Career Briefs

What is the future of jobs in the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

The World Economic Forum released a report earlier this year on The Future of Jobs: Employment, Skills and Workforce Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, analyzing current disruptions to business models with data collected from over 13 million employees across nine industries globally and 15 major developing and emerging economies.

Using the collected data, the report makes predictions on future skills needs, recruitment patterns and occupational requirements as a result of the Fourth Industrial Revolution – the time period that we are currently experiencing, according to some industry observers – which is marked by developments in artificial intelligence, machine learning, 3D printing and biotechnology.

While skills sets that are currently in demand may continue to remain so in the future, many will differ with the expected emergence of new jobs and industries. The report predicts that 39% of jobs across all industries will require complex problem-solving skills, only 4% of jobs will demand physical strength, and social skills, including emotional intelligence, will be in higher demand than narrow technical skills. The report also focuses on the need and benefit of promoting a diverse workforce.

To read the full report, visit weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs.

Maternity Leave Guides benefit employers and employees

Women make up approximately 50% of Canada’s labour force and account for 58% of post-secondary graduates. Of the working women who do become mothers, 90% will take a maternity leave. However, 36% of new mothers feel that taking maternity leave negatively impacts their opportunity for promotions, career development and career progression.
Canada Career Counselling, with funding from CERIC, has developed two new guides – Making It Work! How to Effectively Navigate Maternity Leave Career Transitions: An Employee’s Guide and An Employer’s Guide – to assist employers and employees in developing positive career management practices for facilitating maternity leave.
The Employer’s Guide is intended for anyone who employs, leads, manages, trains, coaches or supports pregnant, adoptive and parenting women at work.
The Employee’s Guide is intended for women taking a maternity leave,  and equally applicable to women who are experiencing their first or subsequent maternity leave career transition.

The guides cover: redefining career advancement; communications and return-to-work plans; and flexible work options.

To access both guides, visit ceric.ca/maternity_employer and ceric.ca/maternity_employee.

November is Canada Career Month!

The Canadian Council for Career Development (3CD) has declared November 2016 as Canada Career Month. This new initiative seeks participation from career professionals, educators, employers, governments, agencies and the Canadian public in general.

Participation in Canada Career Month can vary from hosting events, writing articles and blogs on career management, posting videos on community events, devoting a professional development day to career development within organizations, and adding a career development component to panel discussions and conferences.

The 3CD is spearheading several events, including a Career Day on Parliament Hill set for November 3, community events at regional schools, offices and job fairs, a docuseries launch as well as media appearances.

Share how you are planning on celebrating Canada Career Month or find out how you can get involved by visiting careermonth.ca, the Canada Career Month Facebook page at CCMSCC or by following @careermonth on Twitter.

New Certification for career professionals section on ContactPoint

The newest section on the ContactPoint online community lists certifications and designations of interest to career development professionals across Canada. It provides brief descriptions of professional certifications offered, provincially, nationally and internationally with links to more information.

Earning professional certification allows career professionals to stay relevant, better support their clients, validates their expertise and skills and helps enhance the credibility of the career development field.

Members of ContactPoint are welcome to add any certification or designation to the list. Create your free ContactPoint account and click the Add a Listing button or email contactpoint@ceric.ca with the details.

A program of CERIC, ContactPoint is an online community dedicated to providing multi-sector career development professionals with resources, learning and networking opportunities. ContactPoint also has a sister French site, OrientAction, with distinct content geared to francophone career development professionals.

View the Certification section at contactpoint.ca/certifications-for-career-professionals.

Every university and college student should access work-integrated learning

Making work-integrated learning (WIL) a fundamental part of the Canadian undergraduate experience has been set as a national goal by Canada’s Business/Higher Education Roundtable, a year-old organization representing some of the country’s leading companies and post-secondary institutions.

Roundtable members agreed to work together to ensure 100% of Canadian post-secondary students benefit from some form of meaningful work-integrated learning. Their commitment includes a national campaign to promote the importance of WIL, and a series of WIL pilot projects focused on meeting regional and sectoral workforce needs and improving school-to-work transitions for young Canadians.

According to Universities Canada, 55% of undergraduate students currently benefit from some form of WIL during their studies. A 2011 survey by Higher Education Strategy Associates found that among university undergraduates, 16% had participated in a co-op and 18% participated in internships, placements or practicum programs. Meanwhile, 70% of college students participate in some form of WIL, according to the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario.

Roundtable members also encouraged the growth and development of WIL programs beyond traditional co-ops and internships, such as capstone projects, hackathons, industry challenges, mentorship programs and boot camps.

Learn more at bher.ca.

Best practices for working with Inuit clients

With few existing targeted measures to foster the career development and ongoing employment of Inuit clients, a reference guide, Pinasuutitsaq, was created to help fill this gap. While this resource is designed for career counsellors who work with Inuit peoples, it is also relevant for other professionals, such as social workers or teachers.

The guide offers strategies that highlight good practices, as well as pitfalls which should be avoided, and is divided into four chapters:

1. Contextualization: A brief summary of the Inuit context, major employment challenges and culture
2. Issues: Targeted courses of action related to 12 common issues
3. Strategies: 50 effective strategies for interventions with an Inuit clientele organized according to 11 themes
4. Resources: References and other resources to further explore various themes or subjects

The guide was developed by Regroupement québécois des organismes pour le développement de l’employabilité (RQuODE) with project funding support from CERIC and the Kativik Regional Government and is available in English and French.

To access the guide, visit ceric.ca/inuit_career.