On this page: Research Assistantships | Teaching Assistantships | Course Lecturer positions | Other employment opportunities
As an ECP student, there are a range of employment opportunities available to you, including RAships, TAships, Course Lecturer positions, and more. This page features information for ECP students interested in seeking employment in the Department, at McGill, or off-campus.
Research Assistantships
Working as a research assistant is another staple of life as a graduate student. As a research assistant you will be able to develop important skills in conducting research that will complement those skills learned in classes as well as be able to partake in a number of fascinating studies being conducted by faculty and fellow students. At the same time, being a research assistant is also an employed position and as such comes with certain rights and responsibilities that both the student and supervisor are held to; as such, contracts stipulating work assignment and times to work are signed between both parties, so it's important to be aware of what everyone's expectations are. You may want to work on many projects but not at the expense of your own scholastic responsibilities, so make sure to budget enough time for your course requirements and your research.
Many faculty members presently maintain research grants and employ graduate (and sometimes undergraduate) students as research assistants. While many students are hired in such capacities in their supervisors' labs, you shouldn't be shy about contacting ECP faculty or even other departments where research interests may overlap. When openings present themselves postings are forwarded via listserv (email) and notices may be posted on the 5th and 6th floor bulletin boards in the Education Building.
Teaching Assistantships
For more information on Teaching Assistantships in ECP, please visit our Teaching Assistant resources page.
Course Lecturer positions
Understanding the importance of gaining experience in teaching at the university level, ECP does its best every semester to employ senior doctoral students as course lecturers in both graduate and undergraduate courses. If you are interested in teaching you should first consult ECP's course offerings by searching Minerva's online class schedule for any courses with course numbers beginning in EDPC, EDPE, EDPI, EDPH, and EDPT.
From there, you can see which courses do not have instructors currently assigned to them as they will be denoted as TBA and are open for applications. To apply for any of those courses, simply send an email to ecpapplication.education [at] mcgill.ca (ECP) with your up-to-date teaching resume and courses you are interested in.
Note: Course lecturer positions are open to doctoral students who have successfully completed the comprehensive exam.
Other employment opportunities
Along with the above, there are a number of other employment options at McGill also available to you as a graduate student which you should consider for funding.
- For starters, any search for employment should begin with a visit to Career Planning Services, either in person or online. Along with TA positions mentioned above, a wide range of possibilities for work, either on or off-campus, are posted through their office.
- Work Study Programs offer students with financial need access to clerical, research, technical, library or other jobs on campus or in some of the McGill-affiliated hospitals and organizations and should also be consulted regularly for new postings.
- During exam periods in December and April, graduate students are hired as exam invigilators.
- Finally, postings are also occasionally made available on the Faculty of Education Employment website.