2019

Spark! talks return with inspiring presenters at Cannexus20

September 4, 2019By

Featuring TED-style talks that “spark” us to think differently about our careers, CERIC is pleased to announce the Spark! presenters for the 2020 Cannexus National Career Development Conference:

  • Mike Prosserman, B-boy & Founder of Unity Charity – Breakin’ Down Barriers Around Mental Health in the Workplace
  • Tim Tamashiro, Amazon #1 Bestselling Author and Former CBC Radio Host – How to Ikigai
  • MayaSpoken, Spoken Word Artist – Using Your Indoor Voice – Success Through Boldness

More Spark! speakers will be announced soon.

Canada’s largest bilingual career conference, Cannexus is expected to welcome 1,200 professionals from education, community, government and private sectors to explore innovative approaches in career counselling and career and workforce development. The conference takes place January 27-29, 2020 in Ottawa.

There will be more than 150 education sessions to choose from and multiple networking opportunities. Delegates can also extend their conference learning by attending skill-building pre-conference workshops in addition to world-class keynotes, Mega sessions featuring well-known thought leaders, and an Exhibitor Showcase. Watch for the full preliminary programme to be posted by late September.

A variety of registrations packages are available at very competitive rates. Take advantage of the Early Bird rate by registering by November 6 for only $550. Special discounts are available for members of 34 supporting organizations, students and groups of five or more.

The conference is presented by CERIC and supported by The Counselling Foundation of Canada and a broad network of supporting organizations.

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2019

CERIC to fund revision of popular guide to computing careers

August 21, 2019By

CERIC will fund a project for Mount Royal University to update its popular guide to computing careers, which will now add two emerging areas: data science and cybersecurity. The second edition of Computing Disciplines: A Quick Guide for Prospective Students and Career Advisors will also expand on training opportunities such as college programs and coding camps, as well as incorporate profiles of diverse alumni. The aim of the guide remains to support career counselling for students interested in technology.

Computing has undergone massive changes over the past 20 years, and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is revising its curriculum recommendations to help clarify emerging sub-disciplines and prepare professionals who are entering the field. Research for the original project – undertaken by an international research team led by Calgary’s Mount Royal University – found that most undergraduate students did not understand the differences between the five computing disciplines (computer engineering, information technology, information systems, software engineering and computer science). It also became clear that career counsellors and other career advisors needed more information to support their clients.

This research informed the development of a graphically oriented 32-page guide from Mount Royal authors Randy Connolly, Janet Miller and Faith-Michael Uzoka. The first edition of Computing Disciplines launched at the Cannexus National Career Development Conference in 2018. The guide has since been distributed at provincial and other national conferences and the research has been presented and published to international audiences. Based on demand, a French adaptation of the guide was also released. More than 4,000 copies of the guide are now in circulation and they have met with very positive feedback.

The guide is being used at both the secondary and post-secondary levels to inform students in their decision-making around computing-related education and career paths, so they can make choices that are aligned with their values, interests and skills. Computing Disciplines provides an overview of each of the sub-disciplines and related careers, core courses, key tasks and sample jobs. It is designed to support students, as well as the career practitioners, faculty and parents who advise them. In particular, the guide helps provide students with adequate discipline information prior to application for program admission or prior to when they are required to choose their major.

With the field continuing to evolve, the 2nd edition of Computing Disciplines: A Quick Guide for Prospective Students and Career Advisors will provide up-to-date information and do so in a way that is inclusive of culture, gender and regional diversity. The revised guide will include two new branches in computing curriculum announced by the ACM – data science and cybersecurity, making for seven sub-disciplines. It will also expand on non-degree educational pathways, including college programs, technical institutes, private certificate programs, coding camps and hackathons. Another new feature will be personal stories of alumni to illustrate their computing career paths and showcase Canadian role models.

The new guide is expected to be released at the Cannexus conference in January 2020, and once again will be made available for free download.

CERIC provides funding and other support to develop innovative career development resources. Individuals and organizations are encouraged to submit project proposals for career counselling-related research or learning projects.

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2019

Mega speakers announced for Cannexus20 National Conference!

August 14, 2019By

CERIC is pleased to announce this year’s confirmed Mega presenters for Cannexus20, featuring well-known thought leaders on trending topics in career development. Cannexus – Canada’s largest bilingual National Career Development Conference – takes place January 27-29, 2020 in Ottawa.

Mega Sessions:

  • Gray Poehnell, Career Consultant, Ergon Communications – Above the Noise: Making Our Voices Heard
  • Yvonne Rodney, Career and Personal Development Consultant, Inner Change Consulting – Overcoming “Stuckness” – Helpful Strategies for Self and Clients
  • Ken Keis, President & CEO, Consulting Resource Group International Inc. – What Do You Really Value? What Motivates Us?
  • (Just added!) Ilona Dougherty, Managing Director, Youth & Innovation Project, University of Waterloo – Wired for Innovation: Tapping into the Unique Abilities of Millennial and Gen Z Employees

Mega Panel: Taking the Career Development Ninja Challenge

  • Linda Pardy, Associate Professor, University of the Fraser Valley
  • Jennifer Browne, Director of Student Life, Memorial University
  • Candy Ho, Faculty, Educational Studies, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
  • Atifa Karim, Lead Co-ordinator, Career Education, University of Toronto

Cannexus20 is expected to bring together 1,200 career development professionals from education, government, community and private sectors. The conference is designed to promote the exchange of information and explore innovative approaches in the areas of career counselling and career and workforce development.

Register by September 4 for the Super Saver rate. Pay only $475 for a full 3-day registration, a $125 savings off the regular $600 price. Special rates for presenters, members of 35 supporting organizations, students and groups are also available.

Delegates can also add an optional pre-conference workshop (or two) to maximize their learning! Delve into social justice with keynote Tristram Hooley from the UK, get creative with Norm Amundson & Andrea Fruhling, understand trauma with Seanna Quressette or find balance with Rosie Parnass.

The conference is presented by CERIC and supported by The Counselling Foundation of Canada and a broad network of supporting organizations.

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Computer-webinar2019

Building Empathy and Self-Care are focus for two new fall webinar series

August 12, 2019By

CERIC will be offering two webinar series, both starting in September: Building Empathy: Strengthening Your Connections with Clients with Dr Cindy Hamon-Hill and the Nova Scotia Career Development Association (NSCDA) and Enhancing Psychological Health, Wellness & Resiliency: The Critical Importance of Self-Care & Burnout Prevention for Helping Professionals with Dr Joti Samra and the BC Career Development Association (BCCDA).

In the 3-part webinar series with Dr Cindy Hamon-Hill, career professionals will develop skills for bridging the empathy gap, enabling the ability to repair any disconnect and respond genuinely to the needs of their clients.

  • Webinar #1: The Why, What & How of Empathy, Tuesday, September 24, 2019 | 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm ET
  • Webinar #2: How Many Selves Are We? Raising Awareness of Your Own Empathic Responses, Tuesday, October 1, 2019 | 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm ET
  • Webinar #3: Improve Your Client Connection Skills with the Science of Empathy! Tuesday, October 8, 2019 | 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm ET

In the 3-part webinar series with Dr Joti Samra, career professionals will build an understanding of how to enhance their overall sense of psychological health and wellness, both in and out of the workplace.

  • Webinar #1: Stress, Burnout, Compassion Fatigue: Manifestations & Prevention Wednesday, September 25, 2019 | 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm ET
  • Webinar #2: Managing Negative Emotions, Wednesday, October 16, 2019 | 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm ET
  • Webinar #3: Effective Behavioural Change Strategies Wednesday, November 6, 2019 | 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm ET

Hamon-Hill is a lecturer, instructor, researcher and communicator based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She has taught at universities in Ontario and Nova Scotia, led workshops and spoken at conferences across Canada for professionals, academics, psychologists, criminologists, police officers and career development practitioners.

Samra is a national thought leader on issues relating to psychological health, wellness & resiliency. She is CEO & founder of MyWorkplaceHealth.com, a full-suite national workplace consulting firm and DrJotiSamra.com, an expanding clinical & counselling practice. Dr Samra is a highly-regarded expert in psychological health and safety.

The cost for the full series is $159. A discount is available for members of NSCDA and BCCDA, respectively.

CERIC partners with associations and organizations across Canada and beyond to present webinars that offer timely, convenient and affordable professional development. Previously, CERIC has worked with the Career Professionals of Canada, New Brunswick Career Development Association, Career Development Association of Alberta, Ontario Association for Career Management, National Career Development Association and Canadian Association of Career Educators & Employers.

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2019

Groundwork for growth: CERIC’s 2018 Annual Report

July 8, 2019By

Persistent, incremental steps can lead to big jumps. Having spent much of the past 13 years striving to reach further with every step, 2018 was a year of reimagining, recalibration and reinforcement. CERIC’s 2018 Annual Report showcases how we laid the groundwork to allow us to take bigger leaps in the future.

In the 2018 Annual Report, Board Chair John Horn and Executive Director Riz Ibrahim discuss the many ways that CERIC has been advancing career development in Canada in order to enhance the economic and social well-being of Canadians. Throughout the year, CERIC continued to expand and deepen the knowledge of Canada’s career development professionals with a focus on how we can best engage with career professionals digitally going forward.

Some of the many highlights for CERIC from the past year:

A few measures of our impact include:

The 2018 Annual Report includes a review of key activities from the past year across CERIC’s three strategic priorities: Research & Learning, Community & Collaboration and Advocacy & Profile, as well as an overview of financial performance in 2018. Special thanks is also given to CERIC’s funder The Counselling Foundation of Canada, volunteers, staff and partners.

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2019

Super Saver registration now open: Cannexus20 National Career Development Conference

July 3, 2019By

Registration for Cannexus20, Canada’s National Career Development Conference, is now open with both 3-day ($450) and 1-day ($225) packages available. Take advantage of special rates for members of supporting organizations, students and groups. Super Saver deadline is September 4, 2019.

Cannexus is designed to promote the exchange of information and explore innovative approaches in the areas of career counselling and career and workforce development. We expect to welcome 1,200 participants from Canada and internationally to the Shaw Centre in Ottawa, January 27-29, 2020. Participants will include educators, community agencies, employers, private practitioners and policymakers.

Conference delegates can listen to three informative and inspirational keynote speakers (Natan Obed, Tristram Hooley and Zita Cobb) and choose from over 150+ education sessions. Topics will include effective counselling techniques, labour market information, post-secondary employment, talent management, job search strategies, working with diverse populations and more. An Exhibitor Showcase will also bring together organizations highlighting their valuable career development programs and services.

We are also pleased to announce this year’s pre-conference workshops, each providing in-depth professional development. Workshops take place on Sunday, January 26, 2020. Choose among the following:

  • Tristram Hooley, The Careers & Enterprise Company – Career Development for Social Justice: Developing Emancipatory Practice
  • Rosie Parnass, Parnass Consulting and Coaching Services – Maintaining a Healthy Work/Life Balance – YES It Is Possible
  • Norman Amundson, University of British Columbia & Andrea Fruhling, Career/Leadership Coach – Career Development Creative Lab – Come Stretch Your Imagination
  • Seanna Quressette, Douglas College – Trauma-Informed Career Development: Concrete Strategies & Tangible Tools

The conference is presented by CERIC and supported by The Counselling Foundation of Canada and a broad network of supporting organizations.

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2019

CERIC to fund project that demonstrates how career development can improve mental health

June 24, 2019By

CERIC will fund a new project that will produce a handbook for career practitioners that addresses their role in supporting or improving client mental health and potentially preventing or reducing the severity of mental illness. The project’s main objective is the dissemination of current research and thinking regarding career development practice and its impact on mental health combined with practical suggestions for enhancing this impact. Led by Life-Role Development Group Ltd., with the support of Simon Fraser University and the Career Education Association of Victoria (CEAV), Australia, this resource will provide the language and evidence that career development interventions can have positive mental health outcomes.

Project leaders Dave Redekopp and Michael Huston have found that practitioners are aware there is an important connection between career development and well-being and that practitioners want to learn more about the mechanisms supporting this connection. The connection is not usually addressed in career practitioner programs, nor are practitioners trained how to navigate these conversations within the boundaries of their role. Practitioners want to know how to address and support mental health concerns more effectively and ethically. Currently, practitioners often avoid discussing mental health concerns with clients because of fears that they may be working outside their boundaries.

Expected to be released in early 2020, the book – tentatively titled Career Development and Mental Health – will focus primarily on the mental health outcomes associated with career development, helping practitioners learn how their work already bolsters mental health and potentially intervenes with mental illness, how they can more effectively strengthen clients’ mental health, ways to measure mental health outcomes in their practices, and ways to communicate to stakeholders the vital role of career development in enhancing mental health. While the book’s core audience will be front-line practitioners in employment centres, schools, post-secondary institutions and career counselling offices, it will also be useful for managers, researchers, policymakers and academics.

Part of an international research collaboration, this project will fill several important gaps in the career counselling field and have broad reach with the CEAV adapting it for distribution in Australia. The project will:

  • improve career development practice by showing practitioners how to ethically integrate mental health concerns into career development processes;
  • improve the morale of career development practitioners by virtue of seeing the mental health impact of their work;
  • improve cross-service communication between career development service providers and mental health service providers;
  • improve career development practitioners’/administrators’ ability to make the case for the value of their service;
  • improve sustainable mental health of Canadians via career development practice that addresses core issues rather than only symptoms;
  • provide the research synopsis needed to promote policy change regarding the career development and mental health connections; and
  • provide a model and research synopsis upon which career development researchers can build an evidence base.

The book will complement CERIC’s Career Services Guide: Supporting People Affected by Mental Health Issues, a resource that has been downloaded nearly 8,000 times to date. The guide offers a lens for understanding people affected by mental illness and practical strategies career practitioners can take to help clients meet their full employment potential.

CERIC provides funding and other support to develop innovative career development resources. Individuals and organizations are welcome to submit project proposals for career counselling-related research or learning projects. This latest project aligns with several of CERIC’s five priority funding areas, including career practitioning with social and economic impact; new emerging career development theories and career management models; and impact of career services on policy and programs.

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2019

New resource outlines evidence base for CERIC’s Guiding Principles of Career Development

June 18, 2019By

CERIC has released a new companion document to its popular Guiding Principles of Career Development that outlines a selection of the extensive research which underpins them. Compiled by Yvonne Rodney, Guiding Principles of Career Development: Anchored by Evidence lists the eight Guiding Principles with expert quotes and references from a cross-section of journals and reports that illustrate the principles’ currency, relevance and validity. The resource provides stakeholders with the theoretical grounding behind the principles.

This compendium is intended to supplement CERIC’s Guiding Principles of Career Development and demonstrate that career development is a field with decades of evidence-based research behind it. The Guiding Principles define the core elements of career development using simple and concise language presented in a colourful and engaging infographic. Created to bring greater clarity and consistency to our national conversations about career development, they serve as a starting point for discussions with clients, employers, funders, policymakers and families. Importantly, they also highlight the need to make the career development of our citizens a top priority.

The Guiding Principles of Career Development, reflecting multiple voices across CERIC, were first released to coincide with Canada Career Month in November 2016. Career professionals have been encouraged to use and share it widely. Initial response was very positive. Career professionals put the Guiding Principles infographic up in their offices and classrooms, added it to their websites, discussed it during staff meetings, included it in client counselling sessions and incorporated it into career planning curriculum.

CERIC continues to look for ways to further embed and expand the use of the Guiding Principles. More than 10,000 copies of the Guiding Principles posters have been distributed. Their practical application has been discussed at the Cannexus National Career Development Conference. They have been featured in our publications, in particular the Retain and Gain: Career Management for Small Business Playbook and Retain and Gain: Career Management for Non-Profits and Charities Playbook. A regular case study column in Careering magazine now also appears in each issue where career professionals explain how they apply one of the eight principles in their work.

As a next development, this fall CERIC will release a series of Guiding Principles Action Plans for career practitioners to use when working with different client groups (eg, high school-aged youth, post-secondary students, educated and underemployed individuals, long-term unemployed adults, older workers transitioning to retirement and newcomers). The purpose of the Action Plans is to offer insights and ideas for working with particular populations of clients that align with the Guiding Principles of Career Development, including discussion questions and activities.

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2019

CERIC’s new literature search focuses on climate change and career development

June 15, 2019By

“Green” has been a buzzword in recent years. But what does environmental sustainability mean to career professionals and their clients amid a changing climate? CERIC’s literature search, Climate Change and Career Development, highlights important implications of climate change for the future world of work.

Topics covered in the literature search include:

  • Top trends and reports on green careers
  • Green-positive life counselling and decent work
  • Educational programs available in Canada for green employment
  • Impact of climate change on careers
  • Green careers and future labour market
  • Career challenges and opportunities led by climate change

There are now 54 literature searches available, including Career Development Theory and Career Management Models, Economic Benefits of Career Guidance, Parental Involvement in Career Development, Labour Market Trends, Mental Health Issues in the Workplace, and more.

Featuring comprehensive listings of key research and articles in career development, literature searches highlight critical points of current knowledge. As a student, academic or practitioner in the field, literature searches are helpful if you are researching the latest thinking or proven best practices. They are also valuable if you are considering a submission to CERIC for project partnership funding in order to gain an overview of major work already done in your area of interest.

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Free July webinar series with authors of Career Theories and Models at Work

June 10, 2019By

In order to effectively serve clients and the public, career practitioners need to be equipped with the latest theories and models in the field. A free webinar series will be offered in July to further explore the career theories and models compiled in CERIC’s new book Career Theories and Models at Work: Ideas for Practice. Webinars are led by the contributing authors to the book.

CERIC’s newly released book Career Theories and Models at Work: Ideas for Practice is an international collection of 43 contemporary and emerging career development theories and models that aims to inform the practice of career development professionals around the globe. It is also intended to be used as a text for undergraduate and graduate career counselling courses.

  • Webinar #1: Managing Our Many Selves: How to Use the Dialogical Self-Theory to Help Your Clients Explore Their Professional Identities | Tuesday, July 9, 2019, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm ET, presented by Michael Healy, University of Southern Queensland, Australia
  • Webinar #2: A Career Theory That Works: Cognitive Information Processing Theory | Wednesday, July 10, 2019, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm ET, presented by Debra Osborn, Florida State University, USA
  • Webinar #3: Scared, Lost or Confused!? Develop Your Warm Inner Compass Through Career Writing | Thursday, July 11, 2019, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm ET, presented by Reinekke Lengelle, Athabasca University, Canada and The Hague University, Netherlands

Registered participants will receive a link to the recording of the three webinars. So even if you can’t make one or more webinars in the series, you will still be able to access all the learning.

Learn more about this webinar series and register today.

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