Hiring Tips & Advice
Working at the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union is an exciting opportunity to be a part of a diverse and innovative community at TMU. As the students’ union we work to advocate for students, build a strong campus community, and provide cost-saving services. We hire students for part-time roles throughout the entire year, as well as in full-time roles in the summer. We also at times are seeking professionals to join our team in one of our full-time roles.
All of our current job postings can be found at yourtmsu.ca/jobs. This page goes over some of our expectations for applicants, as well as gives advice for students who may not have much experience applying to jobs before.
Cover Letter Expectations
To impress the hiring committee, keep the following in mind when writing your cover letter:
- Prove you are a good fit for the role by highlighting past experiences and education that has prepared you for this role – and be specific. Read the job description and talk about your ability to do the tasks listed.
- Don’t just state things, give examples. If you are super passionate about campus extra-curriculars for example, don’t just say it. Provide examples that allow us to see and understand what you are passionate about.
- Be professional with your writing. Most of the jobs we hire for have a significant “customer service” aspect to the job, so we often look at how well you’re communicating in the cover letter as an indicator. NOTE: We recognize the difficulty of learning English as an additional language, and are mainly looking for students to not use slang or texting shortcuts in their application.
Resume Expectations
The hiring committee will be looking for the following things when reviewing your resume:
- Relevant experience should be featured the most prominently in your resume. If you don’t have a lot of directly related experience to the job posting, make sure to find examples of tasks or projects you worked on in past positions that are at least similar or rely on the same transferrable skills.
- Good formatting can make a huge difference in your resume. There are a lot of different ways to layout your resume, and we won’t immediately discount a resume due to its formatting, unless the formatting makes it hard to read or we can’t understand what you’re trying to communicate. Have clear headings, make sure text isn’t too small or cramped, and make sure you emphasize the most important information with your layout.
Get More Support
Applying for jobs can be overwhelming, and there are tons of resources out there to help you get the job you want!
Career Centre
The Career Advising staff in the TMU Career and Co-op Centre can help you with every job search step.