Quote:
Originally Posted by Wharn
I didn't find it particularly easy, at least for my field. I literally spent months looking for a job in the London area. Amazingly, a lot of firms didn't even consider Western grads, even with good grades and a decent work experience record. They all seemed to prefer hiring people out of the co-op programs at Laurier, Waterloo and Brock (to me, this shows that Western is behind the eight ball in the career services department). Just getting an interview was difficult; forget about an offer. The few jobs I did happen to come across were fairly low-paying positions that required less brainpower than jobs I had previously worked as a student (eg, accounts receivable). Not something you'd want to make a career out of.
I spent months on this pointless endeavour before caving and deciding to move back to Toronto. Within 3 weeks I had a string of interviews, and within 5 weeks I had multiple offers. I was astounded at how easy it was; needless to say I finally understood why so few Western students bothered sticking around London.
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That is powerful stuff. You should write a letter to the editor in the Free Press on this topic sometime. If people could see that Western is failing some students and not being the best it could be within London with the lack of co-op opportunities, changes might happen, you never know. Unfortunately from when I remember the university president Amit Chakma being interviewed on TVO shortly after he took over, Steve Paikin asked him a pointed question about the university's less than stellar relationship with London, and Chakma didn't seem to really care.
Is your field accounting? I'm aware of a small number of people from my graduating class who found CA/CMA/CGA jobs in London, but the majority found them in Toronto and one ended up on Wall Street. One person from my graduating class who did get a job in London left for Toronto in less than three years.
I've been looking at CPA Ontario job boards from time to time and I'd say 80-90% of the positions advertised are in the GTA, with the rest spread around Southern Ontario including Ottawa, London, and K-W - maybe once every three months you'll see one in Northern Ontario. It sucks since the GTA only makes up 45% of Ontario's population.
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