Alternative Employment
New Career Strategies for Rural New Brunswick
Francine St.Amand
Workshop on December 11, 2013
Over the next several issues of Blackfly, I will attempt to sum up and share the sobering and very exciting information I gleaned from Catherine Chambers recently. Catherine is a Career Strategist from Toronto. She made her first voyage to NB in November as a presenter at the NB government sponsored NBCDAG event. This is an annual 2-day professional development conference put on by the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labor for people who work in the Career/Employment counseling field. THANKFULLY, a woman from Moncton, who sat in on Catherine’s one and half hour presentation at NBCDAG, had the insight to see that Catherine needed to come back to NB to put on a much longer workshop. So thanks to this woman, arrangements were made for Catherine to return for a full-day workshop on December 11 in Moncton.
And that’s when I realized, on December 11, that I was a dinosaur working in the field of Employment Assistance Counseling. Although, I have known for quite some time now, that we are indeed in the Information Age, I didn’t make the connection to the degree of how technology can support job seekers apart from using job search engines, resume development, email and using internet to access information for typical job search activities.
Catherine didn’t even talk about this typical stuff. When she started out her workshop, she said that she would be introducing us to 50 websites that we needed to know about in our work with job-seekers. Job search engines wasn’t even on her list! Her information was far more current and relevant to waste time with that sort of thing.
At this point, I want to clarify what is meant by job seekers. Beyond the obvious of the unemployed – there is also the underemployed, those juggling multiple part-time jobs, those who want to change jobs, those who want to supplement current income, those who seek to cultivate a livelihood based on their true interests, those who want to develop a business. Did I leave anyone out?? Most people these days are seeking other or new opportunities. Some seek better pay, while others are seek more meaningful ways to support themselves.
Accessing and applying information in the Information Age is the key to alternative employment. So if you get the information and do nothing with it, then you are no further ahead. And that’s when using your brain, your intellect becomes your own best currency. Like Catherine explained, this doesn’t mean that you have to be ‘smart, academically-inclined, etc. It means you need to keep learning all the time and to figure out ways to market the skills and knowledge you already have and to continue to build upon. Her point is that in this Information Age, there is no excuse for anyone not to be continuously exercising their brains in all sorts of ways.
Over these next issues, I will share what I learned from Catherine in bits and pieces in a way that I hope will make sense and be useful to readers. Digital Literacy (computer skills) is one area that people who are serious about getting themselves out of their current rut can no longer choose to ignore. You snooze, you lose. Catherine recommends two websites to get started.
The following is the single piece of information that was not new to me – during Catherine’s 7-hour workshop. For those who worked at the VAS Call Centre in Perth-Andover, this will not be new information either. Www.typingtest.com is an industry standard tool – used to rate typing speed. Tutorials are also available on the website. And it’s a fun way just to practice typing. Never hurts to improve your keyboarding skills.
Another website that Catherine endorses is gcflearnfree.org. This is a go-to place for learning or enhancing computer skills for both the beginners and more experienced. Her positive endorsement of this website stems from the fact that it is current (continuously being updated), user-friendly and all tutorials are free! Based in North Carolina, The Goodwill Community Foundation’s mission is “To create and provide education, employment and life enrichment opportunities regionally, nationally and internationally for people who desire to improve the quality of their lives.” Providing this free learning website is strategically aligned to support their mission. I know that I personally will be using this one-stop resource a lot and will part of my conversations with clients. Tutorials are designed to be used on PC’s, as well as i-pads, androids, etc… and all those other digital devices that remain a mystery to me. The mystery will surely dissipate as I use this website to learn about them.
So there you have it: Part One. Improve your digital literacy skills.
You may be thinking now, “That’s it?? A couple of websites to improve my computer skills??” Well, in order for you to make use of the information which will be published in upcoming issues, you must have a handle on basic technology or at least the interest and commitment to learn. Tapping into the world of work which awaits you hinges on your ability to use social media and marketing yourself through the internet. In addition, many work opportunities require that you have some functional knowledge and skills using software such as word, excel, publisher etc…. The basics are pretty essential these days.
If you are on facebook, you have access to the internet. You have a whole world right there in which to help yourself help yourself create your own job!
See you next issue. And btw, although the Blackfly Gazette is now available online, I encourage you to purchase copies where available. Catherine’s presentation highlighted Collaboration as key building new prosperity for our communities.
Supporting your local entrepreneurs is a form of collaboration. So for the price of a double double, you can support your locally produced publication.
