Spring 2012

Working with Musical Clients? Remember to Look at Transferable Skills!

October 9, 2012By Norman Valdez0 comment

by Jan Bottomer

I am a career advisor. I am also a cellist.

For the past five years I have played with I Medici di McGill Orchestra – “the doctors’ orchestra” of McGill. To me, my orchestra is a weekly reminder that musical training is only limiting if you let it be, and that, more often than not, the skills developed along the way can open up worlds of experience and opportunity. The core members of this high-level amateur orchestra include doctors and professors representing specialties from Ophthalmology to Obstetrics, Oceanic Sciences to Electroacoustics. These people have been musicians for most of their lives, and continue to play while also holding down highly demanding jobs in a range of diverse fields.

A View of Cannexus12 through the Eyes of Rich Feller

October 9, 2012By Norman Valdez0 comment

by Rich Feller

Arriving a day early from Fort Collins, Colorado to attend two Cannexus Pre-Conference Workshops I regret missing the third. Eager to attend anything Mark Savickas presents I missed the Cannexus Actively Mastering What We Passively Suffer: A Counselling Session. Yet having access to Mark, and networking with him and his lovely wife in the Westin’s restaurant was a special treat. I couldn’t get enough of Chris Kulbaba and his cutting edge work with The Social Media Toolkit and Career Counselors, and immersing myself in Norm Amundson’s Career Flow in Action the first day all expectations were exceeded. From there I joined the audience on the edge of our seats as Trey Anthony’s story and mentoring message inspired all of us to live fully with joy.

Career Services Sector Learns from Survey Findings

October 9, 2012By Norman Valdez0 comment

by Mario R. Gravelle

Findings from the Survey of Career Service Professionals were revealed at Cannexus12 (January 23-25, 2012). The survey delved into research and education issues as well as career competency and mobility. The resultant information offers a snapshot of the composition of the career services community including some of its interests and challenges, along with professional development and information needs. Here are a few things that we learned:

Award-Winning Programs Tackle Youth Unemployment

October 9, 2012By Norman Valdez0 comment

by Barbara Williams

FirstWork, a not-for profit organization that supports and advocates for a sustainable youth employment delivery network in Ontario, received funding from The Counselling Foundation of Canada in 2009 for its Cross Canada Dialogues on Youth Career Development in Hard Times Project. This three-year initiative was instituted to bring together youth serving organizations from all regions and employment counselling sectors in Canada to discuss how best to serve the career development and employment needs of the nation’s youth during an economic downturn.

Mentoring Internationally Trained Counsellors to Serve Newcomers

September 9, 2012By Norman Valdez0 comment

by Shelly D’Mello

The Counselling Foundation of Canada provided a multi-year grant to The Mennonite New Life Centre of Toronto (MNLCT) in April, 2009 to support its Mentoring Internationally Trained Counsellors program. The MNLCT sought this funding, in part, to promote the dissemination and replication of an existing model for mentoring internationally trained counsellors. The end goal is to increase the number of practicing counselling professionals with language and cultural proficiency to effectively serve newcomers to Ontario.

Hot Links

September 1, 2012By Norman Valdez0 comment

Virtual Cannexus

You may purchase a single session or a full package.

Cannexus12 attendees receive a 15% discount until May 31 on Virtual Cannexus. Please use promo code: XLSLAM.

Access is for two years. Special rate for members of Cannexus12 Supporting Organizations.

Careers in Oil and Gas

Information for graduates, employers, teachers, career counsellors and parents on careers in the oil and gas industry, a sector that employs over 500,000 people, directly and indirectly in Canada. Resources include labour market information, training, working conditions, occupational summaries and jobs.

Canada Works 2025

What should decision-makers do today to best position Canadian workplaces for success in 2025? In this report, Deloitte Canada and the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) partnered to address this question by developing detailed scenarios depicting what Canadian society might look like in 2025.

New Tool Aids Deaf Students Moving into Post-Secondary, Workforce

The Canadian Hearing Society has developed a tool to aid deaf or hard of hearing students to prepare for the transitional phase from high school to post-secondary education or the workforce.

Manual and Discussion Guide for Internationally Trained Psychologists

The goal of this guide is to increase the number of practicing counselling professionals with language and cultural proficiency to effectively serve newcomers.

Careersbox

A free online library of careers related film, news and information, based in the UK. Its case study films show real people doing real jobs across all sectors and aim to inform both careers advisers and job- seekers.

What Jargon Means: The Career Practitioner’s Web Analytics Tip Sheet

September 1, 2012By Norman Valdez0 comment

by John Horn

Web Analytics That Inform Career Services

Knowing how to analyze and measure the online presence of a career centre – or any service, for that matter – provides practitioners, managers, marketers, and front-line staff with the information needed to best serve clients. When measured effectively, understanding how clients access a website, what they do within the site, and where they go when they leave can impact everything from web-content to marketing strategies to in-person programming and advising. Wrapping our heads around the definitions, terminology and jargon of web analytics, however, can be challenging. What precisely is a “bounce rate” or an “impression” anyway?

New Tool for Moving Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth into Post-Secondary Education or the Workforce

September 1, 2012By Norman Valdez0 comment

by Christopher T. Sutton

In 2009, The Canadian Hearing Society (CHS) received funding from The Counselling Foundation of Canada to undertake its Transitioning Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth to Employment Project. This initiative was launched to develop a tool to aid deaf or hard of hearing students to prepare for the transitional phase from high school to post-secondary education or the workforce. This instrument would also be an asset for parents, caregivers and educators of these students as well as career service professionals who provide services to this client group. During the consultation phase, stakeholders suggested the creation of a central website would be preferable to relying on printed literature or materials. As a result CHS set out to develop a website to serve as a central linkage to the array of services and resources that would facilitate the transition of deaf or hard of hearing students from high school to post-secondary education or the labour market.