Welcome to Professional Perspective where industry professionals share their insights regarding various employment related topics!

Cathy Lund, Senior Campus Recruiter at RBC, is back to answer today’s question. Cathy’s professional perspective comes from an amazing career that began in client facing sales roles and quickly evolved into leadership and human resource roles, recruiting and matching top talent with opportunities for rewarding experiences at RBC.

Today’s question is:

What advice would you give students as they prepare for their careers?

Cathy’s Professional Perspective

Be involved
“Take every opportunity to meet someone from the companies you want to work for through career centre events, social media, and volunteering.”

Get to know the industry by connecting with the professionals through different avenues. You can get an idea of their backgrounds and practices by following them on social media, where they often post activities and conversations they are involved in. Also, you can gain an understanding of their workplace cultures by working with them through internships and volunteering. Not to forget, Red River College offers students opportunities to connect with industry professionals, such as Student Employment Services’ Employer on-Campus events and other College affairs where companies invite students to attend information sessions, career fairs, one-on-one conversations, and open house style meet-and-greet sessions.

Be proactive
“Start working on your self-marketing documents immediately.”

Don’t wait until the last minute to develop your cover letter and resume. Draft a master resume including all of your skills, training and experiences so when a job that you are interested in comes up, you can draw relevant information from your master resume to create a tailored resume. Even if you are not ready to job search yet, you can start drafting customized documents by referring to available job postings. This way, you have more time to fine tune your documents when you decide to apply for opportunities.

Be open
“Be open to where you start.”

Cathy explains that at RBC, they take care of their employees with their talent management practices and expect everyone they hire to grow and thrive in their careers. New hires may just progress faster by starting in their Advice Centre or a Client Service role than they would if they waited for the right leadership or sales role to come up.

Cathy will be at the Exchange District Campus on October 25 and 26, 2017 for the RBC Campus Recruitment Information Session and Time4U Sessions. 

As a professional recruiter, Cathy is a wealth of information on what you can do to increase your chances of securing employment. Join us to tap into more of her knowledge as you are preparing to transition from College to Career!

Click here for more information and to register:
Employer on-Campus: RBC

Registration is required and sign-up will be on a first come, first served basis.

For additional job searching tips, visit Student Employment Services’ Online Employment Resources or book an appointment with an RRC Employment Advisor at 204.632.3966 or JobCentre@rrc.ca.