By Trina Burge, Provincial Coordinator, WORKink Alberta

What is WORKink?

WORKink is a national Internet site for job seekers with disabilities, career counsellors, and employers. Essentially, WORKink is an employment resource tool where all of WORKink’s exciting features are offered at no cost.

When online you simply type www.workink.com in the address bar. Once the homepage loads, you can select any of the 10 provincial sections as each contains its own collection of articles, job postings, events, and information relevant to its geographical area.

In partnership with EmployAbilities and rural community partners, WORKink Alberta delivers a variety of innovative features and benefits for career counsellors across the province. Depending on your needs, WORKink can assist you in making your job easier and to assist you in working with you clients.

A very interesting and exciting feature is Online Employment Counselling. Each province has dedicated, experienced Employment Counsellors who are prepared to answer questions relating to employment, either in a private chat or through email, relating to issues dealing with job search strategies, employment goals, accommodations and any other issues you or your client may want to bring forward.

Online Employment Counselling is a quick and efficient reference of basic information for job seekers and career counsellors who would appreciate professional advice to ensure they are meeting their client’s needs.

Karen Harboway is an Employment Counsellor with EmployAbilities, a non-profit charitable organization that assists persons with disabilities in finding employment and learning opportunities. Karen also volunteers her time as an Online Employment Counsellor for WORKink Alberta. Karen feels WORKink is a great employment tool to help job seekers receive immediate assistance, especially in rural Alberta. A personal touch is still required for many job seekers, and through WORKink job seekers can become aware of available community services and resources.

Other very powerful features are the articles relating to employment that are featured on WORKink. Information is power and WORKink strives to empower job seekers, career counsellors, and employers alike. For example, current featured articles are “Interviewing Persons with Disabilities,” and “Pump Yourself Up for the Job Interview. ”

Keep in mind that these are only a few of the many services WORKink has to offer. Additional services are the job posting section, a links database, virtual workshops, success stories, events, and more!!!!

Also, a very new and exciting venture on WORKink Alberta is the development of a new section “Services for Entrepreneurs.” This section is being developed in partnership with the Community Futures Network Society of Alberta and EmployAbilities. Some of the highlights of this section are an online business plan, a self-assessment quiz and a general information section covering everything from patents to business failures. This section is to be launched on January 12, 2001, so please take a moment to review the information and share your feedback!

WORKink is coordinated nationally by the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work and was initially funded by Human Resources Development Canada and other sources. Partnerships with non-profit organizations across Canada allow WORKink to be delivered in each province.

WORKink invites you to take a look at the site and provide any suggestions, questions, and/or feedback you would like to offer.

For more information, please contact Trina Burge, the Provincial Coordinator for WORKink Alberta, toll free at 1-888-945-4633 or email trina@employabilities.ab.ca