Student surmounts 'little fish' fears

from an article by co-op student Andrea Banerjee, published in the Inside Scoop newsletter for Waterloo co-op students

We’ve all experienced self doubt — especially in the culture of co-operative education, where students are constantly sizing up their competition.

For junior students, it can be even worse. The nerves associated with interviewing and selling yourself seem to grow exponentially when you don’t have much work experience, or you’ve only completed a semester or two of your academic program. Junior students often feel like little fish in a big pond.

Not long ago Margarita Cargher (photo above) felt the same way that many others might. An unsatisfying first work term had left the 3B Public Accounting student feeling under-confident. As she completed interviews for her second work term without matches, she couldn’t help but wonder what was responsible for her luckless job search. Growing disillusioned with the entire co-op program, Cargher applied to an intermediate/senior level job on a whim, for iDesign Solutions, an internet-based company that specializes in the resale of hardware and software. The position intrigued her, but the job description targeted older students. After a long wait she landed a second-round interview for the position.

She was caught off guard shortly into her interview. She wasn’t anticipating the challenge posed to her in only her second question. “So, I have a web store,” her interviewer said. “We just recently opened three months ago. How do I increase my sales?” Gulp.

“I’m a junior student sitting there,” Cargher recalls. “I have no clue what to say.” Her mind went to social media and she began to talk about using web forums to advertise the company. Her interviewer evidently liked her answer; she was offered a job as an e-commerce project manager, beating out several senior student competitors. The offer came as a surprise to her. She recalls, “I was nineteen at the time and literally sitting there thinking, He’s never going to choose me.”

If the interview wasn’t indication enough, it became clear from her first day on the job that she would not be micro-managed. She was given overarching goals rather than a specific task list, and it was up to her to manage her time over the months she spent with iDesign. Her main role was to increase traffic flow to the website and improve sales by developing e-commerce marketing strategies.

The job structure took some adjustment. Cargher, like many junior students, was not used to having so much freedom and responsibility. “I was really uncomfortable at first,” she recalls. “I felt like I needed somebody to tell me what to do.” Ultimately, however, the confidence that her employer invested in her paved the way to an entirely positive co-op experience. “I felt like a part of the company, not like a small little piece in a corporation,” says Cargher. “I felt like I was making changes.”

Indeed she was. She worked to increase sales with her development strategies and use of social media. She also took the initiative to help lower the company’s credit card sales charges per transaction, which helped to protect their profit margin. Waiting on a few things to propel her current projects, she recalls looking at the company’s credit transactions. “I remember thinking That will cut into the margin,” she recounts. “So I called the company and we talked.”

Cargher reminds students that apparent “downtime” on the job should never be wasted. When your employer gives you the freedom to manage your own time, you are more accountable than ever. When she felt unsure of where to begin, she would spend her time doing research. “The more freedom I have, the more I can do,” she says. “Freedom motivates me.”

She proudly recalls the company VP telling her at the end of her term, “See, I knew you could do it.” There is no more feigning confidence: she’s finally experiencing the real thing. “I cannot even say how proud I was of myself,” she says of landing the iDesign job and the accomplishments that ensued. She continues to work part time at iDesign Solutions on her current academic semester.

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Staff retirements in recent weeks

The fall term will be starting without a number of Waterloo’s long-time staff members, as summer is a popular season for retirements to begin. These staff officially retired as of June 1, according to the human resources department, and haven’t been previously noted in the Daily Bulletin:

• Daniel Beaupre (right), field coordinator in co-operative education and career services, based most recently in Ottawa. He joined the university in 1975 and served at one time as manager of fund-raising (development) activities.
• Carol Donaghey, copy centre operator in retail services (formerly graphics), who came to the university in 1980.
• Janet Hill, a food services assistant who was based at the Tim Hortons outlet in the Davis Centre; her Waterloo career began in 1992.
• Susan Parsons, general book buyer in the bookstore, who joined the university’s staff in 2000.
• Wendy Stoneman, department resource manager in electrical and computer engineering, who had been a staff member since 1994.
• Joseph Szalai, library clerk in the Dana Porter Library, who had been a staff member since 1988 and helped lead two campaigns to unionize Waterloo staff.
• John Vossen, a building serviceperson (mason) for plant operations, who joined the university in 1990.
• Garnet Wagner, accounts administrator in science technical services, whose Waterloo career began in 1982.

More retirements were effective July 1:

• Linda Grant, registered nurse in health services, a member of the university’s staff since 1976.
• Elizabeth Martell, research associate in the Centre for Contact Lens Research, a staff member since 1997.
• Larrie Monk, a building serviceperson in plant operations, who came to the university in 1988.
• Hugh O’Brien, gardener for the grounds section of plant operations, who joined the staff in 1975.
• Hugh Scoggan, senior lab demonstrator in the kinesiology department’s anatomy school, who came to the university in 1979.
• Arminda Silva, a custodian in plant operations since 1986.
• Janice Stotesbury, secretary-receptionist in counselling services, whose Waterloo career began in 1992.

Officially retiring as of August 1:

• Lynn Finch, assistant to the director of the Waterloo-Laurier Graduate Program in Geography, who joined the university in 1991.
• Victor Neglia, manager of the arts computing office, who had been at Waterloo since 1972.

CAR

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