CEWIL Resource Hub: Preparing for WIL at Queen's University and the University of Waterloo

It All Adds Up is an intervention designed to alleviate student anxiety about career preparation through a guided reflection tool.

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Key success factors

IAAUp is a simple intervention to help students who are expressing concerns or feel overwhelmed that they aren't doing enough to develop their career path.
The intervention has been used with specific student groups to target their needs, e.g. students on an athletic team and cohorts of students preparing for co-op. The intervention is appropriate for students groups that could benefit from increased confidence, and it pairs well with other on-campus events.
The intervention takes the form of a one-on-interaction with a career advisor. Students walk away feeling positive and know where to find resources about feeling overwhelmed.
Peer leads across campus can be trained re: the intervention so they can help students and make referrals to the career centre when appropriate.

Launched by Queen’s University, 42 university career centres have used this intervention as part of a national career wellness campaign.
UWaterloo’s adaptation of the IAAUp intervention is to use it as "step zero" for students beginning a WIL job search process. The information collected can help inform what students know about themselves and what they want to communicate to employers.
The intervention is an opportunity for career centres to connect with students who are preparing for WIL experiences.
The intervention is part of a flexible approach that can be used anywhere from a student’s first experience to pre-graduation, depending on prompting questions from the career advisor.

The intervention is intangible until you see it, so it can be difficult for people to understand and absorb its value.