Career Professionals of Canada News Feed
By Skye Berry Burke. When defining success as an independent career professional in private practice, we might lean towards measuring the number of clients we have, the amount of revenue we generate, and the size and location of our office space. With this kind of measuring stick, we can end up feeling frustrated by the constant chase for more. Instead of enjoying the ride, we burn ourselves out. Rarely do we examine success as a deeply individual experience. Yet, as independent/ private practitioners, our entire journey is individual. We each chose…
By Lise Stransky. Informal referral relationships are a strong source for ongoing business, but small career services typically run into certain challenges. When I first launched Careers That Work For You, I partnered with almost anyone who approached me. Now, I am very cautious about working with friends and family, because the last thing I want to do is destroy a solid, pre-existing relationship. This is one of the reasons my husband and I have a no career coaching rule in our marriage! I’m too close to him to be objective. Fellow CPC mastermind, Adrienne…
By Skye Berry-Burke. Back in 2008, I was searching for professional development opportunities. I wanted to learn new techniques to help clients gain confidence in themselves and their abilities so that they could re-enter the workforce. Professional Development Defined Wikipedia defines professional development as “learning to earn or maintain professional credentials such as academic degrees to formal coursework, conferences and informal learning opportunities situated in practice. It has been described as intensive and collaborative, ideally incorporating an evaluative stage. There are a variety of approaches to professional development, including consultation, coaching, communities of practice, lesson study, mentoring,…
By Lise Stransky. Career service entrepreneurs have many things to consider when setting up their business. In addition to market research and brand management, they need to determine what to sell, how to sell, and how to deliver the services. How well you structure your service contract with your client can make or break your business. Why are contracts with clients important? In the first year of my business, I did not ask my clients to sign a contract. Some would ask me if they needed one, and I was always surprised…
By Karine Touloumjian. Successful businesses brand their products and services. We hear about this marketing strategy often; however, we don’t always know where to start when trying to conceive brand identity for our career service. According to the BusinessDictionary.com, branding is defined as “The process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers’ mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.” So what does this mean in actionable terms?…
By Skye Berry. Anyone who follows my work knows that I love to add a splash of creativity in my resume design services. So when my CPC Mastermind Group presented me with an opportunity to examine creativity and play within career services, I took it! Creativity, overall, has gained increasing value around the world. According to Mary Ann Hollingsworth, the creativity process in counselling includes encouraging clients to: Think differently or newly about important issues. Temporarily set emotions and fears aside when feeling stuck. Remove barriers to decision making or…