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Contact Point Launches its 2004 Survey!

As practitioners in this fast paced, ever changing field of career development, we focus most of our attention on those we provide services to, and rarely have the chance to step back and reflect on our field. Here is an opportunity for you to do just that. Share your thoughts and voice your concerns on the field, the changes unfolding, the challenges that impact you, and how you see the future.

Let us know how Contact Point can continue to provide you with the information and support you need to do your job better in light of these changes. Your input is extremely important to our understanding of current and emerging needs in the field, and how best we can respond to them. Please take the time to fill in the questionnaire below. It may up to 20 minutes to complete, depending on your responses, but be assured your feedback is vital

The survey opens on November 1, 2004 and will run for approximately 4 weeks.

Watch for summary results in the Winter issue of the Contact Point Bulletin, due in January 2005.

Don’t miss your chance to win some great prizes!

Everyone who completes the survey will have their names entered into a draw to win 1 of 40 copies of the book called “So…tell me about yourself” A Guide to Successful Interviews published by Canadian Career Partners.

Be among the first 100 people to complete the survey and have your name entered into a draw to win 1 of 3 Mentoring Resource Series sets published by Les Éditions de la Fondation de l’entrepreneurship. This set contains Mentoring and the World of Work in Canada: Source Book of Best Practices and 5 Mentoring Resource Series guides.

Launched at the National Consultation on Career Development (NATCON) Conference in January 1997, Contact Point, funded by The Counselling Foundation of Canada, is the first Canadian site dedicated to providing on-line information to counsellors and practitioners across the country ­ a significant departure from sites that cater to the needs of the general public. A multi-sector approach makes Contact Point that much more unique in the Canadian on-line arena, with a board of directors comprised of counsellors and practitioners from both institutional and non-institutional settings, including professionals in the private, government and not-for-profit sectors. Contact Point relies wholly on private-sector funding for its development and operation. Our commitment remains to provide site access to users at no cost. It’s free!

Contact Point aims to:

• promote and support the effective delivery of career and employment counselling and the career development process
• encourage and support the dissemination of career and employment counselling information
• foster the development of an interactive and mutually supportive virtual community of career and employment counsellors and career development practitioners
• enhance community awareness of career development issues

Contact Point fosters the development of a Canadian multi-sector community on the Internet, examining common resource and professional development needs and providing a space for intra-community interaction, whether it be among counsellors/practitioners or between representative organizations.

How can you get involved?

The Contact Point site is the result of the participation of counsellors and practitioners from across Canada, doing everything from providing input on content to participating in the site’s formative testing. They continue to build the site daily.

You too can participate by suggesting items for the Resource Centre; telling us about sites you’ve encountered during your Web adventures; listing conferences or courses; sharing your course or workshop experiences; participating in one of the sites on-going development focus groups; initiating and participating in a discussion group; submitting an article for the Bulletin ­ the list is virtually endless!

There have been many changes to the Contact Point site since the previous issue of the Bulletin was released. In fact, new information is added weekly to the site.

We have been adding new agency and organizational listings to our on-line Registry. This is a sure to be a staple for on-line networking and referrals. Are you listed?

Visit the Professional Development section at Contact Point, and you will find more PD opportunities, including a Workshop Calandar, Courses and Programs at the College and University level, and additional Conferences.

We have added new links to our Other Websites section. Don’t forget to check out the links in our Fun Sites section, including a greeting card sender, the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, an on-line employment search readiness inventory and an on-line career game based on Holland Codes.

We have added new Discussion Group topics and hope you will actively participate in them. If you would like to initiate a discussion group, let us know.

…and of course, we have launched this Fall Edition of the newsletter.

Visit the Website News section of the Contact Point site, and stay abreast of changes as they happen.

• We’ve changed the navigation in our Discussion Groups. Ask questions and share your expertise and knowledge with other practitioners across Canada – have you checked your favourite discussion lately?
• Subscription to the free Contact Point Bulletin now also includes subscription to the Contact Point Flash!, our new monthly e-circular with book reviews, job ads, journal article abstracts, discussion of the month, and more. Stay abreast of news and changes in the profession. The Bulletin and Flash! can be found in the Counsellors’ News section of Contact Point.

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It has been a few months since the last issue of the Contact Point Bulletin. Here’s what’s been happening at the Contact Point website (www.contactpoint.ca):

We revamped the discussion groups earlier this year and have added new discussions (from user comments and new threads from recent discussions). Here are some of the new topics under way:

• Assessment Tools and Techniques.
• Career Counselling with Lesbians and Gay Men
• Counselling Long Term SARs.
• Developing Employment Proposals.
• Free on-line Job Finding Clubs?
• Group Tools Required for use in Pre-Employment Training.
• Job Developers’ Forum.
• Literacy and Career Counselling.
• People with disabilities, including LDAD.
• Professional Development.
• What Resources are Available for New Immigrants?
• Youth: The “No Experience, No Work” Bind.

There have also been additions to our on-line Registry of Organizations and Agencies. There are now over 260 organizations, agencies and private practices listed from across Canada. Are you listed? It’s free to list at Contact Point.

We have added many new professional development opportunities for 1999. Workshops and Conferences abound! Check the Conference and Workshop Calendars for details.

Don’t forget to check out job postings at the Job Board and messages on the Notice Board. If you have a job vacancy to post, you can do so free of charge using our Job Board posting form.

Through our partnership with YMCA Employment and Career Services, we have added a new resource: Diagnostic Vocational Assessment Procedures for Learning Disabled Individuals.

We have updated our Ad information and have added user comments and user information such as site statistics.

• We are thrilled to partner with Memorial University of Newfoundland in the development of the Canadian Journal of Career Development. You can peruse information on this new journal including subscription at: cjcd.contactpoint.ca
• We’re mapping career services in Canada! If you or your organization provide career services to Canadians, we want to have you listed in our Registry of Organizations, Agencies and Individuals. Contact Point users use this listing for referrals, networking as well as marketing their organizational services. Are you registered? Go to:www.contactpoint.ca
• We’re launching a new section of Contact Point called C-Space. This community space will house live chat events including a monthly Job Developers Networking and Chat as well as live seminars and discussions. The first of these live discussions is slated for March 2001 and will be with Danniel Star as a follow-up to his three part article on Emotional Intelligence at Work (see The Contact Point Bulletin, Spring 2000, Summer 2000 and Fall 2000 issues. Go to: www.contactpoint.ca). Stay tuned to Contact Point for details on date and time as well as registration instructions for this free event.
• We’re growing! Contact Point is hiring a Researcher/Content Developer. If you’re internet savvy with great research and writing skills, and knowledge and experience in the career services field, you’ll want to find out more about this opportunity by checking out the job ad at the Contact Point Job Board. Go to: www.contactpoint.ca.
  Deadline for application is February 16, 2001.