Sometimes it’s helpful to have a somewhat objective view of ourselves. Look at the Interest Inventory matches from your results on the AA&CC’s Online Self-Assessment. If you haven’t done it yet, you can complete it here:

Remember to email the results to yourself to use later!

How do I match up my Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs) with a job advertisement?

Image of a 3 puzzle grey pieces linked together with a blue puzzle piece not linked. Alternating blue and grey arcs circle the puzzle pieces.

Good question. We suggest the following strategy, especially if you are new to job searching:

Figuring out what job titles and companies to watch for:

Part A)

1. Read a bunch of job ads**, like 20 or 30, with a range of different job titles. Don’t read all the same ones. While you’re reading, start a Word document on your computer. Copy/paste the jobs that include words and concepts related to your KSAs, which you began to collect in Part 1 via those assessment tools, into the Word document. It will look messy – that’s OK, it’s just for you.
2. Now you have 10 or 20 jobs in the messy Word file. Analyze the job titles. Are there some themes? Maybe 2 or 3 job titles that keep recurring? Also analyze the kinds of companies. Are there some themes? Maybe 2 or 3 industries that keep recurring? Those are your targets! Write down these themes maybe at the top of the Word file so they’re easy to find later. You may want to add a table like this:

Job Title and Company	Industry (Make Comments)	Knowledge	Skills	Attributes	Do I have it? Y/N (Make Comments)

Figuring out which jobs I have the best chance at getting an interview for:

Part B) The T-analysis is the easiest way to do this.

Find** a job that you think might be a fit for your KSAs.
Download our T-analysis chart for reference, and fill in the requirements for the job. Job requirements usually include technical skills (eg computer software), soft skills (eg teamwork) and education (eg background in a social science).

II. On the same T-analysis chart, fill in YOUR KSAs, especially the things that you can prove are true with an experience like: a school project, a volunteer experience, a previous job experience, or some other experience in your life.

Where can I find summer job advertisements?

You can find summer job advertisements in a million places, including posted on Quercus in your courses if your professor is hiring for their research lab or a project! You can also find summer job ads on social media (@SCSUuoft, @utscstudentexp, and so many more), and even posted on windows like at the UTSC Library when they are hiring!

Some websites that you might find useful for “scanning” for the kinds of jobs that fit your Knowledge, Skills and Attributes are:

	U of T’s Official Job Board There are jobs posted all-year-round on the Off-Campus Jobs board Work Study jobs, which are on campus, are posted in April (for summer) and August (for Fall/Winter)
	Campus Connect is a project striving to connect post-secondary students with work.
	Magnet is a job board that strives to match candidates who are diverse in race, ability, sexual preference, etc with employers who are motivated to diversify their workforce!
	Talent Egg is a Canadian platform connecting young workers with jobs and projects; they also usually have good advice for when the AACC is not open.
	Canada's Job Bank has all kinds of jobs including summer jobs with the Federal government; many employers post here because it has no cost! (yes, many job boards charge to post a job so some companies won’t post on those).
	Jobs and opportunities to try being an entrepreneur!

There are also “niche” job boards for particular industries, for example:


For Environmental jobs	For Chemistry jobs	For Non-Profit jobs often connected to Social Sciences of all kinds

You can find more of these by Google searching for “_______ job board Canada.”

What are the most competitive summer jobs, which I should start hunting for in the fall?

There are two kinds: Canada Summer Jobs (see link above), and summer jobs in research.

Here are some resources for finding jobs in research:

Life Sciences Research at U of T (Undergrads)

There is a list of just a few websites that might be useful
There is a great guide at the top of the page that I highly recommend reading!

Google Search for “summer research jobs Toronto” for industry and hospital websites that post roles.