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Canadian

Canada’s Association for the Fifty-Plus
www.50plus.com

Experienced Workers Program
www.tcet.com/ewp/default.aspx?sel=q2&cat=career

American

AARP (formerly known as American Association of Retired Persons) – Careers
www.aarp.org/careers

Quint Careers – Job and Career Resources for Mature and Older Job-Seekers
www.quintcareers.com/mature_jobseekers.html

Diversityworking.com – Mature Worker
www.diversityworking.com

HireDiversity.com – Mature Workers
www.hirediversity.com/matureworkers.asp

International

Age Positive
www.agepositive.gov.uk

The Campaign Against Age Discrimination in Employment
www.caade.net

Employers Forum on Age
www.efa-agediversity.org.uk

Looking for More Resources?

Check out These and Other Resources in the Contact Point Resource Library…

Articles:

Wise Options for Older Workers
By Ann McCarthy

Contact Point Interview with Barbara Moses, Ph.D.

Books:

Rewired, Rehired, or Retired, 2002
By Robert K. Critchley www.contactpoint.ca/resources/dbase.php?type=user_query&fetchid=1295

What Works – Career Building Strategies for Special Needs Groups
By Alberta Advanced Education and Career Development

Don’t Stop the Career Clock: Rejecting the Myth of Aging for a New Way to Work in the 21st Century, 1999
By Helen Harkness, PhD

It’s Only Too Late if you Don’t Start Now: How to Create Your Second Life After 40, 1998
By Barbara Sher

Is it Too Late to Run Away and Join the Circus?
Marti Smye, PhD, 1998

Conference Papers:

What’s so Great About Being an Experienced Worker?
By Jean Davidson

“So…tell me about yourself” – A Guide To Successful Interviews 
Canadian Career Partners, 2003
www.career-partners.com
ISBN: 0-9732815-0-2

Preparing for the job interview can be a very overwhelming and stressful task for any job seeker. Often there are many unanswered questions: What can I do to prepare myself for the interview? What types of questions will the employer ask me? Canadian Career Partners, a Human Resource and Consulting firm has written a book that contains a wealth of information to help individuals answer these questions and much more.

In “A Guide To Successful Interviews”, find out how to answer thirty typical interview questions and develop your own responses in the space provided in the book. Learn about the different types of interviews and the purpose that each of them serves.

The book is divided into sections including: Before the Interview, During the Interview, and After the Interview. In Before the Interview, read about how to research the company and industry, create responses to interview questions, and prepare for the upcoming interview. In the section During the Interview, learn how to answer questions effectively and appropriately and find out what employers are looking for in potential candidates. Many job seekers do not realize that they can use the interview process to find out more about the position and responsibilities by asking their own questions. This section also contains a great list of questions that individuals can ask of the interviewer. After the Interview focuses on interview follow up: sending thank you letters and follow up calls.

A detailed checklist summarizes each of the major sections and can be used as a “prep” tool to help job seekers effectively plan for the interview and discover if there are any major details or tasks they have forgotten to complete. A notes section is located in the back of the book for those who wish to write down additional details.

The Results Are In!

In November of 2003, Contact Point launched its first on-line survey, asking you, our users what you thought of the site, its content and your profession. Here is a small snapshot of those results. We would like to thank everyone who filled out the survey.

Read the results here .

The Canadian Research Institute for Counselling

Over two years ago, in December 2001, a new and exciting organization unlike any other existing organization stewarding the interests and development of an increasingly changing profession, entered the Canadian career counselling landscape. The efforts of CERIC – the Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling – are directed at increasing the economic and social wealth and productivity of Canadians through improved quality, effectiveness and accessibility of counselling programs, especially in the areas of career counselling and career education. Specifically, CERIC will encourage and provide education and research programs related to the development, analysis and assessment of the current counselling and career development theories and practices. CERIC will leverage private sector funding to facilitate and support the implementation of corporate partnerships which provide a non-government, non-partisan umbrella under which all segments of the career counselling field can flourish in Canada. To this end, CERIC immediately entered into long term partnership agreements with The Canadian Journal of Career Development (www.contactpoint.ca/cjcd) and Contact Point (www.contactpoint.ca) – two well known and widely respected organizations serving the career counselling profession in Canada.

Read more.

Contact Point’s Privacy Statement

With recent changes to the privacy laws in Canada, we are featuring the first of 3 articles on privacy in the Winter 2003/04 issue of the Bulletin. Read the article here.

We encourage our you to view our own privacy statement available on the website.

We are sensitive to your information. Please review your account periodically to ensure the information is correct and up-to-date.

Login to your account here.

Do You Know What a Career Decision Making Facilitator Does?

Check out the Sample Job Postings section!

You will find a listing of Responsibilities and Qualifications for over 35 different positions in the Career Development field. Use the samples learn about the job requirements and education level for a particular position, or to prepare for interviews and develop job search documents.

View sample job postings at www.contactpoint.ca/job/dbase.php?type=user_list_sample.

Share Your Thoughts!

Do you feel you are adaquately informed about changes to the world of work and the labour market to provide appropriate service to your clients?

Answer our poll.

American Counseling Association Conference 2003 occurred this spring from March 21 to 25. Even though it was held in Anaheim, California [the home of Disneyland], this was no Mickey-Mouse conference. At this conference, ACA celebrated its 50th birthday with tribute to the growth of the counseling profession and to its leaders. During the conference, there occurred 474 workshops, as well as 44 half- and full-day Learning Institutes! The total delegate-count … at 2500…was lower than previous ACA conferences, partially due to the Iraqi conflict. This war was the content of the introductory comments in all plenary addresses and workshops. There was also a marked reduction in the number of foreign delegates. The Canadian representation has been steadily increasing over the past few years. Our acknowledged skill set in distance-education and e-learning is evident in workshop discussions.

The workshop topics offered the full spectrum: career counseling/education, substance-abuse, assessment, racial equity, clinical psychology, lesbigay issues, assessment, program/curriculum design, group counseling, rehabilitation, social advocacy, trauma/stress, and spirituality. The target-population of the workshop topics ranged from toddlers to seniors.

Over 80 exhibitors offered physical and virtual [web-based] products. The most popular area in the Exhibit Hall was actually was the ACA-sponsored cybercafe. Delegates were confined to 15 minute-access to peruse emails; there was always a queue of delegates!

I shall be highlighting the content of certain workshops in my September Cybercounsellor e-column [hosted on the Ontario School Counsellors Association website:www.osca.ca/cybercounsellor/index.htm

Next year’s ACA Conference is in Kansas City; details will be posted on their website:www.counseling.org

Are you Registered?

Contact Point’s new website is built on providing free services to users who have an account at the site. It is free to register, and easy to be part of the Contact Point Community. Benefits of registering: You can subscribe to the Canadian Journal of Career Development, The Contact Point Bulletin and Flash!, participate in chats, discussions and listservs, and personalize your experience with the MyContactPoint feature. Visit the site, browse and discover. There are thousands of resources from articles to websites; from journals to group exercises and icebreakers. Have you made contact recently?

To register, please fill out the registration form.

Contact Point Updates the Career Services Directory!

If you’ve been visiting the site since the last Bulletin issue in January, you’ll have noticed that we are busy fixing bugs and adding features to the site. We are currently updating our Career Services Directory. Users and organizations have been using this listing to market their services, showcase their expertise, or for referral purposes. Is your organization in the directory?

To add or update your listing, please fill out the form.

Have you checked out our on-site discussions?

• Technology and Counselling
• Certificate or Degree, Campus or Distance – Lets Talk Learning Options
• The “Careers” Profession – General Discussion

Go to: www.contactpoint.ca/index.pl?section=discussions and participate.

OrientAction – Les rendez-vous des conseillers branché
Suivi

Au cours des dernières semaines, l’équipe d’OrientAction a participé à plusieurs événements regroupant des intervenants du domaine du développement de carrière, dont la Consultation nationale touchant le développement de Carrière (CONAT) à Ottawa, la Career Development Conference (CDC) à Vancouver et le Colloque sur l’approche orientante à Saint-Hyacinthe.

Nous avons eu le bonheur de rencontrer un grand nombre d’intervenants francophones oeuvrant dans différents secteurs et provenant de différentes provinces. Nous avons pu recueillir leurs commentaires et suggestions à propos du projet OrientAction et plusieurs nous ont demandé de les aviser par courriel au moment du lancement du site.

Si vous désirez faire partie de cette liste d’envoi ou que vous avez une suggestion pour le site, écrivez-nous à admin@orientaction.ca.

Au plaisir de vous lire,

Nathalie Perreault
Chargée de projet
www.orientaction.ca

Candidates Highlight Their Skills in the Talent Bank

Did you know that there are number of entries in the Contact Point Talent Bank?

Candidates use the talent bank to highlight their skills and work experience. The talent pool is Canada wide and represents a wide variety of interests and backgrounds including individual and group counselling, facilitation, program coordination, training and development and human resources.

Employers…Interested in seeing more? Visit the Talent Bank.

Change of Coordinates:

If you are sending mail to Contact Point, please note our new mailing address, effective immediately:

18 Spadina Road, Suite 200
Toronto, ON.
M5R 2S7

Our Phone, fax and e-mail remains the same.

We Have Changed Our Subscription Process

If you are a regular subscriber to Contact Point you will want to know that we have updated our subscription process so that you can subscribe and unsubscribe to Contact Point items and the Canadian Journal of Career Development (To find out more about the CJCD, go tohttp://contactpoint.ca/cjcd), and fully participate in MyContactPoint features including: Modifying Personal Information and change Password, update Subscriptions, add personalized pages (Talent Bank Summary, Career Portfolio, Bookmarks and Notes) and personalize your content submissions.

You will be receiving an email from us informing you of your subscription account information. You can use this account to: update your subscriptions, access chats and discussions, and participate in MyContactPoint. (To find out more, follow the link to our virtual tour –www.contactpoint.ca/index.pl?section=portal)

If you have recently subscribed you will have already received this information. Please take this opportunity to check out your MyContactPoint account. Your emailed information will include a temporary password and a live link to your account. By clicking on the live link you can update all of your information and access the features described above.

Isn’t it time you made contact?

Le décompte est commencé!

Intervenants francophones, surveillez le lancement d’OrientAction dès la fin août. En attendant, vous pouvez déjà jeter un coup d’oeil au site en développement à l’adresse www.orientaction.ca et n’hésitez pas à suggérer des contenus intéressants en cliquant sur le lien au bas de la marge de gauche. Vous pouvez également créer votre compte personnel dès maintenant et nous faire part de vos commentaires et suggestions dans le forum de discussion qui porte justement sur le développement d’OrientAction.

À bientôt!

Nathalie Perreault
admin@orientaction.ca

CSTD – Canadian Society for Training and Development

by Lynn Johnston CAE, Executive Director
CSTD

CSTD is a not-for-profit membership association dedicated to the profession of training, workplace learning and human resources development. With over 1600 current members, CSTD is the largest association in Canada dedicated to the profession of training and human resources development. Governed by a voluntary Board of Directors, CSTD offers its members a variety of opportunities and programs.

Members of this dynamic organization have access to a number of tools and resources to assist them in maximizing the learning and performance in the workplace. CSTD offers a certification program, professional development events, an annual conference and trade show and local education/networking events in a number of local chapters across the country.

The organization offers many online benefits connecting this growing community of professionals. Special interest networks, such as the E-learning Network and the ROI Network have been developed in response to focused areas within the learning and performance industry. CSTD offers a joint membership program with ASTD in the US.

Website: www.cstd.ca

Contact:
Lynn Johnston, CAE
Executive Director
CSTD
80 Richmond Street West, Suite 508
Toronto, ON
M5H 2A4

Contact Point Wins CACEE Award!

Contact Point has been awarded the 2006 Outstanding Achievement Award presented by the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE). The Outstanding Achievement Award is designed to grant recognition to a Non-Member of CACEE for their major, definable contribution made to the fields of career planning and/or recruitment. This contribution can be in the form of a one-time achievement or can be a number of cumulative activities over time.

The Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE) is a national non-profit partnership of employer recruiters and career services professionals. Their mission is to provide authoritative information, advice, professional development opportunities and other services to employers, career services professionals, and students.

For more information on the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE), please visit their website at www.cacee.com.

Are You Interested in Reading Articles in French?
Don’t miss the last issue of the OrientAction Bulletin!

The Summer edition of the OrientAction Bulletin includes articles on a variety of subjects: the Eidetic Imagery approach (an image building approach) applied to the context of career counselling, the influence of the travelling experience on employability, a research project about the role of motivation in student success, and a review of the new online version of the Strong Inventory assessment.

Click here to view the newsletter.

Answer our poll on the main page of the website or at

Share Your Thoughts! Answer Our New Poll

Are young people today making career decisions too early in life? Answer our poll on the main page of the website or at www.contactpoint.ca/pollBooth.pl?qid=24.

We Want To Hear From You!

Contact Point has been providing career professionals and practitioners with current career resources, professional development, and networking opportunities for over nine years. To ensure that we continue to provide the most relevant and useful content and features, we are interested in hearing from people in the field. Your feedback and comments will assist us in better understanding the ever changing field of career counselling/career development, and how we can better meet your needs.

Your input is extremely valuable and important. Let us know how Contact Point can continue to provide you with the information, tools, and support that you need to do your work better as the field continues to change.

Please take the time to fill in the questionnaire. It may take approximately 20 minutes to complete, depending on your responses, but be assured your feedback is vital.

By Completing the Survey, Everyone Wins!

The comments you provide will help us to improve our services to career counsellors, coaches, career development practitioners and other professionals in the field. You will also have the opportunity to win some great prizes. Survey respondents will have their names entered into a draw to win one of two grand prizes, a $100 gift certificate from either Chapters or Renaud-Bray! And that’s not all – we are also giving away five $25 gift certificates as well.

We welcome participation from other practitioners like you. Please share this survey with others including your colleagues and co-workers.

The survey opens on October 23, 2006 and will run for approximately five weeks.

To complete the survey, please click on the link below:

Contact Point 2006 Survey

Write an Article for the Bulletin!

Contact Point is looking for articles for the Winter 2006-07 and Spring 2007 editions of the Bulletin newsletter. Please see below for a list of potential topics for each issue.

The Bulletin offers articles on a variety of topics relevant to career practitioners and the field of career counselling. The newsletter also features book reviews, conference sketches, organization snapshots, and new publications and products. Most of the content submissions for the Bulletin have been contributed by volunteers. The newsletter is a quarterly publication available four times a year on-line and twice a year in hard copy.

Winter 2006/07

This issue of the Bulletin will feature articles and content focusing on managment, staff development and team development. The deadline for submissions is December 15, 2006.

Potential topics include:

• Leadership Development
• Team Building Exercises
• Conflict Resolution
• Workplace Conflict Management
• Staff Development Ideas

Spring 2007

The Spring edition of the Bulletin will feature content related to career practitioners and the field of career counselling/career development. The deadline for submissions is March 15, 2007.

Potential topics include:

•  What is the job market like for career counsellors
•  Setting up a private practice
•  How to develop your own position
•  Bio’s of people working in the field
•  Challenges in the field
•  Future of the field

To submit an article or for more information, please contact Amber Taverner atamber@contactpoint.ca.

The New Edition of the Canadian Journal of Career Development is now Available!

The Canadian Journal of Career Development is pleased to announce the release of Volume 6 Number 1. This issue includes the following articles:

• Report on the Canadian Career Counsellor Education Survey
• Job Search Outcomes for University Graduates: The Role of Economic Hardship and Work Involvement
• Making the Transition to Re-employment: Social Networks and Their Impact on Social Assistance Recipients

View the new issue of the CJCD here.

New CERIC Ipsos Reid Survey Reveals Interesting Results

April 30, 2007 – According to a new Ipsos Reid survey conducted on behalf of the Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling (CERIC), if Canadians were to start again to plan their career or work-life, over two-thirds (71%) would try to get more professional career planning or job information than they did initially. Looking Back, Four-in-Ten (41%) Regret Not Getting Professional Career Counselling.

Find out more.

Write an Article for the Bulletin!

Contact Point is looking for writers interested in submitting articles for an upcoming issue of the Bulletin newsletter.

The Bulletin offers articles on a variety of topics relevant to career practitioners and the field of career counselling. The newsletter also features book reviews, conference sketches, organization snapshots, and new publications and products. Most of the content submissions for the Bulletin have been contributed by volunteers. The newsletter is a quarterly publication available four times a year on-line and twice a year in hard copy.

Summer 2007

Special Contact Point Anniversary Issue:

Potential topics include:

• Special moments and historical milestones
• Articles – then and now
• Interviews with practitioners, Board Members (past and present), volunteers
• Practitioners in the field (continuation of articles from spring issue)
• Comments/messages from contact point subscribers

Deadline for submissions: June 30, 2007

Fall 2007

HR/Corporate/Workplace Issues:

Potential topics include:

• Organizational career development
• Human resource information for small and medium businesses
• Hiring practices of companies
• Privacy trends and practices affecting human services in private sector
• Conflict resolution in the workplace
• Conflict mediation
• Human rights in the workplace
• Workplace bullying
• Evaluation of training results in the corporate environment

Deadline for submissions: September 15, 2007

Winter 2007-08

Foreign Trained Professionals/New Canadians:

Potential topics include:

• Enhanced language programs/courses for newcomers
• Resources/career counselling for International students
• Employment barriers for foreign trained professionals
• Difficulties immigrants encounter in their job search
• Labour market integration of Internationally trained professionals/New Canadians
• Adjustment needs and coping strategies of immigrants
• Special population issues specifically immigrant employment/integration
• Addressing the fear of retirement and life after introduction to the field for newcomers and suggestions for how to become involved

Deadline for submissions: December 15, 2007

Spring 2008

Technology and Online Counselling:

Potential topics include:

• On line career counselling
• Cyber-guidance/cyber-counselling and helpful updates
• Technology – blogging, RSS feeds, chat sessions
• Discussion forums
• Online learning, teaching activities
• Practitioners forum, debate technology and career development
• Technology/use of the Internet (i.e. web based resumes, impact and accessibility of internet based learning)

Deadline for submissions: March 15, 2008
To submit an article or for more information, please contact Amber Taverner at amber@contactpoint.ca.