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A Quarterly Publication of ContactPoint

What’s New

This Issue’s Theme: Social Media and the Career Development Field

• Face(Book) It – There’s a Link(edIn) in this Social Networking Hype(rlink) by Tricia Bowler-Archambault
• LinkedIn and Career Planning: Use It to Your Career Advantage by Karen Girard
• Finding a Job on Twitter: How Clients Can Successfully Use Twitter in Their Job Search by Beth Spooner
• Create Your Online Career Brand by Imran M. Ismail
• Career Social Media Benefits Clients and Agencies by Mike DeSousa
• Six Steps to an Effective Social Media Strategy for Your Organization and Free Tools to Get You Started by Lori Smith
• How Do Blogs and Wikis Add Value to Career Services? by Michael Yue
• ContactPoint’s Blogroll
• Building Working Relationships Online by Roberta Neault and Deirdre Pickerell
• Presenting a Professional Face in Social Media by Andrew Bassingthwaighte
• Why Moodle is a Popular Course Management System by Jennifer Mackey
• Webinars: Opening the Door to Training by Miranda Vande Kuyt
• Don’t Tell All: Safe and Sensible Social Networking by Paula Wansbrough

Other Points of Interest:

• SPECIAL REPORT (Part 2) – Closing the Achievement Gap: Best Practices from the Pathways to Education Program by Carolyn Acker
• Tradition Meets Type by Sean Townsend
• Discover the Net Worth of Your Network by Donna Messer
• Helping Clients Decode Job Search Rules by Diane Moore

Regular Features:

• Continuing the Conversation: The Power of Assessments by Ken Keis
  (a response to Summer Bulletin 2010)
• Research: Creativity and Career Counselling by Lauri Mills
• New Programs & Initiatives: Literacy & Essential Skills – The CONNECT SCALES Project by Debi Saul
• Book Club: Donna Dunning’s 10 Career Essentials: Excel at your career by using your personality type
• Upcoming Events
• Hot Sites

Submit an article to The Bulletin, ContactPoint’s quarterly publication. Our Winter 2011 issue on “The Balancing Act” — healthy workplaces, self care and counselling, work/life balance, and mental health and work.

For more information, contact us at:

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tel: 416.929.2510 ext.34
fax: 416.923.2536

Our mailing address:
ContactPoint
18 Spadina Rd., Suite 200
Toronto, ON. M5R 2S7

CERIC reserves the right to edit all submissions for length and content. Views expressed by practitioners are not necessarily those of ContactPoint and CERIC. Mention of programs, services, products and initiatives is not an endorsement of these items.

ContactPoint is a program of CERIC and supported by The Counselling Foundation of Canada.

What’s New – Updates and Information from ContactPoint and CERIC

This Issue’s Theme: Serving Rural Communities

• Moving to a Rural Community? Ten Tips for Career Practitioners by Geoff S. Peruniak
• Training is the Key to Prosperity by Louise Gaudrault
• Distance Learning Connects Canadians with Disabilities by Jason Olson
• Employment Challenges for Rural Youth by David Driver
• Impact of the Recession on Rural Youth Across Canada by Ryan Stanga
• Listening to Rural Women by Blythe Shepard
• Regional Economic Development Boards in Southern Labrador by Joshua Fleming
• Working in My Pyjamas by Paul D. Smith

Other Points of Interest:

• Using Career Counselling Services: The “Good” and “Not So Good” News from CERIC
  
• Behavioral Interviewing — Deader than the Dodo by Judith Thomas
• Advancing Careers: Sociocultural Competencies and Sustainable Employment by Michael Yue

Regular Features:

• Research: Success and Growth in Aboriginal-Owned Businesses by Sharon Ferriss
• New Initiatives: Research on Entry-Level Green Jobs Begins
• Upcoming Events
• Hot Links

The Fall 2011 issue of The Bulletin: Parents’ Role in Career Planning
Submission deadline: September 14

To submit an article, please note our submission guidelines and send your article to: contactpoint@ceric.ca

Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of ContactPoint and CERIC. Mention of programs, services, products and initiatives is not an endorsement of these items.

ContactPoint is a program of CERIC and supported by The Counselling Foundation of Canada.

What’s New – Updates and Information from ContactPoint and CERIC

This Issue’s Theme: Parents’ Role in Career Planning Parenting and Social Media Systems with Job Search by Chris Kulbaba Parental Involvement in Children’s Career Exploration: A Cannexus12 Session by Gilles Paquette Intergenerational Woes by Jim Gray Environics Research: Canadians Continue to Find Their Career Path on Their Own by Mario Gravelle Other Points of Interest: Linking Personal Stories to Employee Engagement by George Dutch The ROI of Cultural Intelligence for the Career Professional by Rhonda Singer New Initiative to Support Aboriginal Learners by Mario Gravelle Job Exchange Program, A Great Experience by Christopher Little Book Review: Mark Savickas’ Theories of Psychotherapy Series by Alyson Nyiri Getting Further Faster: Executive Coaching by Sean Townsend

Regular Features: Research: Men are from Mars, Women Are…From the Same Planet by Mario Gravelle New Initiatives: Survey of Career Services Professionals Underway by Sharon Ferriss Upcoming Events Hot Links Thank you to our contributors!

The Winter 2012 issue of The Bulletin
Submission deadline: November 30

To submit an article, please note our submission guidelines and send your article to: gilles@ceric.ca

Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of ContactPoint and CERIC. Mention of programs, services, products and initiatives is not an endorsement of these items.

ContactPoint is a program of CERIC and supported by The Counselling Foundation of Canada

This Issue’s Theme: Spring into Fresh Ideas! Spring into a New Career by Deirdre A. Pickerell What Jargon Means: The Career Practitioner’s Web Analytics Tip Sheet by John Horn Working with Musical Clients?  Remember to look at transferable skills! by Jan Bottomer A View of Cannexus12 through the Eyes of Rich Feller by Rich Feller Ph.D. Other Points of Interest: Career Services Sector Learns from Survey Findings by Mario R. Gravelle Award-Winning Programs Tackle Youth Employment by Barbara Williams New Tool for Moving Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth into Post-Secondary, Workforce by Christopher T. Sutton Mentoring Internationally Trained Counsellors to Serve Newcomers by Shelly D’Mello

Regular Features: What’s New  Hot Links Upcoming Events

The Summer 2012 issue of The Bulletin
Submission deadline: June 15, 2012

To submit an article, please note our submission guidelines and send your article to: catherine@ceric.ca

Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of ContactPoint and CERIC. Mention of programs, services, products and initiatives is not an endorsement of these items.

ContactPoint is a program of CERIC and supported by The Counselling Foundation of Canada

By Deirdre A. Pickerell

In keeping with the Bulletin’s theme of Spring into fresh ideas!, the goal of this article is to share results of a survey supporting the Where’s the Work? Helping Career Practitioners Explore Their Career Options project and, perhaps, inspire Canada’s Career Development Practitioners (CDPs) to consider whether now is the time to spring into their next career! This isn’t to say it is time to leave the field but, instead, perhaps it is time to see where else, and who else, is deserving of your expertise.

If a December 2011 survey of CDPs is any indication there may never be a more important time to pause and reflect with 9% of respondents feeling overwhelmed in their current job, 46% struggling to find work/life balance, and a staggering 63% considering a career change in 2012. ¹

Canadian CDPs are well educated and bring a wealth of skills and knowledge in serving an incredibly diverse set of clients. We also know that in the 2009 pan-Canadian Mapping Study, less than 5%, of those surveyed reported accepting fee-for-service clients. ² Yet, according to the survey supporting the Where’s the Work? project, interest in environments outside of government-funded services is fairly high; respondents expressed interest in learning more about career-related work in businesses/corporations (61%), private practice/self-employment (56%), post-secondary education (50%), and recruiting/placement services (43%). .

Another interesting result relates to how prepared CDPs believe they are to move outside of their traditional work settings and how prepared they feel their colleagues are; overall, those surveyed feel somewhat to very well prepared (78%) yet rate their colleagues’ preparation significantly lower (46% for the same categories). This seems to indicate that individual CDPs are confident in their own abilities to transition but, generally, less confident that their colleagues could move beyond government contracts.

So, what might inspire you to take that next step in your career? First, remember you are part of a profession with a rich history and Canada is a key contributor and leader within the international career community. Second, it is important to remember that your work is similar, regardless of settings. As more than one respondent to our survey indicated, “the work is the same but the client is different, the language is different, and how success is measured is different.” In transitioning to new work settings you must learn to adjust your language, understand the restrictions and opportunities within the new setting, and trust your instincts.

Lastly, take the time to apply your career expertise to your own life. When was the last time you paused and reflected on your motivated skills, interests, values, or personal style? When did you last conduct an informational interview with a colleague doing work you might like to do, or benchmark your skills/experience? For more, see our 10 Tips for Career Management for Career Practitioners, available at: http://www.lifestrategies.ca/docs/10-Tips-for-Career-Management-for-Career-Practitioners.pdf 

The goal of the Where’s the Work? project is to help CDPs explore the wide range of options which exist both inside, and outside, of the “traditional” environment (defined as government-funded career/employment services for the purpose of our study). The handbook will be available by March 31st and a 3-part webinar series begins March 14th.

Deirdre A. Pickerell, MEd, MA, CHRP, GCDF-i has over 18 years experience as a career development specialist, educator, manager, and human resource professional. Deirdre is passionate about helping CDPs learn more about the incredible opportunities available both within and beyond government contracts.

¹ http://career-engagement.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-year-new-career-survey-results.html

² Bezanson, L., O’Reilly, E., & Magnusson, K. (2009). Pan-Canadian mapping study of the career development sector. Forum of Labour Market Ministers: Career Development Services Working Group. Retrieved from http://www.ccdf.ca/ccdf/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/PAN-CANADIAN-MAPPING-STUDY-OF-THE-CAREER-DEVELOPMENT-SECTOR.pdf

This Issue’s Theme: Spring into Fresh Ideas! Spring into a New Career by Deirdre A. Pickerell What Jargon Means: The Career Practitioner’s Web Analytics Tip Sheet by John Horn Working with Musical Clients?  Remember to look at transferable skills! by Jan Bottomer A View of Cannexus12 through the Eyes of Rich Feller by Rich Feller Ph.D. Other Points of Interest: Career Services Sector Learns from Survey Findings by Mario R. Gravelle Award-Winning Programs Tackle Youth Employment by Barbara Williams New Tool for Moving Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth into Post-Secondary, Workforce by Christopher T. Sutton Mentoring Internationally Trained Counsellors to Serve Newcomersby Shelly D’Mello

Regular Features: What’s New Hot Links Upcoming Events

The Summer 2012 issue of The Bulletin
Submission deadline: June 15, 2012

To submit an article, please note our submission guidelines and send your article to: catherine@ceric.ca

Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of ContactPoint and CERIC. Mention of programs, services, products and initiatives is not an endorsement of these items.

ContactPoint is a program of CERIC and supported by The Counselling Foundation of Canada

CERIC’s 2011 Survey of Career Service Professionals revealed that a majority of career practitioners identified labour market information (LMI) as an area in which they needed professional development. The creation of our new Reports & Trends section on the ContactPoint website answers the need, while this issue of The Bulletin seeks to advance the conversation.

Rick Miner, with his Jobs of the Future report, discusses the effects an aging population and an emerging knowledge economy will have on the labour market, and how we should adapt.

The result of a partnership between CERIC and the Green Skills Network, the Emerging Green Jobs in Canada labour market report examines the possibilities of entry-level employment in the green economy in Canada.

From careers in agriculture to the arts, this issue of The Bulletin explores the country’s labour markets. As well, a contribution from the Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada highlights the opportunities in the booming Canadian oil sands sector.

Enjoy the issue, then share your ideas, experiences and best LMI resources through our social media.