Practitioner’s Corner

By Alfredo Barahona

Wow!! What a site!! That is what I said when I first went into Contact Point. This idea of an “on-line” resource centre is excellent. The opportunities for all those involved in career counselling/development are in my opinion limitless. Networking , professional development, related agencies, job postings, you name it, it’s there. Well, and if it is not there, at least you can get some suggestions on several other places you can go, in other words you won’t come out empty-handed.

As an “on-line” resource centre Contact Point is quite convenient. Just think, it saves you time. You don’t have to make a one or two hours trip from your office or home to another location. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not being lazy neither am suggesting that career centres are not necessary, it all depends what your needs are and how you work best by talking to someone or finding what you need by yourself or with minimum assistance.

At CultureLink Settlement Services, a non-profit agency assisting refugees and immigrants, we use it in many different ways. These are four of the most common:

• Our staff relies on Contact Point for courses and professional development information
• Networking
• Research. What other agencies and programs are available out there for our clients
• Job opportunities posted in Contact Point’s job board.

Now let me just give readers of Contact Point’s Bulletin (newsletter) more information about CultureLink. We are a multicultural multiservice organization in existence for about ten years. Among the programs we provide to newcomers, is a Job Preparation Program which includes: job search workshops, one to one counselling, resume clinic and a temporary license program for foreign trained professionals. This is a very important program because access to employment is definitely a critical component of the settlement process. In fact, finding a job is one of the top priorities for newcomers.

The constant need for new resources, professional development and the need to keep ourselves up to date with what’s happening in the career development sector is what led us to Contact Point. I would like to thank Contact Point’s staff, board, volunteers and supporters for such an excellent service to the community.

About the Writer

Alfredo Barahona was born in El Salvador and came to Canada in 1995 as government sponsored refugee. He has worked at CultureLink since 1992 as group facilitator and community outreach coordinator. He has done extensive community work with refugees and immigrants. He was chair of the Toronto Refugee Affairs Council (TRAC) from 1995 to 1997 and has represented the settlement sector in several Government consultations around refugee/immigrants issues.