[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/cara1.jpg” caption=”Cara Sweeny “]For many of the McMaster students you see working on and around campus, this summer will build the foundation of a work history that will impact the rest of their lives.

Students such as Cara Sweeny have been fortunate enough to find great jobs through the University's Work-Study Program and McWork Program during the school year and through the summer.

Sweeny found her ideal job as science career assistant in Science Career Services. The faculty-specific career centre serves 3,000 undergraduate science students. Sweeny's job was provided through the University's Work-Study Program where she worked up to 10 hours a week while attending classes, and then full-time through the summer through the McWork Program.

“I just loved the working environment there. Working with so many students really enhanced my interpersonal skills,” says Sweeny. “Not only did my McWork job provide me with much needed income, it also helped me to develop key transferable skills within the workplace. I gained many friendships with co- workers and enjoyed every minute of my employment.”

Many students come in with their “eyes set on medical school,” says Sweeny, who adds that helping students to discover what path to take was very rewarding.

The Ontario Work-Study Program offers part-time jobs to undergraduate and graduate students who are studying full-time at McMaster in the fall/winter session. The Ontario Work-Study Program assists students, who demonstrate financial need, to meet exceptional costs, often unexpected, and not recognized under OSAP. It also helps students who lack the resources expected under OSAP criteria, or whose assessed need under OSAP is not met because of loan maximums, or who do not wish to borrow further due to high debt load.

Students looking for summer jobs can apply to the McWork program. Created in 1997, through a partnership between McMaster University and the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, McWork helps financially needy students obtain paid summer employment at the University. Today it is one of the largest summer work-study programs in Ontario. The Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships partially subsidizes the wages of McWork students while the participating McWork employers make up the balance.

To read the complete story in the June issue of the McMaster Review, click here.