by Clare Cummins

This January, WaterlooWorks will officially replace JobMine and other CECA administrative systems. As the implementation date nears, the WaterlooWorks team is working hard to finalize the technology, processes, communications and training material.

Students, employers and CECA staff can look forward to a variety of enhancements with the new system, including 24/7 access and an improved user interface.

We recently sat down with Danielle Poirier, a second-year Arts and Business student who has had a first-hand look at the new system during her co-op term as a technical writer on the WaterlooWorks team.

Question: Tell me a little bit about your job and how you interact with WaterlooWorks.

Danielle: I create, edit and update student and employer help documents for WaterlooWorks. I also facilitate staff training events like webinars and hands-on sessions. I work on several projects at a time and my priorities are constantly shifting, which is an exciting and refreshing way to approach work. There is no boring routine to fall into. New and exciting projects are being developed every day that I get to help out with.

Q: Was WaterlooWorks easy to get used to?

D: Yes, it’s very user-friendly. It took me one or two sessions at most. The system is similar enough to how JobMine was organized in that it’s really easy to find the pages you want and need. I’ve been working with WaterlooWorks for almost three months, and have developed a clear understanding of the system; not only as a student, but in the role of a test employer and CECA staff member. Obviously, students won’t need to know the depth that I know, but the system is so easy to use that they will pick up the concepts and layout extremely quickly. That said, if they need help, I wrote some of the help documents to assist anyone if they need support!

Q: What did you learn working on the WaterlooWorks team that other students might not know yet?

D: I can’t wait to use it as a student looking for a work term. I know that next term, the job search process is going to be so much easier! I’m sure finding and applying to jobs will be much simpler thanks to the advanced search functionality. I’m also happy to know a bit more about what it takes to put together a system of this size – I’ve been involved in some really cool meetings and really got a sense of the types, and amount of, decisions that need to be made. It was cool to see how much actually goes in to developing the help material and the training sessions, and getting to be a part of that.

Q: What feature(s) are you most excited about?

D: It’s hard to pick just one. They are all so cool! The 24/7 access is pretty sweet. You don’t have to stress about taking screen shots of job postings the night before to review for your interview first thing in the morning. The search functionality is also really helpful. You can filter out jobs that aren’t applicable, or ones you don’t qualify for and mark the ones you aren’t interested in, which is going to save students a lot of time. Also, the maps are really cool. I always look my jobs up on Google maps anyway, but now WaterlooWorks can do that for me. Oh and one more- the back button works!

For more information about the system and to learn more about the benefits of WaterlooWorks, visit CECA's Systems Strategy website.