麻豆传媒

Justin d鈥橢ntremont, a Mechanical Engineering student, grew up travelling with his family. Before entering his first co-op work term, he knew he wanted to explore the world further by experiencing Europe.

When he discovered an internship opportunity with The LEGO Group in the Czech Republic, Justin knew he could not pass up the chance to work with the global organization. 鈥淕rowing up, I loved building LEGO sets, so the chance to use my engineering knowledge while working for a company I鈥檝e admired since childhood is a dream come true,鈥� he says, 鈥淭heir values and commitment to a sustainable future are admirable and important to me.鈥澛�

Justin worked with the LEGO Retail Model Box Solutions team on sustainability and engineering projects. 鈥淚 evaluated the carbon emission savings from the team鈥檚 sustainable model box solutions, use of new plastic materials for the boxes, and alternative shipping methods, presenting these findings to senior management,鈥� he says, 鈥淚 was also involved in projects where I was designing and modelling steel and plastic flybars, as well as a custom push button for the model boxes.鈥�

鈥淭his co-op experience was absolutely life-changing for me. I worked for a world-class company and loved every minute of it. My colleagues were warm and welcoming, even taking me to hockey games, skiing, and sightseeing so I could experience the best of the Czech Republic,鈥� he says, 鈥淚 want to thank my supervisor Jaroslav Dvor虒a虂k for choosing me and trusting me to contribute to his team. I will always be grateful for the experience and connections I made.鈥�

Outside of his work term, Justin was grateful to live so close to Prague. "It's is a beautiful city with rich history, stunning architecture, and a vibrant culture. On top of that, Czechia is centrally located in Europe, with quick and easy access to many other cities and countries by bus or train," he says.聽

Justin shared advice for self-found job searches and landing a co-op position abroad. 鈥淔or anyone who wants to land a job abroad, the earlier you start looking and applying, the better. There are a lot of extra steps when it comes to jobs abroad such as securing a work visa, finding a place to live, and setting up a bank account in a foreign language.鈥澛�

Justin鈥檚 job search tips:

• Narrow down the industry you want to work in: this will help you identify companies to target.聽
• Visit the websites of the companies you鈥檙e interested in to learn about their student positions and apply for open ones.
• If going abroad, identify the countries offering student work visas to Canadians and focus your search on companies in those locations.聽
• Network with professionals in your circle and connect with people in your target companies on LinkedIn.
• Ensuring your personality shows in your cover letter, but most importantly your interview.聽

Learn more about Mechanical Engineering Co-op