professeur adjoint

research assistant

teaching assistant

graduate assistant

postdoctoral fellow

University of Guelph

I worked here as a general laborer and as a tour guide. As a general laborer, I entered residences and collected items left behind by students and made an inventory of all these items. I was the head of my team and ensured my team members were punctual and respectful to the environment around them. We would all arrive at one residence then get our assigned residence which we were responsible for that day. We would then head out and collect items once inside. We placed them into bags with labelled room numbers which corresponded to the room we found the item in. After all items were collected, we would go back to base. Next, we had to strip bulletin boards of papers and staples and then paint them all black. This job was not challenging. I enjoyed it because I was working with people. I liked being the head of my team because I was confident that I was performing the job in the best way possible. The worst thing about this job was that it only lasted 4 days.
Being a tour guide was great! I would arrive at the residence then greet groups of prospective parents and their children who were potential University of Guelph students come September 2012. I was very friendly and enthusiastic and every seemed very grateful to have me as their guide. I brought groups into a showroom of the residence as I explained the features and amenities of the residence as well as those of the University itself. I answered all questions intelligently. The worst part of this job was that it was also temporary and lasted 4 days. The best part was working with people and sharing my knowledge on something that is going to be a big part of their life - University. Both jobs helped me advance my social skills and confidence level when talking to people.

Glad to be of service to them BUT would not want to be "stuck" contracting or employed forever other than the money, in the long view of things. 

They attract many highly skilled and motivated people for every aspect of their internal programs as far as I can tell. As well, had the great pleasure to work with a high quality "crop" of new scientific and academic staff in STEM areas with which I was acquainted, but noted a relatively high level of frustration with inefficiencies and unnecessary hurdles put in the way of progress. In-fighting and other nasty cultural problems seem low or non-existent in the STEM departments and I hope it always remains that way so that energies and inspiration is not sapped down this unproductive path.

University itself could probably do a LOT more to recover and flesh out some departments now, to me, seemingly languishing due to favouring of one scientific area over another. Have seen a Physics department, for instance, shrink badly due to inadequate University and government support - possibly relying on the School's other areas of excellence such agri and vet studies to be an attractive research institute. This is a dangerous viewpoint in my opinion.

As with any university or college contract position, the work that had to be put into Sessional courses to prepare these courses, the hours that were needed to teach these courses on an ongoing basis, the hours that were needed to prepare evaluation methods and than evaluate students regularly, the hours required to interact with students in person and online in an attentive and responsive way, and also the hours needed to remain accountable to the Department, often in shared office space (orientation, mandatory training, office hours and such) was all a lot to handle. 
I loved researching, teaching and interacting with the students. That was the core satisfaction that I had within this role. However, the hours spent doing everything else ended up diminishing my hourly wage from $30/hour to $3/hour, I kid you not...

Being a world class academic and research institution with leadership in  on food processing and food safety in Canada, most of my research involvments  were linked to food processing and sustainability. 

My routine status with reviewing the research laboratory work, performing specialized procedures and analyzing the outcomes of scientific studies. Other routine work involver writing proposals, protocols, reports and research publications. 

Consistant ly supervised the research projects of the students and learnt about the deal with variety of students at different level of knowledge and skills.

Hardest part was to not able to transfer all my experiences and expertise to the students and employees. 

Enjoy sharing knowledge and observing the positive otcomes

We attend our own classes, but come back to our live-in job at residence. We learn how to deal with all types of students, and about being inclusive so as to not let any student feel left out or as if they did not belong. Our management was great, they were continuously checking up on us and helping out wherever needed. They could always be counted on to come through for us when we needed them too. My co-workers were the same as me. We became a group of 12 close friends, that could speak freely and were always available to help each other. The hardest part of the job were the hours. Occasionally we would get disturbance calls at 3-4 am and this would require us to call our partner, then go find the problem and take whatever necessary steps to diffuse the situation. The most enjoyable part was when students would thank us for the impact we made on their lives, and tell us that we made a difference.

At The University of Guelph, the Professors, Graduate students and support staff work in tandem to provide an encouraging and supportive learning environment for undergraduate students. Graduate Teaching Assistants are ensured work while they do their own graduate degree. The workplace culture is energetic and positive, everyone supports one another.
The hardest part of the job is ensuring great time management so that you can get the work done for the Professors as well as do your own course work. The most enjoyable part is working with students and learning new material. I have learned to better my time management skills, to problem solve, to communicate with many students and professors at once, and how to properly balance work and university life.

- Typical day at work involves same routines of cleaning buildings that are being used for events or for public use. Responsibilities include removing waste, sweeping, mopping, dusting, vacuuming, cleaning and disinfecting washrooms.
- Management here is awsome. Really good supervisors on the weekend job. They make sure eveything gets done and everything is presentable.
- Some of my co-workers are very good at this job because they do it well and are very- hard working. Others not so much.
- Hardest part of the job is getting evrything finished in a short time frame, especially when school starts and the students are back.
- Most enjoyable part of the job is in the summer when you dont have to rush to get buildings done. You can take your time so everything gets done properly.

A typical day at work: Meeting with professor every week to discuss last week's research achievement and problems and this week's research proposal and requirement. 

What I learned: Time management ( job task planning and organizing), working with others, problem solving, decision making, critical thinking, Familiar with fast-paced environment and work under pressure. 

Management: Time management (Research project with deadline, Report process of research every week).

My co-workers: My professor and research teammates (professional work attitude and pleasure work environment).

The hardest part of the job: Creative thinking of research project and research project with tight deadline.

The most enjoyable part of the job: Creative thinking of research project and research project with tight deadline.

We would meet for a few minutes every morning to find out what we were going to be doing that day.

was given responsibility of conducting myself under minimal supervision

learned how to professionally cut grass

learned how to drive a front loader tractor

learned how to back up a trailer

access to professional equipment

a beautiful working environment

friendly management and atmosphere

in the second year was able to help new people with small questions

had lots of fun a laughs with all co-workers while staying productive

physically demanding

The most enjoyable part of the job would be working outside all day and the friendly people made it feel like a second home

management was very understanding of my duties as a parent

My will start at 8.30 am and finishes at 5.00 pm. Some days the lab experiments have to be started 6.30 am and finishes late evening. Before the end of the day I will prepare a list of works ( experiments.
/ data analysis/ manuscript preparation/ literature review/ meetings/ discussion etc.) need to be completed the next day.

I have learned various laboratory techniques, designing and executing lab research; problem solving; protocol preparation, ordering chemicals; manuscript preparation; presentations; and conducting literature reviews.

Management is easily accessible , and friendly. Co-workers are very friendly, helpful, cooperative and understandable.

Each experiment is challengeable and enjoyable. Trouble shooting in a experiment is the hardest part but it is a enjoyable challenge.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Professeur adjoint 14 salaries reported	$156,587 per year
Research assistant 5 salaries reported	$18.97 per hour
Teaching assistant 7 salaries reported	$31.71 per hour
Graduate assistant 4 salaries reported	$44.75 per hour
Postdoctoral fellow 1 salary reported	$39,000 per year

Working at University of Guelph: company overview and reviews

University of Guelph

University of Guelph ratings

Popular jobs at University of Guelph

Salary satisfaction

Job seeker tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected