So you are about to graduate. You are polishing off your final papers and gearing up for your exams. A paper of achievement awaits you — along with a shitty job market. It’s not exactly surprising that a lot of people struggle to find work after graduation in the current job market.
As future graduates of a school that prides itself on ingenuity, perhaps it is time to look outside the box. For the next two weeks I’m going to touch upon some weird jobs abroad that will hopefully inspire you to do the same.
Antarctica
If you couldn’t get enough of winter and long to spend all your waking hours in sub-zero temperatures, then perhaps Antarctica is for you. Antarctica isn’t exactly on the top of everyone’s reading week travel list, but hear me out.
Imagine going to a place few humans have ever gone before, surrounded by scientists, penguins, and leagues and leagues of unspoiled land. Very few people get to take the trip down to this continent and the novelty alone is worth the trip.
To work down in Antarctica you have to be comfortable not only with the intense temperatures, but with isolation from mainland civilization. Don’t worry though, McMurdo station is able to support over a thousand people, has its own bar, and has many common amenities.
Tsaven, the blogger of Frozennerd where he documents life in Antarctica, did a Reddit AMA where he described life at the smallest station: Palmer Station. Tsaven said it is “dorm-style living, two people to a room with bunk beds and communal bathrooms,” not unlike some of the dorms here in Waterloo.
Luckily, unlike in Waterloo, where we are stuck with hoards of geese, Tsaven says, “[Antarctica] is anything but barren; we’re in a small archipelago and it’s teeming with wildlife. Not just penguins, but also seals, whales, and many different flighted seabirds.”
Antarctica is often looking for people in fields that coincide with what Waterloo is known for. The typical jobs include chemists, biologists (terrestrial or marine), meteorologists, and geologists. The work is usually six days a week but the experience is unparalleled.
CUSO International
If you want to be right in the action and helping your fellow man, then CUSO International, the Canadian-American joint version of the Peace Corps, may be for you. It usually requires a bachelor’s degree, and although it is volunteer-based, it is unlike any office job you could ever have. It is a great thing to do before settling down because you get the chance to visit far reaches of the world and people. Also, it looks amazing on a resumé if you plan to go to grad school.
The jobs vary greatly as well. With one look at their current open postings, positions range from counsellor in Guyana to market analyst and development advisor in Peru. There are a lot of opportunities for business-minded people, as well as many IT positions, and several jobs in natural resource management.
CUSO works mostly in Africa, Asia (Cambodia and Indonesia), and Latin America. A lot of the destinations are places that most people will never get to visit in their lifetime and offer a unique opportunity to work in the community you are living in.
Next week I’ll tackle another two cool jobs abroad with the hope that when you go out on your own, you consider what all the world, not just Canada, has to offer.
