Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change

Career Development

EUC aims to provide students with experiences and professional development knowledge which will prepare students to be career ready for graduation. EUC offers the following services and opportunities to help students build the required professional skills to enter the environmental and urban industry:

Real World Professional Experience

Placements & Internships: Undergraduate students have the opportunity to complete a placement in their 3rd & 4th year of study where they work with an organization to develop working experience, grow their professional network and enhance their professional skills.

Capstone Course: This is an initiative that enables students to collaborate in multi-disciplinary teams with students, faculty and project partners to work on year-long capstone projects pitched by non-profits, start-ups, and businesses who want to make real social impact. Your participation in C4 will count as credits at the 4000 level. 

What is C4?

Why C4?

Student Perspective

EUC Career Coaching

  • One on One Coaching: Meet with the Experiential Education Coordinator for career coaching in the areas of resume & cover letter, job search, interview prep and green career pathways guidance.
    • Professional Development Workshops: Throughout the year the Experiential Education Coordinator hosts professional development workshops targeted towards green careers to train students with essential skills needed to be career ready after graduation.
    • Networking Events: EUC hosts panels and speed networking events with alumni and community partners to discover and learn more about career pathways student could pursue after graduation.
    • A weekly newsletter is sent out to students to highlight opportunities to build their professional skills and grow their professional networks. The weekly newsletter includes:
      • EUC has a internal job board which is exclusive to EUC students only. This job board is updated weekly with opportunities related to their field of study. An update on new placements, jobs and volunteer opportunities is provided for students to take advantage of and to also learn about the different positions and organizations they could get involved with.
      • Tip of the Week: Weekly professional tips are provided to students to learn about the tips an tricks of how to brand themselves to attract employers, how to access the hidden job market, the do’s and don’ts of networking and many other career development skills.
      • Internal & External Events, Workshops & Webinars: The newsletter highlights internal YorkU events and external events to provide students with an opportunity to cultivate their professional networks, learn more about external organizations and provide resources to learn more about events related to their field of study.

Work Placement Course for EUC Students

What do I need to complete an undergraduate placement?

  • Academic Requirements
    • Successfully completed between 60 to 90 credits
    • Maintain a minimum overall GPA of 6.0 (B)
  • Approval from the Experiential Education (EE) Coordinator
    • To enroll into ENVS 4001 course students must first confirm their placement and request approval via email from the EE Coordinator

What are my undergraduate placement enrollment options?

  • Student who enroll in approved placements may receive 3 or 6 credits towards their degree upon successful completion of their placement
    • Approved 3 credit placements require a minimum of 120 hours of work
    • Approved 6 credit placements require a minimum of 240 hours of work
  • Enrollments are carried out each semester throughout the year (Fall, Winter & Summer)

How does a placement benefit me?

  • Develop professional working experience
  • Integrate classroom learning with hand-on practice
  • Grow your professional network
  • Develop personal and professional skills to build your resume
  • Explore different career paths and learn about a wide variety of environmental organizations and departments

Frequently Asked Questions

The placement course is open to all EUC undergraduate students who have completed a minimum of 60 credits with a GPA of 6.0 (B). Typically, students complete the placement course in their 3rd and 4th year of study.

Contact the EE Coordinator at rosannan@yorku.ca

The placement course runs every semester (Fall, Winter & Summer). Once a student has confirmed a placement they are to request permission from the EE Coordinator before the scheduled last day to enroll into courses date.

Students have the option to enroll into either 3 credits, where they would have to complete a minimum of 120 hours of work OR 6 credits where they would have to complete a minimum 240 hours of work.

Students should begin their search by first deciding on the type of organization they would like to work for (not for profit, government, energy, sustainability, agriculture etc.) and the type of work they would like to do to help narrow down their options. There are resources available to student to assist with their job search such as:

  • The YorkU Career Centre has a variety of Job Search workshops for students to attend and build their skills.
  • The EUC Job Board is available to all FES students where environmental jobs are posted weekly.
  • Experience York is the Career Centre’s job board with placement, internship, summer job, volunteer, & job opportunities for students including on campus work-study & RAY positions.
  • List of external job boards can be found on the Career Centre’s Online Job Posting page.

It is recommended that students begin their search before the start of the term they are enrolling in to complete a placement. If you are having difficulties securing a placement or confused about the process you can contact the EE Coordinator for further assistance by emailing euc_ee@yorku.ca to schedule an appointment.

Once students are enrolled in the course, students will be out on their placements.  There will be no formal lectures, but the Course Director & EE Coordinator will keep virtual office hours and regularly check in with students. Students will be required to keep a journal/portfolio documenting their placement experience.

Students must receive approval of their placement from the EE Coordinator BEFORE they begin counting hours towards their placement. Please contact the EE Coordinator at euc_ee@yorku.ca if you have not yet received approval or require further information.

No, students can book an appointment wit the EE Coordinator by email (euc_ee@yorku.ca). There are many resources & workshops provided by Career Centre for you to build your professional skills, be sure to check them out!