We often talk about our university experiences from the perspective of the students, but today, Her Campus was curious to find out more about the other perspective- what is it like to be behind the scenes at McGill? We recently sat down to chat with Daniel Sun, a U1 Management student at McGill. He works during the school year at the BCom Student Office, and we wanted to know what his job exactly entails and how he engages with the students at McGill University.
Sooji Hah for Her Campus (HC McGill): Hi Daniel, thank you for taking the time to chat with us today. First, we want to know a little bit more about you. Tell us about yourself.
Daniel Sun: Thank you for having me! I am a second-year U1 Management student studying Finance and Data Analytics at Desautels. I’ve been working at the BCom Office since April 2017.
HC McGill: What is your job at the BCom Office?
Daniel: I do a little bit of everything. I mainly talk to a lot of current and prospective students about issues they are having with their courses, or their plans and their majors. A lot of the students also like to ask me about my experience not just at Desautels but just the overall university experience at McGill. I like to think that I give them a lot of advice on how they should go about planning for their life at McGill. Other than that, I do a bit of behind-the-scenes work, such as filing documents, archiving data, and et cetera.
HC McGill: Why did you decide to apply to work at the BCom Office?
Daniel: To be honest, I was mainly just looking for a job over the summer. But I was curious to see what kind of job it would be to be working at a student office so I just went for it!
HC McGill: What is the best part about your job?
Daniel: I don’t have a defined role working at the BCom Office so I can try a little bit of everything and gain experience in a lot of different areas. I like building relationships with the students here by chatting with them about their university life and what their future plans are.
HC McGill: Tell us about the strangest request you’ve gotten from a student or a parent.
Daniel: I can’t really talk about anything specific due to a confidentiality agreeement I signed. However, there was one instance where an older man came into our office asking if he could take the newspapers that were on top of the garbage bins. Of course, I said yes. A couple of weeks later, he emailed both my boss and I, a long and detailed explanation about how he wanted to return the newspapers that he took because he was done reading them. We assured him that that wasn’t necessary, but he kept insisting and asked for the address of the BCom Office so he could mail them back.
HC McGill: How is your job different from a regular job?
Daniel: My schedule is very flexible, since they allow me to work between my classes. I would also say that there is a lot more human interaction required under my job portfolio, so the value added often times is more tangible than other jobs I have had in the past.
HC McGill: What skills have you obtained from your job?
Daniel: Having worked at fast food restaurants for 4 years, I was already comfortable talking with strangers but working at the BCom Office furthered that skill even more. I’m able to immerse in a conversation with anybody and find common ground with them to carry on an engaging conversation.
HC McGill: Since you work with students all day, do a lot of them recognize you on campus? And do you recognize them?
Daniel: For me, since I work with so many students everyday, it’s hard for me to remember their faces and their names. But I’ve definitely had a lot of instances where a lot of students have recognized me. They’re usually understanding though, when I don’t recognize them since they know that I work with so many people in a day.
HC McGill: How do you balance working during the school year, studying, and having a social life?
Daniel: I think that for me, it’s actually more helpful that I stay busy so I always have that sense of emergency so I’m much more productive. I’m also able ot enjoy my relaxing time more than if my schedule were more free.
Images Obtained from:
https://www.mcgill.ca/desautels/contact
Other Images Provided by Interviewee.