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Help for military to civilian transitions

The Military to Civilian Employment: A Career Practitioner’s Guide is now available, having launched at the Cannexus16 National Career Development Conference. An average of 5,000 Armed Forces personnel exits the military each year, many of whom seek to use their unique skill set in the civilian labour market. The guide will equip career professionals with what they need to know to assist veterans.

Highlights of the guide include:

• Understanding the needs of veterans and military culture
• Equipping veterans for the job search
• Enhancing coping and adaptation
• The education/qualification conundrum
• Career needs of military spouses

Produced by CERIC in partnership with Canada Company, the guide is available in both English and French. It can be purchased in print, ebook or downloaded for free at the CERIC website.

More information at ceric.ca/military.

The PhD goes beyond the Academy

Academia is not the end of the road for PhDs, according to a recently published Conference Board of Canada report entitled Inside and Outside the Academy: Valuing and Preparing PhDs for Careers. Whether PhDs are choosing to work in alternative careers due to issues of precarious employment within universities, or because their skill set is in demand in a variety of occupations, the Conference Board reports that fewer than 20% of PhDs in Canada are employed as full-time tenure-track professors.

The report examines the social contribution of PhDs, the knowledge and skills PhDs have gained, the need for professional skills development, and describes existing national and international programs.

If you have not already encountered PhD clients transitioning from academia to the workplace, chances are seemingly high that you will.

Read the report at conferenceboard.ca.

Syrian refugee employment challenges and opportunities

As Canada begins to welcome 25,000 Syrian refugees, career development professionals have a unique opportunity to assist and advocate for the influx of individuals set to enter the workforce.

New Canadians face difficult challenges related to employment and often experience underemployment as a result of language barriers, lack of an established social network, qualifications not being recognized and cultural misconceptions. Underemployment of newcomers was estimated to cost Canada more than $20-billion in 2012, according to a report from CIBC.

With support from CERIC and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), a research team led by the University of Winnipeg will investigate four cities in Canada to examine best practices for career development and integration of newcomers, in particular refugee youth. The project aims to create strong support networks, co-create new projects and services, and prepare counsellors and teachers to provide career development through the education system.

Learn more about this project at ceric.ca/projects.

Assisting students with career decisions in the computing disciplines

In partnership with Mount Royal University, CERIC will fund a new project to improve career counselling for students interested in information and computer technology. The project will produce both a Practitioner’s Guide and Student’s Guide.

Over the past 15 years, computing has undergone significant change, resulting in five sub-disciplines (or career areas). These five disciplines, defined by the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), are: computer science (CS), information systems (IS), computer engineering (CE), software engineering (SE) and information technology (IT).

Research and practice have shown that there is considerable overlap between the computing sub-disciplines, but universities tend to offer distinct computing degrees that typically do not blend curricula between the different disciplines. For students, this poses a strain, as majors need to be chosen early on in their post-secondary education process. The outcome of this project for students will be to support their career selection process, so that they may make career choices that are more in line with their values and interests.

Learn more about this project at ceric.ca/projects.

Labour market experiences for people with disabilities in Canada

Statistics Canada recently released two reports on the experiences of Canadians with disabilities based on the 2012 Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD), stating that 13.7% of Canadians aged 15 years or older reported some type of disability which limited their daily activity as a result. At the same time, 0.6% of Canadians were identified as having a developmental disability (e.g. autism, cerebral palsy or Down syndrome).

The Developmental Disabilities Among Canadians Aged 15 Years and Older report found that the prevalence of developmental disabilities is highest among young adults. More than half of this population was found to have less than a high school education and less than one quarter were employed, often in part-time and poorly paid positions.

A Profile of the Labour Market Experiences of Adults with Disabilities Among Canadians Aged 15 Years or Older found that most people with disabilities who had workplace accommodations requested modified/reduced hours, which was reported as being a barrier to employment advancement. Skills development and education were found to be the two factors that led to more successful employment. The report calls for more research incorporating employer and service provider perspectives to progress toward full participation of people with disabilities in the labour market.

Read the reports at statcan.gc.ca.

An overview of the career service sector in Canada

More than 1,000 respondents completed CERIC’s 2015 Survey of Career Service Professionals. The survey takes place every four years and provides a snapshot of demographics within the field, research trends and education needs.

The landscape in career services continues to evolve as funding service models change, new technologies emerge, and shifting economic conditions persist. Survey findings help CERIC, and the field at large to understand interests and challenges of career service professionals, including: what they are most proud of, what keeps them up at night and how they think the public perceives their work.

Detailed results will appear in future issues of Careering magazine and on the CERIC website throughout 2016, including regional and sectoral analysis.

Keep up-to-date on survey findings at ceric.ca/surveys.

The Duckworth Lab at the University of Pennsylvania

The lab researches and measures two traits that predict achievement: grit and self-control.

sites.sas.upenn.edu/duckworth

Positive Psychology Program

An international website that culminates various resources, including courses, a blog, events, reports and articles on positive psychology.

positivepsychologyprogram.com

Educating for Resilience Conference

An annual conference put together by the Canadian Positive Psychology Association.

positivepsychologycanada.com

Resilience Research Centre

A Canadian multi-disciplinary research centre focusing on resilience research, evaluation and training.

resilienceresearch.org

Open badges allow jobseekers to communicate competencies to employers and educational institutions across national boundaries and life transitions

By Don Presant

There’s a new language for skills developing in Canadian workplaces. It goes beyond resume keyword clichés and rigid application forms. It focuses on the demonstration and assessment of skills, rather than how they’re taught.

As career professionals, we should be aware of this emerging language so we can help our clients use it to their advantage as it makes its way into the mainstream.

What is a competency?

According to Canada West Foundation* and the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE), a competency is a job skill, the combination of knowledge and practical ability required to perform a task.

When competencies are linked and combined into structured frameworks, they provide useful maps for hiring, building careers, managing workplace performance and promoting talent. This has been the work of Canada’s sector councils and Tourism HR Canada has great examples. Another good model is the federal public service’s Key Leadership Competencies.

Employers tell us that “soft skills” are key: communication, teamwork, problem-solving, resilience, leadership and so on. These skills are traditionally hard to measure, but they are crucial to success.

What is a competency credential?

A competency credential is a statement of capability that says, in effect, “this person can do this thing.” Good assessments make good credentials. Unlike paper credentials, digital credentials can be shared online. If these digital credentials follow technology standards, they can be easily exchanged and start operating like an online skills currency.

In 2010, Mozilla Foundation invented a new technology standard for digital credentials. They called this technology Open Badges, and it has been adopted by employers such as IBM and Microsoft and by DisasterReady.org, a global learning community for the humanitarian sector. Pearson Learning’s Acclaim system has already issued over one million of these credentials for professional learning, and they’re just getting started.

Credentials that follow the Mozilla Open Badge standard can now follow people wherever they go: formal courses, extra-curricular activities, workplace training, open online learning. A transcript is no longer a static piece of paper from one institution, but a flexible collection of competency credentials from multiple sources. The credentials can be shared on social media like LinkedIn or displayed in ePortfolios to achieve career goals.

How can Open Badge credentials support career development?

Let’s explore our DisasterReady.org example. A person wanting to enter the sector can demonstrate commitment and introductory knowledge by earning DisasterReady.org’s Humanitarian Starter Pack, a collection of learning activities provided by several organizations.

Once recruited by an agency, orientation programs can generate new credentials. Ongoing professional development can be recognized for missions (“Bangladesh 2013” or “Liberia 2015”) and growing expertise (“Logistics,” “Security”), based on experience and training programs, whether internal or external. This growing collection of personalized skills credentials can be searched on people assembling mission teams.

As this person becomes a mid-career professional, he/she may want to pursue a master’s degree. DeakinDigital, subsidiary of a top-flight Australian university can formally recognize their Professional Practice at the master’s level, awarding credentials for “soft skills” such as “communication,” “critical thinking,” “professional ethics” in leadership roles.

Open Badges can also help this person make a career transition to a new job in a new sector. If there are gaps, they can be filled as needed, without having to start from zero.

Who is using Open Badges now?

Here’s a current short list, with a focus on access to education and employment:

• org
  Open Badges to recognize shared courses and learning across the humanitarian sector.
• IBM Worldwide
  Used for talent pipelines and professional development.
• Madison Area Technical College – Continuing Education
  Credentialed programs with local industry partners, aligned with industry standards.
• Get Skills to Work (Manufacturing Institute)
  For US veterans, to help translate Military Occupational Specialty codes (MOS) into vocational credentials for advanced manufacturing.
• Deakin University (AUS)

Recognition of Graduate Learning Outcomes – at the bachelor’s level
DeakinDigital: Recognition of Professional Practice – at the master’s level

What can I do as a career professional?  

Open Badge credentials are not yet universal. But you can already find many opportunities to explore Open Badges as they make their way into the mainstream:

• Make yourself aware
  You can find presentations and videos online, track trends and events on Twitter (#OpenBadges, #digitalbadges, #BadgeCAN), and get more detail about case studies and evolving solutions around the world in the Open Badges Google Group as well as on free “Community Calls.”
  You can also start earning and displaying your own badges. Why not try to earn badges for the Barclay’s Digital Drivers Licence or Open University’s Badged Open Courses? Store these for free in Mozilla Backpack or Open Badge Passport. Display them on LinkedIn, Facebook or in your own ePortfolio.
• Reach out to your network
  Most employers welcome the idea of competency credentials; the Canadian Chamber of Commerce suggests that they can “attest to the fact that a student has acquired a skill such as problem-solving, communicating with team members and producing innovative solutions to industry problems.”** Canadian institutions such as UBC and St Lawrence College are already experimenting. Funders may be looking for better ways to track the impact of training. See what employers, educators and funders in your network think.
• Consider becoming an Issuing Organization
  Do you have a solid learning program with a good reputation? Can you assess clients as “work ready” in whole or in part? Consider creating your own badge system as a way to improve your profile and reach. As an educator, why not recognize uncredited employability outcomes? Is this a new value proposition for Continuing Education programs?

* Competence is the Best Credential, April 2015 http://t.co/LjicRtNbhg

** Fragmented Systems: Connecting Players in Canada’s Skills Challenge, September 2015 http://t.co/XizE38lI2a

Don Presant is President of Learning Agents, an award-winning provider of educational technology solutions for learning and career development. Presant currently serves on the Badge Alliance Working Groups for Workforce and Higher Education and is a regular contributor on #BadgeChatk12. He is an advisor for the Open Badge Factory and Open Badge Passport cloud services from Finland. Presant is currently developing several initiatives for Open Badge systems in Canada and abroad.

Cannexus National Career Development Conference turns 10

From January 25-27, 2016 CERIC will host the Cannexus 10^th anniversary conference in Ottawa. Canada’s largest bilingual National Career Development Conference, Cannexus explores innovative approaches in career counselling and career development. Cannexus16 is expected to welcome 800 professionals from education, community, government and private sectors.

In addition to 130+ education sessions, this year Cannexus will feature four notable Canadian keynote speakers: Ratna Omidvar, Executive Director, Global Diversity Exchange; Spencer Niles,  Dean & Professor, School of Education, The College of William & Mary; The Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair, Chair, Truth & Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) ; and Wab Kinew, Writer, Journalist and Honourary TRC Witness.

Delegates can save if they register by the November 2 Early Bird deadline. For more information on Cannexus and to register, visit cannexus.ca.

Webfolio: an online career development tool for students is now Canada-wide

A web-based career exploration tool developed by the career centre (Service de Placement) at Quebec City-based Laval University is now available for free across Canada and can be accessed by students in both French and English.

Webfolio provides a career-related reflection platform and allows students to choose strategies to prepare them for their career of choice, while simultaneously building an online portfolio. Students participate in a series of activities across three steps: (1) my skills and interests (2) understanding the job market, and (3) my plan in action. When they finish, they may submit their final Webfolio to career counsellors or employers, as a complement to their resume and cover letter.

Laval University first introduced Webfolio in 2009 as a resource for its students. Due to its success, Webfolio, with a grant from The Counselling Foundation of Canada, was adapted and distributed to secondary schools and CEGEPs across Quebec. The online tool has been available province-wide since September 2014, with participation from 200 organizations and 9,000 individual users.

Webfolio is currently looking for sponsors to help sustain its use from coast to coast in both languages.

Learn more about Webfolio at webfolionational.ca.

“Demilitarizing” career transition and job search

A set of bilingual resources, Military to Civilian Employment: A Career Practitioner’s Guide, is being developed for Canadian career service professionals to use in working with veterans transitioning to civilian careers and further educational opportunities.

Topics covered in the guides will include:

• Understanding military culture and systems
• Career development needs of ex-military personnel: transition and adaptation
• Effective interventions for helping veterans move to civilian employment
• Military training and education and determining civilian equivalencies
• Helping ex-military personnel translate military skills/jobs into civilian workplace language
• Trends in occupations for which transitioning armed forces personnel have immediately transferable skills and training
• Employment and implications for military families

Authored by career development expert Yvonne Rodney, the guides will be available in print or ebook or for download as a free pdf, and are scheduled to launch at the Cannexus conference in Ottawa in January 2016. The project is being headed by CERIC, in partnership with Canada Company and its Military Employment Transition (MET) program, and includes consultation and collaboration with the Canadian Armed Forces, Veterans Affairs Canada, Military Family Services, military-friendly employers and front-line career professionals, as well as the support of several key Knowledge Champions.

If you are interested in learning more about this project, check the project page at ceric.ca/military where you can sign up for updates.

Is it time to retire “retirement”?

A new study funded by CERIC will examine how Canadians in their 50s, 60s and 70s are seeking out second and third careers as “retirement” is redefined. The project, led by York University’s Suzanne L. Cook, will also look at how career professionals can best assist older adults in their career development.

The Redirection: Work and Later Life Career Development Project will examine this new emergent phase of later life, which Dr Cook has coined “redirection,” referring to the process of finding new pursuits during the second half of life. Redirection, which aims to move beyond traditional notions of retirement, occurs as older adults live longer and increasingly seek the rewards of work and staying engaged.

Investigating the diversity of paid work that older adults undertake and their later life career “redirection” experiences will be a focus of the study. The project will also assess how career practitioners are currently working with older adults and identify best practices.

For more information about the study, see ceric.ca/olderworkers

Be part of CERIC’s 2015 Survey of Career Service Professionals!

The landscape in career services continues to evolve as funding service models change, new technology emerges, and shifting economic conditions persist. CERIC’s 2015 Survey of Career Service Professionals will provide an accurate picture of today’s career services community in Canada.

All career service professionals are invited to complete the survey, which explores research and education issues in the field, as well as career competency and mobility. The survey is open until November 20.

For taking the time to complete the survey, you will be entered in a draw for a full registration (a $550 value!) to the Cannexus16 conference in January. Survey results will be presented at Cannexus.

Survey findings will also be compared to the results of CERIC’s 2011 survey, completed by over 1,000 practitioners throughout the country, to see how the environment has altered and career service professionals have adapted.

Access the survey at ceric.ca/survey2015 or the French version at ceric.ca/sondage2015.

Canada Career Week 2015

The Canadian Career Development Foundation (CCDF) is inviting all career professionals to celebrate November 2-6, 2015 as Canada Career Week. The theme for this year is “Decent Work, Healthy Lives.” Career practitioners are asked to promote “the link between decent work and our health – as individuals, communities and as a nation.”

It is an occasion to reach out to your community by organizing a special activity, an open house, publishing an op-ed in your local newspaper, reaching out to your public officials or to other organizations.

What will you do to celebrate Career Week? Share your projects and ideas on facebook.com/CCWSCC or on Twitter (#CanadaCareerWeek).

Community-based and parental involvement in career exploration throughout a child’s educational development can make a significant difference in their career engagement

By Kathy Levine, Dawn Sutherland and Darrell Cole

Over the past decade in Canada, there has been increased interest on the part of educators, academics, labour market specialists and federal/provincial policy analysts in career exploration programs for youth. This awareness may be partially attributed to the career education paradox of the 21^st century. At a time of an ever-increasing number of post-secondary choices available to students, approximately 190,000 youth are unable to access any of these programs due to dropping out of high school (Statistics Canada, 2010). In addition, for those students who do complete high school and move on to post-secondary education, approximately 35-50% of students drop out prior to program completion, partially due to not liking their program or feeling that it did not fit with their interests (Parkin & Baldwin, 2009). Given this situation, the need for innovative programs that can facilitate greater career awareness for students is unquestionable. Much of the current knowledge uses mainstream developmental norms to determine when career exploration experiences should occur, typically in adolescence. There is however an emerging understanding that early intervention directed toward career awareness can have significant benefits for children, and career exploration programs can play an important role in facilitating children’s career exposure through integrating a “career focus” at different stages of children’s lives.

Children’s career exploration programs may be accessed in academic, community-based and computer-based or online environments and provide a diverse range of career-related activities. These include watching online videos of individuals describing and/or working at particular careers, completing a variety of trait-based measures that suggest positive occupational “matches,” and providing information about specific careers, including current labour market needs, educational requirements and potential earnings. Experiential career exploration programs are another vehicle through which children can be introduced to different careers. The nature and extent of these programs vary; the main differences are related to whether they are provided within school or community settings, and the degree to which the children experience the tasks of the particular career. Community-based programs provide a unique opportunity for exposing students to career exploration, particularly for children who may need additional supports to explore their career interests in an era when the school day is occupied with academic material.

One example of a community-based program is Career Trek; an early intervention, social inclusion initiative in Manitoba that is targeted toward students who, due to social economic or family structure disadvantages, may not successfully transition to post-secondary education. The intent of the program is to increase students’ and families’ knowledge about careers that are accessible via post-secondary education through experiential career exposure, the provision of information about post-secondary institutions, including admission and eligibility criteria, applications and  financing, and by encouraging parental involvement in the program. During the academic term, participants attend one of a number of post-secondary institutions, including the Universities of Winnipeg and Manitoba, Brandon University, University College of the North, Red River College, and the Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology to learn the specific skills, knowledge and abilities, as well as the post-secondary pathways, associated with a range of  careers in different disciplines: Engineering, Education, Political Studies, Biology, Geography, Native Studies, Dental Hygiene, Commercial Cooking, Graphic Arts and Design.

Although there is anecdotal evidence to suggest that exposure to career exploration during the earlier years of children’s education has been associated with future aspirations through middle school and even high school graduation, it is important to examine whether these outcomes can be demonstrated empirically. As part of a larger project to further develop knowledge about children’s career development, we conducted an evaluative study to address three questions: (1) How do children and adolescents perceive careers and career exploration (2) How do children and adolescents engage in career exploration and decision-making, and (3) What is the role of career exploration programs in this process?

A total of 1,400 students across four Manitoba school divisions completed a series of measures that assessed career outcome expectancies, career self-efficacy, parental involvement in career exploration, and relationships with family, friends and school. The data was analyzed to compare students who participated in career development programming to those who did not. The key finding was that Grade 5/6 Career Trek participants scored higher on measures of curiosity, interest, planning and self-concept compared to the non-program group. Additionally, Grades 7-8 Career Trek participants reported more curiosity in school, greater awareness of their academic interests, felt that they had greater control over their school-related activities and behaviours, attributed more importance to planning their future, and had clearer self-concepts than the non-Career Trek group.

Given that there is a significant body of research that suggests that the transition to middle school is a period in which there is a negative shift in adolescents’ academic, social and emotional self-concepts (Duchesne, Ratelle, & Roy, 2009; Forrest et al., 2013), the finding that participants in career exploration reported better outcomes suggests that this type of programming can mediate the negative impact of transition to middle school. This supports previous work by the research team that has suggested that Career Trek provides an academic retention effect when students undertake the transition from elementary school to middle school. Interestingly enough, Career Trek students also report less school satisfaction – this may be due to their perspective that their educational needs and interests are not always being met in the context of their educational programs.

What are the implications of these findings? The diminishing career interest and exploration behaviours, as suggested by the decrease in interest, curiosity, planning and control scores between non-Career Trek elementary and Grade 7/8 students suggest a need for more direct intervention during this period. One possible response may be to provide information to parents about the impact of their involvement on the career exploration behaviours of adolescents. In collaboration with community-based organizations that are targeted toward positive youth development, a series of school-based educational sessions could be developed that highlight the personal, social and academic benefits for students that occur as a result of parent-initiated conversations and activities in regard to career exploration. Some parents may simply need to be educated about how their awareness of their adolescents’ career exploration interests and activities can impact adolescents’ sense of psychological well-being, especially in the areas of self-efficacy and self-concept.

Perhaps the most important implication of this research is the importance of making community-based career exploration opportunities more accessible, particularly for elementary year students. In addition to providing career exploration for students outside of the school day, community-based programs may work to promote students’ academic engagement connection to school (Anderson-Butcher, 2010). Currently, there are few programs focused on facilitating middle school children’s career exploration through developmental intervention. This remains an understudied area for programming, however, as we have learned, it’s never too early!

Learn more about this research in the project report at ceric.ca/projects.

References

Anderson-Butcher, D., Lawson, H. A., Iachini, A., Flaspohler, P., Bean, J., & Wade-Mdivanian, R. (2010). Emergent Evidence in Support of a Community Collaboration Model for School Improvement. Children & Schools, 32(3), 160-171.

Duchesne, S., Ratelle, C. F., & Roy, A. (2012). Worries About Middle School Transition and Subsequent Adjustment: The Moderating Role of Classroom Goal Structure. Journal of Early Adolescence, 32(5), 681-710.

Forrest, C., Bevans, K., Riley, A., Crespo, R., & Louis, T. (2013). Health and School Outcomes During Children’s Transition Into Adolescence. Journal Of Adolescent Health, 52(2), 186-194.

Parkin, A., &  Baldwin, N. (2009). Persistence in Post-secondary Education in Canada: The Latest Research. Research Note #8, Canada Millennium  Scholarship Foundation.

Statistics Canada (2010). Trends in Dropout Rates and the Labour Market Outcomes of Young Dropouts. Ottawa, ONT: Author.

Dr  Kathy Levine is an Associate Professor with the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Manitoba and co-recipient with Dr Dawn Sutherland of the Manitoba Career Development Award of Excellence in the Research and Innovation Category. Her research areas include child and adolescent mental health, interventions for individuals with intellectual disabilities in conflict with the law, and working with at-risk youth and their families. With the support of CERIC, she continues to research career exploration and career development needs of children and youth and their families.

Darrell Cole (Waabishki Pinesi Kinew Inini) is the founder and current Chief Executive Officer of Career Trek Inc. a not-for-profit organization based in Winnipeg, MB. Career Trek’s work is dedicated to helping young Manitobans achieve their educational, career and life potential through the provision of its unique holistic and experiential programming. 

When done properly, a gap year at any age can be an enriching experience, both personally and professionally

By Michelle Dittmer

Call it what you will – a gap year, a career break or a sabbatical – intentional time away from normal routine is becoming a more acceptable and necessary step in many people’s lives. Many students and professionals are seeking new ways of disrupting the cradle-college-cubicle-cemetery trajectory that is stifling Canadians and preventing them from finding fulfillment, achieving their optimal potential and sometimes leading to burn-out or bore-out (being so unmotivated by your work that you desire a change).

People are choosing to take time away from their existing pathway for many reasons. Some may be feeling overwhelmed by the pressures of academia or the workplace; others may be seeking to build skills to overcome some of their personal barriers such as anxiety or lack of confidence; while others may be simply searching for a year of self-discovery that will help them develop new skills, explore new interests or define what their next move might be. Historically, within Canada, taking an extended break has been seen as a weakness or a move for someone who couldn’t “rise to the challenge” but we are now able to better speak to the social, emotional and developmental growth that can occur by taking this time, leading to a more fulfilled, productive and committed student or employee.

According to research performed by Tony Wagner for his book The Global Achievement Gap (Basic Books, 2008, updated 2014) the most-needed survival skills within the workplace are:

• Critical thinking and problem-solving
• Collaboration across networks and leading by influence
• Agility and adaptability
• Initiative and entrepreneurialism
• Effective oral and written communication
• Accessing and analyzing information
• Curiosity and imagination

Although some of these skills can be taught through post-secondary programs or in organizational onboarding workshops, many are not addressed or fostered effectively in a way that is accessible to all learners, nor are many of these coachable without access to real-life experiences. Within academia or the workplace, it can be a challenge to provide opportunities for practising, or even failing-forward, without a permanent black mark on your reputation or without negative implications on the organization. Through intentional time off, many of these skills can be explored, developed and practised. Let’s explore with an example.

An investor has decided to take a few months away from her position in the head office of a bank to volunteer her time with a charity bike race supporting a cause she is passionate about. In choosing to take time away, she is actively engaging her curiosity and selecting experiences that will help her to connect her skills with her passions in a new way. During this time, she will be introduced to different challenges, a different way of thinking and a new network of individuals. This diversity will stimulate her to use different thinking patterns to solve problems, interact with people who will provide her with new perspectives, and build a new network to bring back to her personal and professional life. Upon returning back from her time away, this investor will now be able to apply her new-found skills to her previous job and become a stronger employee.

Stepping away from your day-to-day can reaffirm your commitment to your organization, or help affirm that you do need to take further steps to actively change your pathway by either increasing involvement outside of the 9-5 or taking intentional steps to make a change.

Another measure of soft skills development that continues to gain momentum is emotional intelligence, primarily attributed to Daniel Goleman’s work in the 90s (See Working with Emotional Intelligence, 1998). These skills are measured in many ways, one of which being the Bar-On EQi which breaks down emotional intelligence into the following categories and skills:

• Intrapersonal (Self-Regard, Emotional Self-Awareness, Assertiveness, Independence and Self-Actualization)
• Interpersonal (Empathy, Social Responsibility and Interpersonal Relationships)
• Stress Management (Stress Tolerance and Impulse Control)
• Adaptability (Reality Testing, Flexibility and Problem-Solving)
• General Mood Scale (Optimism and Happiness)

Whether working explicitly with these categories, as we do at mygapyear (a Canadian organization designed to support young adults in periods of transition), or leaving it to implicit development, these skills are often developed through time spent away from normal routine. Let’s look at another example.

An 18-year-old high school graduate is struggling with social anxiety and low self-regard; moving directly into a post-secondary program has been identified as a stressful trigger to these conditions and an unsuccessful year will heighten his struggles. By taking some time for a group trip to South America where they learn Spanish, volunteer with sea turtles and learn to surf, this young man gains independence from his parents, develops empathy for nature and those living in other areas of the world while solving problems and reaping the benefits of the feel-good hormones associated with helping others. By realizing how to use his strengths in novel and challenging situations and being successful, he develops the self-actualization and positive self-regard to want to take on new challenges, such as his post-secondary schooling.

Employers now express a higher interest in developing soft skills and in having employees with enhanced soft skills. It is worth investigating how taking meaningful “time off” from the typical educational and employment journey can support this. In order to ensure that time off is spent in a purposeful way (for some it is all too easy to spend it on less-than-meaningful or non-developmental activities) mygapyear recommends that the person taking the opportunity consider the following steps:

1. Set goals. Before your time off begins, make sure you know what you want to get out of this time away so you can learn, grow and develop.

2. Find someone to hold you accountable to your goals. We are all human and having someone who is aware of what we want to achieve and who will check in on our progress will help ensure that we reach those goals.

3. Pick experiences that push you out of your comfort zone. The best learning comes when you are in novel situations, on the edge of your current capacity and challenged to go beyond. Don’t forget that you have many skills you can tap into in new ways to ensure your success even in new situations.

4. Take time to reflect. Taking time off allows you to step out of the fast lane and spend more time thinking and reflecting on yourself, your skills, your dreams and your progress. Take this time to ensure you are capturing all you are learning through your experiences.

5. Learn to articulate your growth. The journey of taking time away is still a mystery to many. Learn to speak concisely to what you have learned, what the time meant for you both personally and professionally, how you will now move forward with new skills to be a better employee or student, and how you are now a better-rounded person.

Get in the driver’s seat of your life. Take control of your learning, development and your direction. Time off can be very valuable to develop new skills, experience the world in a new way and reconnect with what makes you unique and what inspires you.

Michelle Dittmer is a Director at mygapyear, an organization supporting young adults in transition through structured gap years and provides coaching, emotional intelligence and experience planning support to help people find direction, connect with their gifts and talents and plan for next steps. Dittmer believes in developing skills through experiential means and learning to reflect on and articulate how those experiences have led individuals to being the people they are today.

By Angela Splinter

The Conference Board of Canada projects a shortage of positions, including 25,000 to 30,000 drivers, within the trucking industry by 2020

Ratna Omidvar is the founding Executive Director of the Global Diversity Exchange (GDX) at the Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University and is currently Director of the Centre for Mental Health and Addiction (CAMH), The Environics Institute and Samara. She is Chair of Lifeline Syria, Chair Emerita of the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council and Co-Chair of DiverseCity: the Greater Toronto Leadership Project. Omidvar is an internationally recognized expert, speaker and commentator on migration, diversity, integration and inclusion.

Omidvar will be a keynote speaker at the Cannexus16 National Career Development Conference in Ottawa in January. 

In one sentence, describe why career development matters.

Career development is a plan to constantly develop yourself, renew yourself, add to your competencies, take courses and seminars, and join networks to keep lifelong learning alive all the time.

Can you explain what you mean by “plan”?

It is important to have a plan A, plan B and plan C. Life never unfolds how you think it will. My own life is a testament to that – a lot of good things have happened in my life by accident, so I give a great deal of faith in happy accidents, and in always being open. I think that this is important, especially for young people today who are looking for work. When I came to Canada in the 1980s, the job requirements were far less complex; you could enter into a field of work through informal means. Entering the same field today is more difficult. A master’s degree is required to do something that we formerly needed a bachelor’s for – it has become a far more professionalized world.

Which book are you reading right now?

My time has recently become so limited because of my work with Lifeline Syria, but the book that is giving me the greatest solace right now is a book by Pico Iyer – our keynote speaker and thought leader at the launch of the Global Diversity Exchange – The Art of Stillness. I’m not a still person. I’m constantly on the go, my mind is constantly on overdrive, and I recognize that failing. I need to be able to sit back, be still, and not constantly be doing something.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was 6 or 7 years old, I really wanted to be a teacher. I was enthralled by the role of a teacher and had some wonderful model teachers who were important in forming my life; I wanted to be like them. I actually wanted to start a school for disadvantaged kids in India but my life went in a different direction. It’s very interesting that at this stage in my life, I am at a university, so in a way, I have fulfilled my childhood dream.

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

I wouldn’t be able to work without my team. My team is just the best team in the world. I have ideas and they give these ideas legs. I know people talk about not being able to work without cellphones and iPads, these are instruments – you need people.

What activity do you usually turn to when procrastinating?

I’m a list-maker. I make lists of things I have to do at home, people I have to write letters to, and of all the things I have to get done. Some people have lists on their phones – that doesn’t give me comfort – a list to look at gives me comfort.

Which word do you overuse?

I’m incredibly driven and impatient with delays, so my team tells me I’m always saying “we need to get it done now.” I think that I overuse the urgency factor.

Who would you like to work with most?

I’m going to stick close to home and I would say I would love to work with all of the (federal government) party leaders in a non-partisan way to address the Syrian refugee crisis. We don’t have to break it down to partisan bickering, this is something we should do as a nation; so I would like to work with all three of them.

Which talent or superpower would you like to have?

I have two responses: I would love to be smarter and more intelligent. I’m very street smart, but I value people who are able to digest complex pieces of information and come at analysis in a completely different way. In the end, I think the superpower I would like to most have is time. I really would like to have more time in a day – I find time runs away – I have a family, and I wish I had more time to be with them. I wish I had more time to be an engaged Canadian; I wish I had more time to do my job better; I wish I had more time to be a better mentor to all of the people who call me.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

I think it has got to be playing a role in how Canadians in Canada understand that their future prosperity is linked to the prosperity of immigrants and refugees and that one cannot succeed without the other.

A strategy to develop hope through goals, waypower and willpower

By Lynn Sadlowski

Positive psychology is a fairly recent branch of psychology to emerge. Using scientific understanding and effective intervention, this particular area of psychology focuses on building strength, resilience and a satisfactory life. While many other branches of psychology tend to focus on dysfunction and treatment, positive psychology is centered on helping people become happier, prosper and lead healthy lives. Hope is a relatively recent subject of research in the field of positive psychology (Snyder 2002).

Hope may be defined as an emotion, a feeling. It’s a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. It’s a feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. While it can be described as a feeling, it can also be characterized as a “thought process” and when seen this way, it becomes something that can be learned. As teachers and counsellors, we can encourage and model hopeful thinking. Hopeful people are optimistic and determined. They learn that they are not passive recipients of what happens, but active players in their future.

To be hopeful, Dr. Snyder, a pioneer in hope research and professor of clinical psychology at the University of Kansas says “a person needs three things: goals, waypower and willpower” (Gorenberg, n.d.).

At a very young age, humans exhibit goal-directed behaviour. An infant reaching out to grasp an object is exhibiting goal-directed behaviour. Throughout life, in order to achieve their goals, individuals must see themselves as capable of finding plausible routes to attaining their goals.

Waypower allows individuals to reach their goals, even when they might experience obstacles or unexpected hurdles. When faced with a barrier, individuals can either give up or create new routes to goal achievement. Low hope individuals are more likely to give up. High hope individuals view barriers as challenges to overcome and use their waypower to plan an alternative route to their goals.

Willpower is the “energy to pursue those goals” (Gorenberg, n.d.). Not only do individuals need to see themselves as capable of finding plausible routes to attaining their goals, those with high hope often produce several pathways and are very effective at finding multiple and alternative routes when faced with barriers. It is easier for individuals to harness willpower when they have a clear goal in mind. Therefore, being hopeful is aided by being able to clearly articulate one’s goals.

Strategies for enhancing hope in our clients and our students:

Individuals without hope may be less likely to be motivated to engage in career planning activities or on-going career management. With hope, people can expect good things in the future. We can apply hope theory to our work in career counselling and education by providing suggestions across three categories — those involving goals, waypower, and willpower.

Strategies for helping clients and students develop goals:

• Encourage goals that excite the individual.
• Calibrate goals to the individual’s age and specific circumstances.
• Discuss and encourage goals in various aspects of their lives and help them rank them by importance.
• Ensure clients and students select several goals. That way they can turn to another important goal when they face with an insurmountable barrier.
• Teach those you work with how to set SMART goals.

Strategies for helping clients and students develop Waypower:

• Goals established based on self-awareness and personal desire are more energizing than those imposed by others (peers, parents, or teachers).
• Help clients and students to understand the importance of and monitor their self-talk. Encourage them to talk in positive voices (e.g., I can do this; I will keep at it).
• Provide your clients and students with examples of how others have succeeded or overcome adversity.
• Encourage everyone to enjoy the journey in reaching their goals as much as the thrill of achieving them.

Strategies for helping clients and students develop Willpower:

• Ensure large goals are broken down into smaller sub-goals (step-by-step sequence).
• Encourage clients and students to think about their goals (e.g. what will you need to do to attain your goal?) and to identify several routes to a desired goal (e.g. what will you do if you encounter a barrier?).
• Support “keep-going thinking.” If one pathway does not work, try other routes.
• People often need to learn that a barrier is not necessarily a lack of ability or talent. A new skill may be needed to help them reach their goal. Encourage them to learn it and then find a new route to their goal.
• Remind them that they can always ask for help.

Over the last 25 years, high hope has been found to correlate positively with academic achievement and lower levels of depression (Marques & Lopez 2011). Hopeful thinkers achieve more, and are physically and psychologically healthier than less hopeful people (Snyder, 2002; Marques & Lopez 2011).

P.S. If you are working with high school students, introduce them to a variety of resources including ChatterHigh (chatterhigh.com) Used daily in career education classrooms, students explore all things positive about career planning, goal setting, figuring out pathways and being hopeful for the future.

Lynn Sadlowski currently works as an Education Consultant for ChatterHigh and as a Career Counsellor at Queen’s University. She can be reached at lynn@chatterhigh.com

References

Gorenberg, G. (n.d.). Raising a Hopeful Child: Why an upbeat outlook is the #1 secret to kids’ success. Retrieved from http://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/style/raising-a-hopeful-child/

Marques, S. and Lopez, S. (2011). Research-Based Practice: Building Hope in Our Children. NASP Communiqué, 40(3). Retrieved from http://www.nasponline.org/publications/cq/40/3/building-hope.aspx.

Snyder, C. R. (2002). Hope theory: Rainbows in the mind. Psychological inquiry, 13(4), 249-275.

Snyder, C. R., Rand, K. L., & Sigmon, D. R. (2002). Hope theory. Handbook of positive psychology, 257-276. 

A case study in using an assessment tool to engage and retain young professionals.

By Rachel Laliberté

In our fast-paced society, with constant changes and new opportunities at hand, organizations need to ensure that employees feel valued in order to retain their talent. One of the challenges in today’s workplace is finding a positive way to engage young professionals, often referred to as “millennials.” Recognizing that millennials (the generation that follows Generation Xers), make up the largest demographic in their organization, MMM Group Limited[1], an engineering consulting firm, has proactively implemented a program to meet that challenge.

Tara McMahon, Chief Human Resources Officer with MMM Group Limited, points out that their strategy flows from the talent perspective; they want “to engage talent, and retain talent.”  MMM Group Limited is seeking to help their young professionals develop career paths within their organization. To better guide their employees in defining career development pathways, MMM Group Limited needed to apply a program whereby participants could increase self-awareness of their own strengths and realize opportunities within their workplace setting.

To aid in realizing their goal, MMM Group Limited chose the Work Personality Index^® (WPI), an assessment published by Psychometrics Canada. The WPI helps employees realize and build upon their strengths by identifying key motivators and behaviours. Initially, the ability to deliver the assessment online attracted MMM Group Limited to use this specific tool. Since MMM Group has offices across Canada, they needed a tool that everyone in their target group could access. McMahon states that a key feature in choosing Psychometrics Canada and their WPI tool was the one-on-one coaching session offered to the participants after they complete the assessment.  Psychometrics’ in-house consultants—Shawn Bakker and Aidan Millar—conducted tele-coaching sessions to help participants explore their career paths by clarifying assessment results, and helping participants focus on their strengths and possible areas for development.

Engaging the millennial demographic has required a commitment from MMM Group Limited to invest the time to initiate and maintain a program to help build the careers and futures of their young professionals. McMahon emphasizes that “spending the time and effort” to help their employees discover career paths and set career objectives exemplifies MMM Group’s commitment and care for their employees. Finding the right tools to help the process was important to developing talent within their organization.

The “career-reflection” that comes with the process of completing the WPI assessment, and participating in the coaching session afterward, along with the knowledge that your company is supporting you, reinforces in employees the sense that they are valued within their organization. The feedback from participants in this program has been positive, and MMM Group Limited is proving that it pays to be proactive in enriching the careers of millennials; they are demonstrating that their company can attract talented young professionals by offering to nurture future career paths.

Rachel Laliberté, has a BA Eng and is on staff at Psychometrics Canada.

[1] MMM Group Limited is one of the largest building services firms in Canada, a recognized expert in community planning and infrastructure design, a leader in the transportation industry, and a highly respected sustainability consultant. (Taken from www.mmmgrouplimited.com)