4 Free CPC Resources to Help You Prepare for the Future of Work

Much of the research about the future of work points to the importance of upskilling, reskilling, and/or learning. As career professionals, our Standards & Guidelines tells us we must be continuously learning. Specifically, in the Core Competencies section, under C1. Professional Behaviour: C1.2 Demonstrate a commitment to professional development, and, C1.2.2 Demonstrate a commitment to lifelong learning. Thankfully, Career Professionals of Canada (CPC) has put together a ton of FREE member benefits, offering many opportunities for learning and professional development. And, savvy career professionals are taking full advantage. This fall might be an ideal time to kick-start your professional development by taking in these free CPC resources that will help you prepare for the future of work.

1. Zoom Tele-networking Sessions

Tele-networking events have been alive-and-well at CPC since 2006. In their previous format — an audio-only conference call — these popular sessions enjoyed a good run and have now evolved to become Zoom video meetings, taking advantage of the technology available to us via an array of devices such as our smartphones, tablets, and computers. CPC held its first large-scale Zoom meeting at the end of May 2019, when Executive Director Sharon Graham brought us all together to talk about the future of CPC.

Why not listen to your colleagues share best practices from one of the many tele-networking calls over the past months? You’ll need to be a CPC member to log in and hear the full recording of each meeting, but you’ll find a wide variety of topics including:

• How do you help clients manage stress?
• How do you help clients optimize their résumés for ATS?
• How will the future of work impact our role(s) as career practitioners?
• How do you create balance in your life?
• What new trends in hiring have you noticed?

Get up-to-date on tips and best practices shared by your peers so you’re poised to integrate them into your work starting this fall.

2. CPC Mini-Webinars

There is a wealth of information contained in each of these five free webinars (each approximately 20 to 30 minutes long). For CPC members, they’re free to access on demand. Learn from career professionals with expertise in specific niches and consider incorporating their knowledge into your repertoire.

• The Challenge Method | JP Michel
• Working Through Client Barriers | Lee-Anne Geseron
• The 6 Ingredient Recipe That Will Ensure Your Business Success | Lotte Struwing
• Helping Military Members Transition to Civilian Careers | Maureen McCann
• Staying Current with Résumé Design Trends | Skye Berry

3. Ebook: Insider Secrets from CareerPros

One of 2018’s Canada Career Month projects was a crowdsourced eBook with career development advice, tips, and recommendations sourced from career professionals from across the country. Read the words of wisdom and encouragement that each of these CPC members had to share about how to get the most out of your work life.

4. Podcasts

As one of the co-hosts of CPC’s podcast series, I had a lot of fun interviewing participants. I was fortunate to be able to get advanced knowledge of the insights these career professionals shared as they talked about their best résumé-writing practices and their experiences being part of the CPC community.

• Résumé Expert Q&A Session  | Learn the hottest tips in résumé writing from experts in the field.
• What Does CPC Membership Feel Like?  | Listen to new CPC members talk about their membership experiences in this lively Q&A session.

Like anything in life, you get from it what you put into it. Your CPC membership is no different. CPC has so many benefits as part of membership, chances are good that you may have missed one or two. For your reference, here’s a handy list of member quick links.

And, if you’re not yet a member of our association, what are you waiting for? You’ll quickly find that we’re a welcoming, friendly, and helpful bunch.

This fall, why not take full advantage of these free resources to prepare you for the future of work as a career professional?

What is your favourite CPC benefit? Please share in the comments below.

Maureen McCann is a fierce advocate of career development, committed to preparing Canadians for the future of work. Founder of Promotion Career Solutions, she is one of Canada’s top executive résumé writers with 15-plus years’ experience teaching, mentoring, and facilitating career development. She is a senior board advisor to Career Professionals of Canada and an active member of both the Canadian Council for Career Development Outreach & Advocacy committee and the Canadian Career Development Foundation’s National Stakeholder Committee.

Photo by Bruce Mars on Freerange