The Big "R"

Well they are finally saying it out loud "recession" we're in it... Fortunately we haven't felt the effects on the Toronto job market at this point.

I just came across this article by success coach Ed Sykes on 'recession-proofing' your job and thought it was worth sharing.

How to Recession Proof Your Job - Ten Job Secrets for Career Suc

How to Recession Proof Your Job - Ten Job Secrets for Career Success
By Ed Sykes

Economic times constantly change and organizations adapt to these changes. For you to find career success, you must be pro-active about your job. What are the career secrets of those who soar to the top in their careers no matter what the economic environment is in the world?

The following are ten career secrets you can use to "recession proof" yourself and find career success no matter what the situation is:

1. Find Out What Your Organization Needs for Career Success
   Invest the time to investigate and understand your organization's mission, goals, and values. Your organization may be facing challenges and the person who can tune into what the organization needs to be successful and provide the solution can write his/her own career success ticket.
   

   Remember, to get what you want in your career, you must help your organization, your department, your manager succeed. Focus on what is important to your manager and provide the solution. If customer service is important, speak with your manager in terms of creating customer solutions. If your manager is a numbers person, quantify all your results, etc.
   

2. Be a Change Agent for Career Success

   Organizational change will change the way you do your job. There is no escaping the changes that are happening around us all the time. Learn to embrace these changes so that you can learn how to take advantage of the career opportunities available from being a change agent.

   How do you do this? Be pro-active and ask questions about the change. How does it affect the organization? What challenges will there be implementing the changes? How will these changes affect the way you do your job? And the most important question, "What can you do to help implement the changes?"

   Once you receive the answers to these questions, and are able to act on the answers, you are way ahead of the "change curve" and will be looked at as someone who can "make things happen" within the organization. This will lead to countless career opportunities.

3. Be the Master of Your Job for Career Success

   Invest the time to learn as much as there is to know about your job. Many times, employees will become complacent and master only the few tasks that they do 80% of the time. Then when a career opportunity comes up, this employee doesn't have the skill set to take advantage of a promotion or raise.

   Take the time to read trade journals, go on the Internet to job related sites, and ask questions to master the understanding of your job. With the wealth of information there is in the 21st century, there is no excuse for "not knowing."

4. Volunteer to Make a Difference for Career Success

   Volunteer for assignments that expose your skills. Look for especially challenging projects that other people have declined.

   Also volunteer to mentor others within your organization. This will show and develop your leadership, management, and interpersonal skills. Keep management posted on your challenges and how you are working with the person you are mentoring to overcome these challenges.

   Volunteer to write a department or organizational newsletter. This is another way to benefit a large group, while showcasing your skills and ideas.

5. Be a Solution Creator and Not a Problem Maker for Career Success

   Anybody can find problems within organizations. My experience is that you don't need to find them...they will find you. Some people have a special skill for finding problems and reporting them.

   Develop the skill of looking at these problems as "opportunities for advancement," step back and analyze the opportunity, and develop ideas for overcoming the problem. Make sure you communicate these solutions during meetings, e-mails, memos, and conversations with management. You will soon be looked upon by management as someone who can overcome obstacles and make things happen within the organization.

6. Handle the Next Level at This Level for Career Success

   If you are a manager and want to become a vice president, then start working like a vice president. Find a vice president that is open to mentoring you for the next level. Remember, that vice president will not be promoted to the next level unless the organization sees that the vice president has developed someone to take his/her spot. It might as well be you. Plus, you can lighten the vice president's work load.

   Explain to the vice president what you want to accomplish so that everyone has a clear understanding and that this is a win-win situation for all involved.

   I hear, "I'm too busy already to do this." Well, let me ask you, "How badly do you want the promotion?" We are all busy. It's up to you to enhance your time management and delegation skills so that you can take on these tasks that will prepare you for the next job level.

   Note: Dress as if you are already at the next career level. When you dress for the next level, this makes it easier for the decision makers because they can already envision you at the next career level.

7. Announce That You Want It!

   Many times employees miss out on promotions because the decision makers and career influencers do not know they are interested in being promoted.

   Announce that you want to go to the next career level!

8. Network and Join Groups to Accelerate Career Success

   Join and be active in committees within your organization for career success. This shows management that you care enough to make a difference. It also allows a larger assortment of managers to experience your skill set outside of your normal duties.

   Also join professional groups and associations for career success. Professional groups and associations are a perfect way to let influencers outside your organization become aware of your skills. Remember, these influencers most likely work for other organizations and may be in positions to hire new employees. Don't just join, participant in the association's activities to show your creativity, teamwork, and other skills.

   Join and let your organization know you've joined these groups. This will show your organization that you are an employee who is taking action to stay ahead of the "career success curve" and can contribute to the organization.

9. Tell Your Job Story for Career Success

   Let as many people within your organization and outside your organization know what you do and how well you do it. Make sure you tell your job story at meetings, company conferences, and retreats and to customers. Make sure you tell them with passion! Many people are shy about telling their career story in a group setting. Because of this fear, you may miss out on the one opportunity to let other people know what you know. One of the most important groups that you could ever join to overcome this fear is Toastmasters. This is a worldwide organization with over 175,000 members dedicated to helping members improve their public speaking, evaluation, think-on-your-feet, and leadership skills. The main reasons you should join Toastmasters are the following:

   • Toastmasters can give you the confidence to approach any opportunity with confidence.

   • Toastmasters can give you the speaking skills to stand up in front of a group and present your point in a persuasive manner, while others may shy away from this opportunity.

   • You develop your leadership skills by learning how to do effective, positive, and encouraging feedback and evaluations, while learning how to empower the receiver to do better.

   • You have the opportunity to develop your leadership skills by volunteering for positions at the club, area, state, regional, and international level. I always say if you can't get the skills at your organization, you can get it at Toastmasters.

10. Build a Nest Egg for Career Success

    One of the biggest barriers to creating career success is not building a financial nest egg. When you are at a financial disadvantage, you are less likely to pursue job opportunities, invest in educational opportunities to increase your skills; and, most importantly, you may develop an overwhelming fear of losing your job while in your present position.

    Eliminate your debts so that you can freely pursue any career opportunities that present themselves. It's no fun knowing that you wanted a certain job but couldn't pursue it because of financial obligations.
    

I challenge you to apply these ten career techniques today! You will see immediate job results and go to the next career level no matter what the economic environment may be.

Ed Sykes is a highly sought after leadership, motivation, stress management, customer service, and team building expert, success coach, professional speaker, and author of
Jumpstart Your Greatness. You can e-mail him at mailto:esykes@thesykesgrp.com, or call him at (757) 427-7032. Go to his web site, http://www.thesykesgrp.com, and signup for the free success newsletter, OnPoint.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ed_Sykes
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Recession-Proof-Your-Job---Ten-Job-Secrets-for-Career-Success&id=1062482

Resources for Toronto Job Seekers

If you are looking for a job, or planning to look for a job, chances are you've been working on your resume. If you haven't, you had better start! Having an effective resume is your first foot in the door with an employer. Today, with all of the resources available to job seekers to help create great resumes and cover letters, it is imperative that your resume looks professional and contain pertinent information for the recruiter or employer reviewing the document.

You have a choice to make: Create the resume yourself or pay for a professional resume.

If you wish to create your own resume there are lots of online and offline resources available to you. If you aren't sure what you are doing you really should check some of these out. For example the Toronto Job Seeker Resources Page provides links to many online sources of information. For those of you in the GTA who are unemployed there are many government funded services you can access for resume and job search help, you can search them out at: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/tcu/search.html

I recently came across a resume writing service website that offers some interesting free resources. Best Choice 4 Resumes is based in Waterloo, ON and offers solid free resume examples on their website. If you are new to writing resumes (or never really understood what you were doing when you prepared your last one) they also offer some good, straight-forward articles you can read on their site. Best Choice also offer a free resume critique and a free newsletter which you may subscribe to. I haven't used the service, but I like the website and suggest taking a look.

If you have come across any valuable websites you would like to recommend, let me know.

March Break Job Fairs in Full Swing

Attention students and seasonal workers, don't miss out on this week's spring break job fairs.

Greater Toronto Area employers hosting job fairs this week include:

Canada's Wonderland - Vaughan
Costi Employment Services, Concord

Lots more in the next week or two, so check out our GTA Job Fair Listings often.

Correction Notice RE: Michener Career Fair

PLEASE NOTE: CORRECTION TO DATE OF MICHENER INSTITUTE CAREER FAIR

We've had this career fair posted on our job fair bulletin board for several month. We have just discovered that the date was in error. The Career Fair will take place on Wednesday, APRIL 2, 2008 in Toronto.

Many healthcare employers from across Ontario are expected to attend. Please mark/revise your calendar.

We apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused. For detail on this event and other job and career fairs visit our Toronto Area Career Fair Bulletin Board

It is Easy Being GREEN

Online businesses are by their very nature "Green". There is a way to go greener, though. Company's can buy carbon credits or purchase services from carbon neutral companies. On the web, this could mean a carbon-neutral hosting provider, such as Host Papa, that offers 100% Green Energy webhosting.

You are "greener" too, just by visiting online classifieds websites, you are saving paper, rather than using traditional newspaper and tabloid classifieds printed on paper. Hey, papers are a great way to advertise but lets face it, most of what you get in that paper doesn't apply to you, and when you are done with it, it is waste. Online advertisements are published once and typically stay 'live' longer than paper based ads, which need to be reprinted to match the term of online ads, with papers coming out on a daily or weekly basis. (Incidentally, if you do pick up a newspaper or one of the many free adzines from the boxes scattered throughout the GTA, please remember to recycle!).

Our Green Strategies -- Try them for Yourself!

At our office the staff have the luxury of 'telecommuting' to work, that is they work remotely utilizing telephone and internet to communicate, thereby reducing carbon emissions (and traffic-- your welcome!) caused by driving to work.

Paperless Invoicing is another great strategy for reducing waste, therefore, to the greatest extent we can, we use email invoicing. Further to that almost all of our other communications are via email, eliminating the waste of paper-based correspondence.

We reuse, then recycle our paper. That's right! One-sided junk mail and office misprints are cut-up for note pads. When we're done, its into the blue box for recycling.

We wear sweaters! Don't laugh, by keeping the office a couple of degrees cooler in the winter, we are able to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions--every little bit helps! We also keep the lights off as much as possible, we are fortunate to have a big window in our little office!

Do you have some tips for green business? Let us know, we'll post the best of them here!

Money for Skills Training in Ontario

According to Ontario Workforce Shortage Coalition, there is a shortage of skilled labour in Ontario and the challenges will intensify in the years ahead. The organization expects Ontario will be short more than 360,000
skilled employees by 2025.

The Government of Canada announced in February that they will invest nearly $1.2 billion in Ontario's labour market over the next six years to help bridge the skills gap. The program, referred to as the Canada-Ontario Labour Market Agreement (LMA) begins April 1, 2008 with $194 million to get things started. This is part of a nation-wide campaign that will see $500 million distributed per year over the next six year. Funds will be allocated to the provinces and territories on an equal per capita basis.

These funds will help individuals and workers who are not eligible for training under the Employment Insurance (EI) program to improve their skills. The funding will also help individuals too often excluded from the labour force, including Aboriginal people, immigrants, persons with disabilities, as well as those workers who lack literacy and essential skills, get the training they need to obtain meaningful and sustainable employment.

The Ontario Governement will direct the funding in the areas of Technical skills training, labour market integration of immigrants, foundation skills training and supports (literacy and basic trade skills for example), and labour market supports for persons with disabilities.

While neither the Federal or Provinical government media releases on the new Labour Market Agreement indicate just how YOU can access these funds to develop your skills, there are a couple of quick ways you can take a look into it as the fund will likely be filtered into existing services already being delivered by the province under the old agreement.


If you visit the Government of Ontario's website, there is a search tool to find employment and training services in your area, the URL is http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/tcu/search.html

You can also call the Employment Ontario Hotline at 1-800-387-5656 or in Toronto 416-325-4084. I spoke with a counselor at the Employment Ontario Hotline who indicated that most programmes currently being offered are for youth and those currently collecting Employment Insurance (EI). As mentioned above, the new LMA will increase the scope to include others, but will not take effect until April 1st, and it is still not precisely clear how these resources will be distributed or who will be able to access them.

We'll keep you posted!

Need a job now? View Greater Toronto Job Listings