Career Professionals of Canada News Feed
By Giselle Mazurat. I recently volunteered to be a newsfeed contributor for the CPC Communications Team and I attended my first team meeting in February. During the meeting, Sharon Graham announced that Career Professionals of Canada (CPC) was going to start using an online application called Zoom for CPC meetings and events such as webinars. You may be asking yourself, “What the heck is Zoom?” Zoom’s tagline says it all: “Flawless video. Clear audio. Instant sharing.” I was delighted to hear about Zoom! For me, the tool means that by…
By Lori Jazvac. Sometimes, attending an interview can seem like being put under a microscope. For many jobseekers, the experience can produce sweaty palms, shortness of breath, and even feelings of anxiety and fear. It may be helpful for clients to remember that they are also interviewing the employer to determine if there is a mutual fit, but this thought alone may not be enough to calm nerves. Successful interviewing requires being focused and presenting one’s unique value clearly and concisely. It’s also about managing one’s own emotional intelligence (EI) and…
By Cathy Milton. Maureen McCann has really started a trend at CPC. She’s got us talking about the future of work. It’s an exciting conversation to be having. Yes, there are many potentially scary unknowns, but there is also the potential for many exciting new possibilities. If you talk to friends and family about what the future world of work will look like, you may discover that many automatically adopt the “doom-and-gloom” approach. Fanciful ideas abound about automation, artificial intelligence, and robotics and how they seem poised to push human…
By Sharon Graham. I regularly coach career practitioners on advanced résumé development techniques. Over the years, I have found that most résumés – even those produced by professionals – can use additional help. In particular, practitioners generally struggle to deal with and resolve two main areas: their clients’ career obstacles and elimination factors. If your client’s résumé is not getting the results you expect, then there is probably one or more issues with the document. There may be a situation in the individual’s career background that is difficult to explain. Or, your client may have a…
By Sharon Graham. Many job seekers spend hours and hours posting résumés online without knowing or understanding what’s happening on the receiving end. They get extremely frustrated when days, weeks, and sometimes months pass without being invited to even one interview. By understanding how these systems operate, career practitioners and job seekers can apply various tactics to get past “the screen.” Nearly all large and mid-sized organizations use some form of Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Most job boards, recruitment firms, and recruiters do as well. An ATS is a software program…
By Cathy Milton. Try conducting some online research about how much time recruiters spend scanning a resume, and you’ll discover lots of evidence suggesting that, on average, that time is only 5 to 7 seconds. Count out 7 seconds – it’s not long, is it? The top third of the first page of your client’s resume is crucial. According to Sharon Graham, executive director of Career Professionals of Canada and author of the Best Canadian Resumes Series, “This section must grab the potential employer’s attention and demonstrate why your client…