It's a familiar question for students as graduation nears: What's next?
Amid a competitive labour market, many students may be wondering exactly how they go about leveraging their hard-earned degrees to land a crucial first job.
Fortunately, students at the University of Toronto are not only among the most coveted grads on the planet in the eyes of employers, according to a recent Times Higher Education ranking , they also have a wealth of career-launching resources at their fingertips.
U of T career centres across the three campuses - Career Exploration & Education at St. George , the Career Centre at U of T Mississauga and the Academic Advising and Career Centre at U of T Scarborough - offer a range of services for students and recent graduates, from one-on-one advising and resume workshops to career fairs and employer networking events.
Through the Career & Co-Curricular Learning Network (CLNx) , students can also access thousands of job postings, book appointments with career educators and connect with alumni mentors.
U of T News spoke with recent grads about how they landed their first roles and what they learned along the way.
Networking on the mic
In her fourth year of studying economics and math, Caitlin Zhang was volunteering at a fair to help new students navigate programs at the Faculty of Arts & Science when she kept getting the same question: What do economics graduates actually do?
It was a question she was asking herself.
A member of Trinity College who graduated last spring, Zhang knew her degree would open doors in fields from marketing to banking, but she wasn't sure which one to try first. "I can do everything but nothing," she recalls thinking.
So, Zhang started a podcast in which she interviewed alumni about their career paths, hoping their insights could help others.
The recurring takeaway: "You have to be open-minded," Zhang says.
She took that to heart. By networking at events that ranged from business clubs to hiking groups, Zhang found a job as an adviser at Sun Life.
The podcast paid off in other ways: She built lasting connections with two of her guests and developed new skills that help her own job search.
"I had to do a lot of interviewing and reflect on it, so when I talk with managers or interviewers, I feel more confident," she says, adding that the key is mustering the courage to meet people and put yourself out there.
"Be brave - there's nothing to lose."
From co-op to career launch
In his final semester, Leo Li was struggling to stay focused.
"I just couldn't stop thinking, 'Where am I going to go after graduation?'" says Li, who graduated with a degree in computer engineering from the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering in 2025.
His first choice? Land a full-time position with Red Hat, an open-source enterprise software company where he had completed his professional experience year co-op program. But with no word on whether they'd hire him, he needed a backup plan.
Li honed his technical skills in student groups such as IEEE U of T (the local student branch of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), taking part in hackathons and software projects. Those clubs also connected him with upper-year students who helped polish his resume, practise mock interviews and secure referrals.
Then, in the midst of exam season, an offer from Red Hat landed in his inbox.
Looking back, Li says his co-op and co-curriculars laid the groundwork long before that email arrived.
"I think I gained the most from student activities and clubs," he says. "I got so many hands-on experiences that are really close to industry standard."
Researching the right inbox
Tanya Kaur Talwar knew she wanted to explore the link between spatial reasoning and math education.
She just needed to find people who shared her research interests.
Talwar reached out professors and lab directors across the country, sending cold emails in attempt to build connections. Among them: Zachary Hawes, an assistant professor of applied psychology and human development at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE).
Talwar read Hawes's papers, referenced specific studies and detailed their common research interests before hitting send.
Hawes replied.
"We think a lot before we send an email," says Talwar, a recipient of U of T's Lester B. Pearson International Scholarship who graduated with a specialist in psychology and minor in applied statistics last year. "It's a shot in the dark, but I don't think it's ever wasted."
Now a lab manager and research co-ordinator in Hawes's Mathematical Thinking Lab at OISE, Talwar says persistence pays off, even if an opportunity isn't immediately available.
"Expressing interest, even when the possibility seems bleak, is a good idea, because it may end up coming back to you in the future."
Taking a chance on yourself
Valentina Bravo wasn't thinking about her career when she landed a work-study job at U of T Mississauga's Career Centre . But working there changed her perspective.
"I didn't know that I really enjoyed working with people closely," she says. "That definitely is something I value now whenever I'm looking for opportunities."
After graduating with a double major in human biology and political science and a minor in biomedical communications, Bravo was still working at the career centre part-time when she decided to take a shot. She pitched her supervisor on a careers blog - a newsletter created by students, for students.
"I did that not knowing what it would lead to," she says.
Fast-forward to today and Bravo is a career readiness coordinator at the centre. Now shepherding students on their own job hunts, Bravo says the most common obstacle she encounters is a reluctance to take the first step.
Her advice? Say "yes," even when you're unsure.
"You're practising your interview skills. You're putting your name out there. And you never know what it could lead to."
