Career and Work

The University of Alberta has many different services to help you transition from your academic career into a rewarding professional career. Edmonton and Canada as a whole offer many employment opportunities in a great number of areas.

Career Centre

If you're looking for a job while you study or after you graduate, the Career Centre should be one of your first stops. Whether you need help improving your resume, improving your interview skills, or finding job opportunities, the staff at the centre can help. Job Shadow Week is run through the Career Centre every year during either the fall or winter reading week; these are good opportunities to learn about possible career options.

An excellent resource for student jobs is the career board, which has many jobs posted for UAlberta students.

PhD Humanities and Social Sciences students see ImaginePhD a free online career exploration and planning tool.

Experiential Learning

Co-op Programs

Co-op programs at the University of Alberta integrate academic and workplace learning. The most popular programs are in engineering and business, although other faculties also offer programs. Co-op learning can help you gain workplace skills, put your knowledge into practice, and give you a competitive edge when entering the workforce.

Co-op programs are run through specific faculties.

Work Experience Programs

Various faculties offer work experience programs for their students. These programs can offer an opportunity to learn about a specific career field and gain some valuable hands-on work experience.

To learn about a program such as Arts Work Experience, you should speak with one of your faculty advisors.

Field Schools

Certain programs will have field school options or requirements, often in faculties such as Sciences or ALES (Agriculture, Life, and Environmental Sciences) and other programs, such as Anthropology and Archaeology. Field schools offer an interesting change of pace and a chance to learn in a much more hands-on setting. Some programs have a mandatory field school component, while others are optional.

Field schools can either be near the UAlberta campus, in Alberta, another area of Canada, or even overseas. To learn more about the field school options available in your program, you should speak with one of your faculty advisors.

International Work Experience

The Education Abroad Program offers the chance to participate in international internships around the world. These internships can be either paid or unpaid and range in duration from around 4 weeks to over 6 months. Undertaking international internships is a fantastic way to learn about another country and culture and gain some work experience.

Learn more about Education Abroad.