Career Services
Individual Career Advising
The MDS program has a dedicated Career Advisor who is available to assist students individually with their career planning, job search, resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile writing and interview preparation. The Career Advisor also organizes special careers events for students, creates and updates data science-specific career resources, and keeps MDS students notified about upcoming relevant career events on campus.
Career-Related Workshops
MDS career workshop topics include (more workshops may be added throughout the year):
- Job search and networking skills
- LinkedIn profile writing
- Resume and cover letter writing
- Behavioural interview skills
- Technical interview skills practice
- Post-Graduation Work Permits (PGWP)
Mentoring Program
Launched in 2020, the UBC Master of Data Science Mentoring Program gives students the opportunity to connect with a Data Science professional who shares their experience in the field of data science. In this video, mentees talk about why they wanted to joined the program.
Employer Information Sessions
Employers provide valuable information about their industry, company, current projects and recruitment processes to our students and/or alumni throughout the year. There are typically two types of information sessions: educational or recruitment focused. Educational talks provide insights for students about working in Data Science in a particular industry. Recruitment focused talks give employers an opportunity to meet our students and/or alumni and find talent for their recruitment needs.
If you are interested in hosting an employer information session, contact us.
Industry Capstone Projects
Each student in the program participates in an eight-week capstone project, which is a mentored group project based on real data and questions from a partner organization within or outside of the university. Students work in small groups, formulate questions and design and execute a suitable analysis plan. The groups work collaboratively to produce a project report, presentation, and possibly other products, such as a web application. Learn more about capstone here.
If you are an employer and would like to participate in a MDS Capstone project, learn how to become a capstone partner here.
Other Career-Related Resources and Events
The Centre for Student Involvement and Careers: This Centre is a hub that connects students to experiences, resources, and people that will help them achieve their personal and career goals. They coordinate employer information sessions, organize the annual fall UBC Career Days career and graduate schools fair, and oversee the CareersOnline online job and volunteer posting system accessible to all UBC current students and alumni. Visit the UBC Student Services Career page for more information.
The UBC Technical Career Fair: This fair happens annually in late January, and primarily targets Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cognitive Systems and Engineering Physics students. It gives employers the opportunity to interact with ~1,800 students and highlight their available or upcoming full-time new grad, co-op or internship opportunities. It is also a good opportunity for Master of Data Science students to interact with employers and find out more about them. Over 50 companies attended the 2019 Technical Career Fair. For more information, visit the UBC Computer Science Tech Career Fair site.
