land an internship/job they wanted. We also learnt that many of our panelists had flexible but unpredictable work schedules, some due to the pandemic while others were due to the nature of their jobs.
With that, we dove right into the questions that everyone was waiting for: How did you get your position? What courses in UofT really helped you accomplish your career goals? What were some of the challenges you faced in your current role and how do you overcome them? We got a wide range of insightful responses, but to summarize: 1) Network, network, and network. After that, it all comes down to hard work and passion. 2) UofT offers many great courses that teach organizational behavior and planning, as well as multiple programs such as PEY that you take advantage of. 3) The amount of new knowledge and imposter syndrome were two key issues that kept coming up, but remember that in your internship or first job your boss and colleagues will understand that you don’t know all the ropes yet, so it’s ok to make a few mistakes and ask for help.
Finally, we held a Q/A session with many great questions from attendees, such as how to balance work life with school life, and future plans on whether to stay in Canada or move back to Singapore/Malaysia. We even got a fun question about what Malaysian dish you would be!
I would like to say a massive thank you to all the panelists and students who attended the event. It’s not easy hosting online events, but you guys definitely made it a worthwhile experience for all parties involved. I definitely learnt something new today, and I’m sure many others did too. On that note, follow us on Instagram or catch up with all things new on our website; we promise going online won’t stop us from hosting fun events for all MalaySings in Toronto.
A screenshot of the virtual event showing this year's panelists.
You can watch a recording of the career panel by clicking here.
Thank you, and stay safe,
The MSSA Team.
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