Career Professionals of Canada News Feed
Self-employment is both challenging and rewarding, and for career practitioners who, like me, make the giant leap to start our own private practice, setting fees for our services can be a struggle. We have this fear of charging too low because we are just starting out or charging too high because we are comparing our fees with those of our competitors. Most times, we encounter the “imposter syndrome” monster who tells us we are not qualified or experienced enough, which results in us undervaluing ourselves and charging too little. Another…
Did you know that Thomas Edison’s most famous creation went through several thousand changes before it worked to his satisfaction? That’s right. His goal: To create an incandescent lightbulb that worked perfectly. His strategy: He demonstrated great perseverance in order to reach his goal. He saw each failed attempt as a lesson learned as he cultivated new insights into how to change the lightbulb in order to manifest the desired outcome. In fact, Thomas Edison used the T.O.T.E. Model to produce a functional lightbulb. The T.O.T.E Model is a powerful…
By Cathy Milton. I recently had an unpleasant experience with a service provider (not a career professional), and it caused me to reflect on the myriad of soft skills that people who deliver customer service have to possess in order to do the job really well. That reflection led to me to wonder what career professionals consider to be the most important soft skill in their roles. So, I asked a few. Donna Norcott Empathy, in my opinion, is the most important soft skill we have in our toolboxes as…
By Kamy Anderson, guest contributor. Artificial intelligence is everywhere. A recent global consumer survey has shown that while 33% of consumers think they use AI tech, the actual number is much higher. Currently, around 77% of people use popular AI-enabled devices and services whether they’re aware of that or not. The same goes for businesses. Modern-day entrepreneurs falsely believe that AI-driven business technology cannot be afforded at the small to medium-sized business (SMB) level. They associate machine intelligence with mega-brands such as Apple or Google, failing to realize that AI has…
By Maureen McCann. Career professionals are career advocates. We believe in the power of career development. We educate clients about what’s happening in the labour market. But what about our own professional development? We are often so busy helping others, who among us is making our own career development a priority? How can we future-proof our own careers in a constantly changing world of work? Here are a few ways I am working to future-proof my career and some suggestions on how you might do the same. Volunteer and engage with…
By Donna Norcott. I don’t know if this is something unique to me, but even though I don’t have children, I love the back-to-school season! The colourful binders, notebooks, and new pens and pencils inspire my creativity and I look forward to “sweater weather” as being an ideal time to reflect, reorganize, and turn a fresh, new page for a season of setting (and re-setting) goals! This is the time of year when I conduct a holistic assessment of myself, my career path, and my private practice. I take a hard…