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In every issue, Careering will present an interview with a practitioner in the field of career development that we feel you may want to know more about.

For our launch issue, we chose to learn more about Tannis Goddard, the founder and President of Training Innovations, a career development organization that delivers community-based career services in British Columbia. Tannis has been a pioneer in the delivery of online career development services in Canada, an accomplishment that is reflected in the numerous awards she has since won for her contribution to the field.

Tannis will be a keynote speaker at the Career Development Association of Australia National Conference (May 22-24, 2013, in Sydney).

Tannis Goddard

In one sentence, describe why career development matters.

Career development is a life-long activity that involves change, learning and achievement. When individuals make positive career decisions that result in inspiring and satisfying work – our whole community benefits.

Which book are you reading right now?

Design for how people learn by Julie Dirksen. I am really interested in the effective design of career learning interventions and what we can do in the field to make our services even more relevant and impactful for clients.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

As a child I was always interested in education – yet oddly I never wanted to be a teacher. My parents always encouraged that I could be anything I wanted. In summer breaks I often threw myself into self-study to explore occupations that interested me (one summer I thought I wanted to be a botanist!). I often think this early exploration into many occupations is what made coming into the career development field a natural fit for my curiosity and passion for education.

Name one thing you wouldn’t be able to work without?

My laptop – it is always with me and when I travel it’s my link back to my family and my company.

What activity do you usually turn to when procrastinating?

I start to plan my next travel adventure!

What song do you listen to for inspiration?

“Born to Live” by Ann Mortifee

Which word do you overuse?

Context. I think context is so important in our work with clients and in understanding the social and political systems within which we practice – but those around me probably get tired of me pausing to examine context!

Who would you like to work with most?

I feel fortunate to have collaborated with many people I respect in this field here in Canada and internationally. I really appreciate the team I work with at Training Innovations. But if Oprah wanted to collaborate on a career development project – I’d jump at the chance!

Which talent or superpower would you like to have?

With my leadership team we often joke about “cloning”. In a field where resources and skills are always tight, we laugh about cloning ourselves to extend our reach and capacity to do more for our staff, our clients and the field.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Being able to nurture my daughter, my marriage, my business and my academic pursuits at the same time.

by Angie Knowles

Turn on the news or open the papers, and one is bound to come across a reference to the greening economy in Canada. This transition is about more than just economic growth or environmental protection. With more businesses incorporating environmental practices into their day-to-day activities, the shift to a greener economy means that the actual quality of many available jobs has improved.

A perfect example of this can be seen in the high rates of professional engagement and motivation amongst green workers. Compared to 64% of the general Canadian workforce, 78% of environmental employees felt engaged in their work according to ECO Canada’s 2011 Professional Engagement report. This meant that these workers were more likely to go above and beyond their job’s requirements, feel that their contribution was valued, and recommend their company as a great place to work.

The Green Jobs Map helps address some of the misinformation and lack of information on available jobs and required skills for work in Canada’s green economy.

There is also a strong, growing demand for green workers. Over the span of just three years, the number of organizations in Canada who had environmental professionals on staff jumped from 105,221 in 2007 to 318,000 in 2010 (2010 Profile of Canadian Environmental Employment, ECO Canada).

Clearly, job seekers who have their sights set on a green career don’t have to choose between a job that is in high-demand or a job that is deeply rewarding – they can have both. Thus, the real challenge for career counselling professionals is not so much about convincing their clients of the value of green jobs as it is about providing up-to-date insight on green employment trends. Green careers offer numerous opportunities, but since these jobs are part of highly dynamic and constantly changing industries, more information is needed on the types of jobs available and the skills that professionals require in order to be employable in these positions.

The Green Jobs Map: Tracking Employment through Canada’s Green Economy was designed to meet this need for clear and practical guidance on green jobs in Canada. This study addresses three crucial career planning questions regarding green employment: where are the most job openings, what education and experience are required, and which skills are in the highest demand?

Where are the most job openings?

In the report, researchers conducted a detailed analysis of job vacancies that were linked to eleven contributing sectors in Canada’s green economy. The results of this analysis came as a surprise. Contrary to a lot of the existing literature on projected green employment, sectors such as green manufacturing or carbon and climate change mitigation only accounted for a small percentage of new green job vacancies. Instead, established sectors such as environmental protection and resource conservation actually represented the lion’s share of green job postings. Environmental protection had 37% of green job listings and resource conservation had 21%. Renewable/Green Energy completed this list of the top three hiring sectors, with 11% of recent green job openings.

What education and experience are required?

High levels of education and experience were paramount for work in the Canadian green economy. Only 2% of the green job postings mentioned a requirement for a high school diploma or less, while a hefty 78% of these jobs required at least a Bachelor’s degree. Many employers were also looking for significant levels of experience in job candidates, with 44% of job openings listing a requirement for 5 to10 years of relevant work experience.

Job seekers who have their sights set on a green career don’t have to choose between a job that is in high-demand or one that is personally rewarding – they can have both.

Which skills are in the highest demand?

If there is just one major take-away point from The Green Jobs Map, it is the fact that employers are really looking for professionals who can integrate environmental knowledge into business planning and development. The study found that 32% of green job postings requested competency in corporate environmental program planning and implementation, while 31% of these same job ads also mentioned a need for proficiency in environmental business, technology and product development. In order to be marketable to today’s green employers, job seekers clearly need to demonstrate their ability to bridge the gap between environmental expertise and business savvy.

As Canada’s green economy continues to transform the way that many companies now operate, the need for skilled professionals who can support this transition will be greater than ever. Armed with new information on the latest green labour market trends, career counsellors can help ensure that great professionals are matched with great careers in a field as exciting and dynamic as the environment.

Angie Knowles is with ECO Canada, a not-for-profit organization that supports Canada’s environment industries by communicating with industry leaders, conducting labour market research and creating the necessary tools to address the human resource needs of this dynamic sector. Learn more about ECO Canada’s national research at eco.ca.

Interested in knowing more about green jobs? Check out the Emerging Green Jobs in Canada report, a project partnership between CERIC and the Green Skills Network. This report provides career counsellors with information regarding entry-level employment opportunities in the renewable energy and energy conservation sectors of Canada’s emerging green economy.

by Anne-Marie Rolfe

Work from home: scam or opportunity? That was the question that clients posed. We did not have an answer, so we clicked, emailed, live chatted, and Skyped our way to an answer. Yes, there are legitimate opportunities for remote employment.
The opportunities available include telephone-based work, transcription services, virtual assistant services, online tutoring and teaching, careers in e-learning, technology, design, editing and writing, to name a few. What we did not find was the ability to make a living playing video games, or any legitimate opportunities to stay home and get rich quick!
What we did find is real businesses, with legitimate human resourcing needs, looking to work with those who have a self-directed work style. Some businesses do take you on as an employee, some as an independent contractor, and in some cases you set yourself up as a freelancer. The distinctions have implications for income tax and other deductions, however there are plenty of resources to help understand and set those up.
These opportunities are of tremendous benefit to those living in rural areas with available Internet infrastructure, or those with disabilities who need to manage their own environments as part of their wellness. Add to that caregivers with a need to be home for little ones, or aging loved ones, this is a trend that will continue to rise. All of these job seekers have skills and abilities to contribute to the Canadian labour market; remote employment connects the workers to the work, without all the bother of heading to a physical location.
However, remote employment is not for everyone. The truly social and gregarious amongst us may find the isolation of working from home daunting. Reality is there is nothing between the employee and the temptations of home life but the motivation to get the work done. To be successful, self-discipline is required. The reward is a work schedule that allows flexibility for other commitments while earning money.
There are benefits for both employees and employers in remote employment. According to the Teleworkresearchnetwork.com, the following are the benefits to employers:

• Save money
• Reduce employee work-life conflict
• Increase employee engagement
• Increase employee loyalty and reduce turnover
• Attract and retain talent
• Reduce absenteeism
• Increase productivity
• Reduce healthcare costs
• Slow the brain drain associated with retiring Baby Boomers

Interested? Go ahead and do searches on terms like “remote employment”, “work from home” and “virtual work”. Numerous sites will be available but proceed with caution and research those of interest carefully. If the site asks you to send money, don’t. If it asks you for too much personal information up front, do not provide it. If it offers the opportunity to get rich quick, do not believe it. Bottom line, where there are legitimate opportunities, there are also those willing to prey on the unsuspecting. So suspect everything! Research and validate the links you find. You can use tools such as the WHOIS database to validate website registration or do a search on the particular company and check with the Better Business Bureau online to see if there are complaints.
So while no legitimate positions to get paid to play video games all day panned out, there is a labour market ready for willing, entrepreneurial spirits yearning for an independent lifestyle.

 
Anne-Marie Rolfe is the Manager of Special Projects at the Employment and Education Centre, where she works to identify creative ways to connect employers and employees. She is currently working on her MEd with a specialization in distance education. She loves doing high-quality research and sharing it with others.

Interested in learning more about remote employment? Check out Polly Smith’s article on self-employment. Also, stay tuned for the CERIC webinar “Remote Employment 3.0: Legitimate Opportunities to Work from Home”, facilitated by Anne-Marie Rolfe, on February 26, 2013. More information available on cericwebinar4.eventbrite.com.

by Nicole Miller
When Hannah Leroy found out last November that her spouse, a retail manager, was going to be promoted to vice-president, her enthusiasm was stifled by the news that this move up the corporate ladder would entail relocating across the country. As a paramedic, she had spent the last 12 years moving up the seniority list of the local county services, only to have to face the prospect of starting at the bottom once again!

As the business world begins to demand the relocation of more executives, the sub-community of trailing spouses will grow exponentially. In our practice, we have found that with a structured coaching approach, these willing clients increase their perceived potential while allowing their career star to shine brightly within portable careers. Utilizing Hannah’s situation as an example, we have sketched out one of our most successful methodologies that will help you commence to work with the growing number of trailing spouses within your own coaching practices.

1. Identifying skill sets and personal goals. As a paramedic, she identified her abilities within the context of her position with county services. When she came to work with our firm, she soon realized that she could not hang her hat on landing the perfect position within a new institution (and hope to retain seniority). As with each and every trailing spouse, Hannah was shown that she has her own unique experiences that have shaped who she is and where she saw herself going. Helping her to solidify her goals was done through formal assessments, many of which were accessed through the Internet. Taking the time to ensure that she owned her unique career path helped frame the rest of the process.
2. Create fervour about their abilities and begin marketing their unique personal brand. The creation of superior marketing documents (résumé, cover letter, social media bio/profile) was the next important step. Remember to take time to get this right the first time; your clients will not get a second chance to make a first impression. Ensuring that Hannah could speak to each point that was included within her marketing documents guaranteed authenticity in everything that created her brand. Helping her to reframe her skills set as her own personal brand, she discovered that this could help her market herself as a desirable commodity. Active marketing utilizing more than one avenue ensured success.
3. Identifying possible road blocks within the new locale. By utilizing the web, you can help teach your clients to quickly identify any and all possible difficulties that securing employment in their new city would bring; be that language differences, lack of industry within the area, etc. Planning for these will raise the success rate amongst your clients in securing employment. In Hannah’s case, research identified that the paramedic and county agencies were in a hiring freeze and would make her securing a position within the next few years an impossibility.
4. Guidance through entire process. With the help of her coach, she repackaged herself as a corporate first aid trainer within the medical field and now enjoys contracts (making much more than a paramedic would) with the various hospitals in her new city. Your clients will require this continued support not only as a way to market their new brand effectively, but also as a means to ensure that they maintain themselves on the path to success.
5. Identifying a spousal network. Within the scope of your guidance, helping your clients find a community of like-minded individuals will assist in maintaining positivism during their job search. One idea is to create an online forum within your own practice, which then would be a means to assist in perpetuating your coaching methodologies, and thus ensuring identifiable collaboration of success stories such as Hannah in the continued support of future trailing spouses.

Nicole Miller is at present working at the University of Ottawa, helping prepare students with their job search. She is also the President of Mil-Roy Consultants, a career transition firm that dedicates its practice to helping trailing spouses. You can contact her via email at nmiller@uottawa.ca or resumes@milroyconsultants.com.

Interested in the plight of trailing spouses? Check out Miranda Vande Kuyt’s article on how trailing spouses can adapt their careers to frequent moves.

by Marc Verhoeve

In an earlier article I wrote, A Look at Donald Super’s Stages of Career Development in the 21st Century (available on contactpoint.ca), I ended with a discussion about Super’s redefinition of the Decline Stage. As I have just reached the “65 Level”, I thought that I would discuss this stage… as a member of the first wave of Baby Boomers edging into retirement.

In my previous article, I stated:

“As I counsel these clients, I have the challenge of investigating with the client the range of options, from full-time to part-time “portfolio workers” to searching vehicles that service the non-work dimensions of one’s career. I have defined this stage as “career renewal” because it allows the client to investigate a wider range of activities because they are, in many cases, not constrained by the financial bonds of a full-time job. They become a “temporal millionaire” because they now fully own their time.”

Five years ago, when I turned 60, I “retired” from the education sector as a school counsellor after 32 years. I immediately transitioned to the role of Executive Director for the Ontario School Counsellors’ Association (OSCA). The transition of work culture was quite dramatic. After being in a work environment where I interacted daily with almost 2,000 students and over 100 staff, the shift to SOHO worker (Small Office/ Home Office) was a culture shock. No more bells to remind one of the time and no more interruptions via walk-in traffic or phone calls. While I missed the face-to-face interaction with students, teachers and parents, working from home significantly increased my productivity in projects and research. The downside was two-fold. First, one is forced to be an aggressive time manager, otherwise it can evolve into a 24/7 job. Second, there is the danger of professional isolation, unless one continually communicates with colleagues (via phone or email) to network and solicit feedback.

After five years, I have left my position at OSCA… to transition to the next stage in the retirement continuum. Interestingly, I received inquiries from colleagues and friends asking whether I was now REALLY going to retire. My response was: “You can’t pasture-ize me yet!”

As I indicated in my previous article, I have been consulting with Research Psychologists Press since the 1980s. When I left OSCA, RPP contacted me about providing input on the development of a new career assessment tool, Jackson Career Explorer, as well as working with them in the design of a JCE training webinar for school counsellors.

In addition, my previous career assessment private practice has auto-rebooted thanks to referrals from colleagues. (I had placed my practice in hiatus while I was working for OSCA). I have also initiated re-involvement with professional and community agencies.
On reflecting on my career-pathing in this last stage of Donald Super’s developmental model, I return to his redefinition of “career”, as I had discussed at length in my JVIS Manual:

Donald Super stated that one’s “career” encompasses all activities that comprise your identity; your job is that part that you get paid for. One’s “career resilience” increases when one does not invest all of one’s identity into one’s job (I termed this being “fire-proof”).

As one moves into retirement, this becomes even more critical. I have watched friends and colleagues move into retirement. Those who had extended their identity into the other sectors of Super’s constellation experienced a smooth transition into retirement. However, it was tragic to watch teacher-colleagues who retired before me return to the school staff room daily after their retirement day… lost, and not knowing where else to go.

Havighurst discussed this issue in his Activity theory:

“Thus older adults who are actively involved in a variety of situations and who establish new roles and relationships are more likely to age with a sense of satisfaction.” (Mosby’s Medical Dictionary, 8th edition. © 2009, Elsevier.)

This final stage in “career” development is becoming more critical because it has become a larger segment of one’s lifespan. German chancellor Otto von Bismarck created the world’s first comprehensive government social safety net in the 1880s, providing for old-age pensions and setting 60 as the age of retirement. He chose 60 because he thought that the number of citizens older than 60 would be insignificant. At a Teacher Pension info-session that I attended, we were told that, for most retired teachers in Ontario, their years in retirement usually outnumber the years that they worked as teachers!

A segment of my private-practice clients were “golden-handshakers” (early retirees). Their career paths were in one of three directions:

• Continuing (part-time) in their work sector
• Trying a new work sector
• Community/Volunteer work

These clients were proactive. They sought input before they reached retirement, not after retiring. I well remember an American Counseling Association conference workshop I attended 20 years ago which spoke to this; it had a very articulate session title: “After the World Cruise, What Then…?”

As I stated in a previous article about the evolution of one’s job, a bend in the road is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn.
As one sees the distant pasture on one’s career path, one must remember that the pasture is not a destination, but a gateway to new activities, events and bucket-list locations that continue to enrich one’s life.

After 32 years in secondary school counselling, Marc Verhoeve has just completed a five-year term as the Executive Director of the Ontario School Counsellors’ Association.  He continues in his role as a Careerpathing Consultant. You can contact him at careerpathing@bell.net.

by Tami Anderson

The experience of being human entails being connected and interconnected to a whole. The workplace is exactly the same. We are in touch directly and indirectly to the entire world. What we do in our daily lives affects the people we can see and those we do not. The products and services provided by a company links to companies around the world, through consumers, suppliers, raw material producers and as far as global economic relationships. This has always been the case yet we are now more aware of these connections through instantaneous access to information, email, online shopping, social media and by local effects of foreign financial circumstance. Our world is becoming accessibly smaller.

Being this integrated means employers and employees are no longer tied to their immediate geographical resources to handle their employment needs. Then why do they both continue to stay within boundaries? Well, although human beings have a natural instinct to survive, moving to where food can be found (or jobs to pay for the food), we are limited by our thinking, expectations and perceived needs. The survival criterion has personalized from our prehistoric ancestors. Now, our perceived eminent danger includes any form of change that causes or could possibly cause a negative emotional response such as fear, shame or pain. When faced with something new, we challenge it with resistance or avoidance. We become stuck. Moving beyond boundaries takes awareness that we exist within those borders.

Awareness can be exactly what we need for a psychic change to a new way of thinking. A paradigm shift: At any given moment in time, there is an exact workplace for every person because for every job there is a person and for every person there is a job. Denise Bissonnette shared this thought with us at Cannexus 2010 in her keynote, Beyond Barriers to Passion and Possibility. That, in itself, is an absolute truth. We are interconnected for this primary reason. Every person is here to fulfill a purpose and their purpose includes having a job where their work is an extension and expression of who they truly are; not the role they play. It is each person’s job to figure out what this looks like and where it is because that is our key barrier.
Moving beyond this barrier, we actually begin to own this responsibility, the intent sets into motion our future. Alternatively, since nothing actually happens by chance, if we always do what we have always done, we will always get what we always got. What prevents each of us from this path of discovery is the change required to do it. It takes great fortitude, courage and supporters in our corner to make this happen.

Those in the career field are those supporters; guiding their clients to broaden their scope for opportunities into new, different or other areas. We remove barriers in this self-discovery.  According to a Cannexus 2010 and 2012 keynote speaker, Mark Savickas, people shift toward their life design when they move from tension to attention to intention. Seeing our life tapestry, we can break free to focus our work, enabling us to identify the job, industry and company that best fit. Or, a person may know their work passion and transcend their skills into a different industry. Which job, industry or company? What are my choices? Where is it? Endless possibility presents when we move beyond these self-imposed borders.

Alison, unhappy with her employer, asked for a resume, cover letter and job search direction, staying in her field. First, we looked at her uniqueness – her distinct skill, passion, aptitude, experience and essence. She discovered what she has that 98% of the population doesn’t. Then we identified the thoughts and feelings blocking her from seeing her special gifts. Then a package was creatively compiled to present to employers or clients. The final step is to investigate all the places to offer her unique solution. This blockage comes when people only see what is immediately in front of them, such as location. An opportunity presented itself to work in Australia! This did not come to pass but it opened the mind and she now explores all possibilities.

Many jobs are outside our home territory and our comfort zone. The same effective search tools apply to all job locations. Right now there are companies across Canada literally screaming for employees. Relocating to foreign countries may be desirable, especially among the youngest working generation; it may be preferred since working abroad fulfils both employment and the travel bug. Who needs what your client has to offer? Search location sites, company websites, employment agencies, outplacement firms, companies growing or diversifying, even recruitment agencies. Network and communicate with people working in a selected region. Help clients create a list of Canadian companies in their field. Find out what they offer such as training, career advancement or relocating. The cost of relocating can be cause for concern. Negotiating the cost over a period of one to three years minimizes the pressure and shows a two-sided commitment.

The biggest hurdle to change is feelings. In our field, we need to deal with these more effectively to help people move beyond what is holding them back. It takes support, knowledge, courage and a plan to make these kinds of changes happen and move beyond the borders.

 
Tami Anderson lives in Okotoks, AB with her hubby, Jack. They enjoy their array of pets – cats, horses and anew dog. Through her business, Best Foot Forward Consulting Inc., her focus is on the essence of Life at work for companies and all their people.

Buried by Career Anachronisms?
by Sheryl Spanier, MS/CMF

Have you ever, in the process of doing a mundane task, gotten a sudden blast of insight?

The other day I decided to clean out the drawer in my night table. It had become a catch all for anything I thought I might need in the middle of the night, anything I didn’t know what to do with, and a repository for anything I needed to tidy up in the face of company.

I found six bookmarks.

I read my tablet almost exclusively now. No more heavy, dust-collecting, guilt-producing magazines and books piled high on my night stand and desk. I used to love books. Still do, but in a different form. Don’t need bookmarks though!

Got me thinking: What else am I hanging on to that no longer has a use? What notions, activities or belongings am I hanging on to?

And then I started thinking about how that relates to my practice as a career management consultant. My clients are weighed down by expectations and disappointments based on career “bookmarks.” Some are still holding on to a belief that if they just do more of what used to work, they will succeed as in the past. Not true!

Here are just a few changes:

• Career ladders and five-year plans have been replaced by flexible, opportunistic, synchronistic, risky moves, portfolio careers and detours
• Standard resumes focused on past achievements, produced on heavy stock and sent to recruiters now are trumped by a compelling online identity, crisp branding and a relevant unique narrative
• A multitude of long face-to-face lunch information meetings are converting to quick connections via Twitter and LinkedIn, IMs, emails and Skype calls
• A career path of progressive positions and secure employment is giving way to entrepreneurial thinking
• Waiting for the “right opportunity” to be presented make less sense than creating your next gig based on marketplace needs

If you are burdened by a career challenge and keep looking in that drawer full of outdated, outmoded and useless tools, replace them with some of these up-to-date alternatives.

 
Sheryl Spanier’s background in career counselling/coaching spans education, public service, executive career services and individual practice. In her over 30 years in the field, she has worked globally, as a practitioner and market leader for four top consulting firms as well as founding her own firm, focusing on leadership and professional level clients. A founding member of ACPI (formerly IACMP), she served on the Board for 10 years and is now an ICCI Board Governor. She publishes broadly, is often quoted in the media and has published a career series, NoTime4Theories.

The “Why” Behind Continued High Unemployment in America
by Dr. David C. Miles

In the United States, for the first time in more than 70 years, there are and will be significantly more people seeking work than there are open positions available. I expect this reality to continue for at least five more years – probably longer. Seven critical factors are driving this trend:

1. Longer life spans. People are living longer. The long-held notion of retiring at 65 has become irrelevant; people will continue working into their late 70s and even their 80s.
2. Expanding technological capability. Technology has eliminated many mundane, repetitive positions. Increasingly, everything is becoming automated, and this extends far past entry-level and low-level jobs.
3. Enhanced robotics and automated manufacturing. Higher-end technological innovation is replacing the need for human intervention. From computers to home appliances to automobiles, we are progressing rapidly to a true plug-and-play economy.
4. Higher birthrate. An exploding birthrate is adding a massive number of applicants to the country’s employment pool, particularly among the Millennials (people born after 1986).
5. Unrestrained immigration. Rising numbers of immigrants – who often accept basic jobs at the lowest pay rate – are adding to the job squeeze. Domestic job seekers who might have obtained their first toehold on the corporate ladder are less likely to do so today.
6. Separation of job categories. We are seeing a greater divide between jobs requiring “knowledge” and those needing “basic skills”. Many people’s outdated skills aren’t relevant anymore, leaving these workers with nowhere to go.
7. Outsourcing. With both manufacturing and knowledge work being outsourced, workers are now competing globally with workers accepting substantially lower wages.

These seven factors represent a “perfect storm” in the United States for workers 30 to 50 years old as well as people who wish to see what opportunities might be available.

 
Dr. David Miles is the Chairman of The Miles LeHane Companies, and author of The Four Pillars of Employable Talent and Building Block Essentials.

by Donald Smith
Career coaches have repeatedly seen clients fail to follow up on references from their former employer. This happens even though the client has invested years in making a sincere and useful contribution to their employer’s success, and this reference problem can frequently be prevented. The main reasons for a reference problem are lack of a plan, lack of guidance and lack of courage under understandably stressful circumstances.

Most career practitioners know somebody who has had a good career with their employer, had positive relationships with their boss and colleagues and had at least pulled their weight. Then something happened, relationships soured, their reputation slid downhill and the result was resignation in anger or termination under miserable circumstances.

Unfortunately, this happens wherever there are employees, employers, tasks to perform, money to spend and the inevitable political interactions between factions and colleagues with differing interests, values and ambitions.

It is natural for the ex-employee to avoid dealing with references. They may be clouded by feelings of anger, embarrassment, disempowerment and vulnerability. Creating a plan of action is a challenge too great for many people to handle on their own, and frequently they opt to avoid the reference.

If the reference issue can be resolved, it generally follows that managers and former colleagues will be available to support the job search. It is enormously helpful for them to provide networking introductions and career suggestions. But until the references issues are resolved, this support will generally not be provided. Seen from this perspective, arranging references may be of greater value than having an updated resume.

The career transition experience with Murray Axmith & Associates across Canada shows that positive steps can be taken; this is preferable to avoiding the references issue and hoping that everything will be ok. But the coach needs to have a game plan. This includes:

• Discussing the feelings which pushed the client towards denial or avoidance, and determining if the assertiveness and motive power are there to proceed with references
• If yes, helping to develop a plan specific to that client and their former management
• Developing text, which is believed to be discussable by former management and HR

This text includes the individual’s history with the organization (titles, dates responsibilities), core strengths, some examples of work, a weakness, reason for leaving and whether the employer could re-hire. Taken together, this text is the “Suggestions for telephone references”.

Once the client and the career coach have developed this text, they write “Draft for discussion” on it. The client makes a call to the former manager and asks if it is possible to discuss the references issue. If yes, they send the draft with a request that the employer modifies it and then calls back for a discussion. The desired result is to discover a text that describes what the employer will say when asked each of the reference questions.

Many people believe it is impossible to discuss references with the former employer following termination, but it is a useful premise to assume that if the employer does not feel vulnerable, they would prefer to be helpful (or at least not harmful) to the former employee.

A surprising number of reference issues can be resolved to the benefit of both the employer and the individual. After all, the value of congruence between what the individual says and what the former employer says is enormous. Mutually agreed references help to support a shorter and more successful search for appropriate work.

Donald Smith, MSW, CMF is an independent career coach in Toronto. He worked with Murray Axmith & Associates and Right Management Consultants in career transition (outplacement) services in Toronto for years and has published numerous articles, manuals and books. He has the Fellowship (CMF) designation with the Institute of Career Certification International.

To have your event listed in this section, you must first add it to the Event listings on contactpoint.ca.

Cannexus13

JANUARY 28-30, 2013

Ottawa, ON, CANADA

cannexus.ca

Theories and Models: Human Development & Life Skills Coaching

FEBRUARY 6-19, 2013

Life Strategies online course

lifestrategies.ca/store

Career Practitioner Institute

FEBRUARY 7-9, 2013

San Diego, CA, USA

ncda.org

CERIC Webinar: Remote Employment 3.0: Legitimate Opportunities to Work from Home

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Anne-Marie Rolfe, Manager of Special Projects, Employment and Education Centre

cericwebinar4.eventbrite.com

National Careers Week 2013

MARCH 4-8, 2013

Everywhere in the UK

nationalcareersweek.com

16^th Annual Career Development Conference (BCCDA)

MARCH 4-5, 2013

Vancouver, BC, CANADA

bccda.org

CERIC Webinar: Introduction to Positive Psychology and the PERMA Well-Being Model

MARCH 5, 2013

Louisa Jewell, MAPP and Shannon Polly, MAPP

positivematters.com/workshops-and-events.html

CERIC Webinar: Positive Psychology for Career Counsellors and Coaches

APRIL 2, 9, 16 & 23, 2013

Louisa Jewell, MAPP and Shannon Polly, MAPP

positivematters.com/workshops-and-events.html

Opening the Doors in Asia: Sharing Career Development Practices (APCDA)

APRIL 3-5, 2013

Seoul, SOUTH KOREA

asiapacificcda.org

Global Innovators 2013 Conference

APRIL 4-7, 2013

Doha, QATAR

globalinnovators2013.com

Workforce One-Stop 2013

APRIL 23-24, 2013

Toronto, ON, CANADA

conferenceboard.ca/conf/13-0047

Contact Conference: Exploration. Navigation. Destination.

APRIL 23-24, 2013

Saskatoon, SK, CANADA

contactconference.ca

CCPA – ACCP 2013 Conference

MAY 14-17, 2013

Halifax, NS, CANADA

ccpa-accp.ca/conference/

10^th International Conference on Occupational Stress and Health

MAY 16-19, 2013

Los Angeles, CA, USA

apa.org/wsh

Career Development Association of Australia (CDAA) – 22nd Annual Conference

MAY 22-24, 2013

Sydney, NSW, AUSTRALIA

onqconferences.com.au/CDAA13/index.html

Canadian Association for Supported Employment (CASE) Conference

JUNE 11-13, 2013

St. John’s, NL, CANADA

supportedemployment.ca

Contract World
A unique website at the centre of the expanding world of contract work for home-based customer service agents.
contractworld.jobs

Elance
You create a profile and businesses invite you to submit proposals for jobs. Has a focus on contract positions in programming, marketing and administration.
elance.com

Remote Worker Daily
Offers free resources, advice and daily motivation for “Making Work at Home Work For You.”
remoteworkerdaily.com

Experiencing e-Learning
This blog provides information for people interested in a career in e-learning.
christytucker.wordpress.com/instructional-design-careers

FlexJobs
This site connects jobseekers with “flexible” jobs, including telecommuting, part-time and freelance roles.
flexjobs.com

Source: Anne-Marie Rolfe

To obtain a 20-page report of verified links to remote worker opportunities, sign up for Anne-Marie Rolfe’s webinar on February 26, 2013: cericwebinar4.eventbrite.com.