The Bulletin

By Sherry Knight

Timing couldn’t be better for an article like this! The US is in turmoil, Iceland has turned to Russia to bail out its financial situation and the rest of the world is anxious about the economy. And Canada is in chaos as well. The Prime Minister is not heading the concerns of the people who recently elected him and the Liberals have not yet found their stabilizing force in their attempt to create a coalition with the National Democratic Party (NDP) and the Bloc Québécois. All this has its part in looking at what your job will be in the future!

By Janet Barclay

Life today consists of a flurry of activities, including work, shopping, family, household chores, social engagements, community service, continuing education; the list goes on and on. In fact, there may be days when you find yourself eating “on the run” or while you are working, or rushing from one place to another with little or no break in between. Although you may feel that you have to maintain this pace in order to meet all of your commitments, if you keep it up too long, you’ll get tired and stressed out, and unable to do your best at anything.

By Jen Denys

I think I would have made a fantastic roaming reporter. I love to talk with people (friends and strangers) about where they are in life, how they got there and what’s next for them—sometimes to the chagrin of my family. I particularly enjoy talking with women about the choices they have made when it comes to finding balance in their lives. Being a mother of young children, I used to think that balance was an issue exclusive to my circumstances. I’ve come to know that all women face this challenge whether it’s balancing work, kids, fitness, time with spouse, caring for aging parents, time for self, community activities, etc.

By Marilyn Van Norman

I was asked by the CERIC Research Committee to do a literature search on ‘Generational Conflict in the Workplace’, as it was an area identified through a Contact Point survey as a topic of research interest. After doing the search both the committee and I were stunned by the amount of research that actually has been conducted and the number of books and articles written on this topic. I have listed several references following this article but a much more comprehensive bibliography can be found on-line at Contact Point.

By Jerome Shore

People talk about stress all the time. We’re stressed because we have too much to do, in too little time, with too few people we really like in a world that’s become too complicated. When I’m under lots of stressful pressure I feel like I’m a wet towel being wrung by two giant hands and my sanity is dripping out.

By Di Wright

Mastering the art of change is essentially the embodiment of transformation of the spirit within. Masters of change transform adverse situations and challenges into learning opportunities for growth and development, not only for themselves , but also for others. They essentially shape transformation through challenge!

By Denise Feltham

Panic is a common emotion for many working aged individuals as they are bombarded with terms such as stock market crash, economic crisis and recession. Media coverage focuses predominantly on the automobile and real estate industries, citing massive layoffs, plant closures and a decline in housing sales and re-sales. According to Service Canada’s Labour Market Bulletin for the Greater Toronto area, despite a seasonal expansion that generated 71,000 jobs in the second quarter of 2008, the unemployment rate increased to 6.8%. Difficulties in the manufacturing industry as a result of soaring oil prices and a shift in focus from gas guzzling to more fuel efficient, smaller vehicles have caused a decline in the goods producing sector. The fallout of this changing trend is the impending loss of 2,500 jobs when General Motors closes its truck assembly plant in Oshawa in 2009. In the first half of 2008, Toronto experienced a 14% decrease in re-sale of homes, with real estate agents selling 43,685 homes from January to June. A decline in revenue for the newspaper industry because of reduced consumption of hardcopy papers in favour of more website visits resulted in 160 layoffs by Torstar Corporation. The tourism industry experienced a decrease in visitors during April, May and June because of a weakened American economy, a higher Canadian dollar, tightened border security and the inflated price of gasoline.

By Judith Thomas and Trevor Snow

In today’s economy, Job Developers and Career Counsellors need to be prepared to assist all job seekers, including those with disabilities. Due to the aging population and an increase in the number of persons with disabilities, we are encountering a different caliber of client than in previous years. Working for the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work for the past few years has shown us a different type of clientele than we first encountered. In 2006, the vast majority of our caseload was seeking entry level positions. Our Workplace Essential Skills Partnership (WESP) employment program has greatly evolved since then to serve a very different demographic. We have very few youth and are serving mostly highly educated and very experienced people. Many of them have a gap in their employment to allow for a grieving process and acceptance of their new reality as a person with a disability.
Although WESP is familiar working with clients of this calibre, the numbers are notably increasing. With this economic climate, WESP is expecting to see even more highly qualified job seekers with disabilities in need of professional employment guidance.
As well as evolving many new and innovative workshop segments aimed at middle management level, we have had to drastically revamp our whole intake process. Topics of key interest to our clients, in addition to the usual employment ones, are disclosure, human rights, and accommodation needs. We also have equity employers come in to talk to our participants so that the latter hear “straight from the source.”
The WESP team also recognized the need to focus on employers looking to hire people directly into non-entry level roles. In doing so, WESP required to better understand the specific needs of these employers and ensure to meet or exceed them.

New Certificate Program in Nova Scotia! Distance/ Online Services – Workplace Skills Initiative

Submitted by Susanna Burns

The field of career development is evolving and expanding today as never before. The demands of a rapidly changing economy make it imperative for practitioners to keep pace with new models for the practice of career development.

Over the last two years, a group of career development practitioners have been working with adult and continuing educators at Dalhousie University College of Continuing Education, in Halifax, to design a new professional certificate program.

The Career Practitioner Certificate (CPC): The result of this collaboration is the Career Practitioner Certificate program scheduled to begin in 2009. The CPC is an attempt to bring together may of the short courses, previously offered in the province, into a program which will provide graduates with a recognized credential that addresses the core competencies for career development practitioners as set out in the Canadian Standards and Guidelines.

The program is designed to meet the need for both new and experienced practitioners to gain a credential while deepening their knowledge, skill and confidence in delivering and managing effective employment services for a wide range of clients. This innovative, practical, 110- hour program will help service providers survive the changing landscape of career development.

Design and Delivery: The CPC program is offered by blended delivery: inclass sessions are held one weekend per month (sometimes includes Friday), and online sessions run over the course of four to six weeks. The program includes five core modules, two electives and a written project. The core modules are:

• Introduction to Employment Services (online)
• Communication (classroom)v
• Work Search Skills (classroom)
• Labour Market Information (LMI) (online)
• Assessing Client Employability Needs and Case Management (classroom)

The two required electives may be selected from a variety of sources including, but not limited to, those offered by the College of Continuing Education.

The written project will include research and practice with an emphasis on application and competency development.

Adult Learning Model: Building on the principles of adult learning and teaching the Career Practitioner Certificate program will combine theory and practice through highly interactive, dynamic experience- based classes and online forums. Participants will find that they learn as much from each other as from the highly skilled instructors. The Instructors bring a wide range of career development experience and a strong commitment to teaching and to expanding opportunities for professional development in the field.

Who will benefit? This program will be of benefit to individuals working in the broad field of career development in such roles as:

• career/employment service providers
• career educators
• career coaches
• career development practitioners
• career management practitioners
• human resource professionals

It will also be of interest to people wanting to enter the field. To learn more about this exciting new venture, visit: www.dal.ca/cce (look under Continuing Management Education), or give us a call at (902) 494-2375.

Susanna Burns is the Program Director, Certificate in Adult Education, Dalhousie University, College of Continuing Education.

Internship in LGBT Counselling

Submitted by Laurie Chesley

Over a decade ago, Family Service Toronto underwent a process of organizational readiness in preparation for the integration of David Kelley Services (DKS), then known as the Toronto Counselling Centre for Lesbians and Gays (TCCLG).

It was a process of self-assessment to undertake changes in all aspects of governing the agency, delivering programs and training staff and volunteers. From that process come some of our most important learnings which inform how we currently carry out our mission.

Now, thanks to a grant of $150,000 from The Counselling Foundation of Canada to support three interns and $45,000 from CERIC to support partner agencies, we will be sharing our expertise in providing LGBT services with organizations in smaller and rural settings across Canada who need to introduce or enhance programming for LGBT people in their community.

In September, Family Service Toronto will introduce the Internship in LGBT Counselling Services, hosting three consecutive one-year internships in LGBT counselling with DKS in order to make the following impact:

• Provide highly specialized training to three new MSW graduates who want to serve clients in LGBT communities
• Prepare three corresponding partner agencies to develop LGBT counselling services in their community
• Provide learning seminars of interest to organizations who want to develop skills and competencies required to serve LGBT clients

Please see www.familyservicetoronto.org for further information.

Laurie Chesley, M.S.W., R.S.W. Manager, David Kelley, LGBTQ & HIV/AIDS Counselling, Family Service Toronto, 355 Church St., Toronto, ON M5B 1Z8. Phone (416) 595-0307 ext 272.