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Career Counselling for the Academically Gifted Student by John B. Stewart, in the Canadian Journal of Counselling, Vol 33:1, 1999, p 3-12

If you work in a school setting, you are undoubtedly aware that career counselling high academic achievers poses some unique challenges. This article addresses 7 career development/occupational decision-making difficulties frequently experienced by academically gifted students. The problems covered are: Narrowing Occupational Choice, Indecision, Vocational Identity Formation, Lack of Occupation Meaningfulness, Early Occupational Choice, Pressure from Significant Others, and the Need for Occupational Role Models. Stewart discusses each of these challenges and recommends counselling interventions. Social learning theory provides the theoretical framework for this discussion.

A Proactive Strategy for Attracting Women into Engineering Gilbride, Kimberley A., Kennedy, Diane C., Waalen, Judith K., and Zwyno, Malgorzata Canadian Journal of Counselling, Vol 33:1, 1999, p 55-65

Ryerson University (then Polytechnic) initiated the Discover Engineering Summer Camp in 1991. The camp was designed to provide young women with little-known information about engineering: to show women that engineering is a viable career to consider, to increase understanding of what engineers do, and to demonstrate the challenges and rewards of a career in this area. In a follow-up study, sixty percent of camp participants pursued education in engineering, and cited their attendance at the camp as a primary factor in their decision to become engineers. This paper gives more detailed information about the camp as a tool for introducing women to this predominantly male occupation.

Is your University Career Centre up to snuff? Check out the Summer 1999 issue of the Journal of Career Planning and Employment, p 38, for Beyond Surveys: Using Focus Groups to Evaluate University Career Services. Step by step instructions are included for conducting focus groups at your school.

Check your newsstands for the July/August edition of Fast Company magazine. This issue, entitled “How to Design a Life that Works” features articles on the gaps between the techno have and have-nots, ideas for re-designing a too-hectic life, the life of consultants, and a very telling survey: “How Much is Enough”. Features are also available online at www.fastcompany.com The site also features a career centre with lots of interesting articles.

New TV Show Devoted to Career and Work Info for Youth

Parched by the summer heat? Put your feet up and come to Career Café. You may have to provide your own refreshments, but a visit won’t cost any money and all you need is a TV set. Career Café is a new half-hour television program devoted to career and work information. Although it is targeted toward youth 18-30, many of the resources on this program will also be of interest to career-changers and career development professionals working with youth.

Each program features regular segments such as Job News, with all the latest information on employment and labour market trends, new youth programs, and recruitment, and The Toolbox, brimming with practical tips on getting a job. Hosts Derek Miller and Lauren McNabb interview several people per show, including young entrepreneurs, key hiring personnel, industry experts, and individuals working in just about every occupation imaginable — from acting to trucking, and public affairs management to funeral directing.

A review of recent shows turned up the following info:

• Heavy equipment technicians are in high demand in Canada. And we’re not talking grease monkeys — these jobs are more hi-tech than you’d think! Community college programs may lead to a $50K salary just one year out of school. Read more at www.caed.org
• Natural Resources Canada runs a volunteer program where youth with an interest in Earth Sciences can gain hands-on experience to complement their theoretical knowledge. Many of these interns go on to find full-time work in the field. http://www.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca
• In a recent survey by Statistics Canada, working college and university graduates said high pay was the first thing they looked for in a job, followed by location, and enjoyment of the work itself. Read the full report at www.hrsdc.gc.ca

Upcoming shows will feature advice on market research for new business ventures, information on Aboriginal Business Canada, an organization devoted to the needs of Aboriginal entrepreneurs, the scoop on jobs in Canada’s National Parks, and information on occupations in fundraising, fashion, and tourism. Move over Starbucks!

Career Café can be seen Monday through Friday on Rogers Community TV and Shaw TV; the French version, Café de l’emploi, is on Canal Savoir Monday to Thursday and Sunday, and CTV broadcasts Career Café across Canada on a weekly basis — check local listings at the show’s website: www.rogerstelevision.com

Have you launched a new program or initiative?
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By Jan Basso

CACEE Conference Draws Employers And Career Educators

In early June, the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers held its annual recruitment and career services national conference in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Over 200 delegates attended the event which brought career services professionals and co-op practitioners from within post-secondary educational institutions together with human resources professionals who recruit on campuses across the country.

By Marc Verhoeve

Cybercounselling is quickly becoming an acceptable form of professional helping. In 1996 I first coined the term for my Internet-based column hosted on the website of the Ontario School Counsellors Association. I played around with terms such as web-counselling and e-counselling, but chose cybercounselling because it most accurately reflected this new professional vehicle. Three years later, this new dimension of counselling has passed from its infancy into adolescence.

Straight Jobs, Gay Lives: Gay and Lesbian Professionals, the Harvard Business School, and the American Workplace

By Friskopp, Annette, and Sharon Silverstein, 1995, Scribner.

Interviews with gay and lesbian alumni of the Harvard Business School (HBS) woven into a discussion of the gay and lesbian experience both at the school, and in the world of work after graduation. Chapters on discrimination, being closeted/coming out at work, networking, success, gender, race and ethnicity, HIV/AIDS, and the unique experiences of gay professionals. Excellent reading guide at the end, including books, theses and academic papers. There is also a “gay workplace resource guide” with US listings.

Do you have a book review to share?
E-mail us at admin@contactpoint.ca

By Keltie Creed

I work exclusively online, and have done so since the fall of 1997. I have never met most of my clients. I never make eye contact with them, seldom hear the emotion in their voices. But I do get to know their minds, their way of expressing themselves, their hopes and dreams. We work together on action plans, resumes, interview preparation, decision making and a myriad of other issues. They do find work. On the surface, it may seem like my practice is something far removed from your own, but in reality, the work that we do is probably very similar. The difference is the tools that we use, and the medium of communication.