Career Services Informer

Check back on the dates below for tips on preparing for the fair!

Sept 12: Fifteen days to the BIG Fair!

RSVP through Symplicity for the BIG Fair to receive tips, updates, and reminders about the Fair, tips on how to effectively attend the Fair, and get a chance to win two (2) movie passes to the Scotiabank Theatre in Vancouver!

Sept 19: Eight days to the BIG Fair!

Prepare your resume. For feedback on how to improve your resume, book a resume consult or attend one of our mini-resume consults happening on September 22, 23 & 26, 2011 (12:00 to 2:00PM) along South AQ, near B9200.

Resume consults are available to all current SFU students and recent alumni (up to two years afer graduation) Mondays to Fridays. Call Career Services at 778-782-3106, or visit us at one of our campus locations to set up a time.

Sept 20: Seven days to the BIG Fair!

Review the exhibitors list. Make a list of your priority organizations from the exhibitors list at Symplicity. Research these exhibitors ahead of time to find out more about the organization and prepare informed questions.

Check out the links below (PDF):

Complete BIG Fair 2011 Exhibitor List

Potential Questions to Employers

Sept 22: Five days to the BIG Fair!

Plan your attire. Ever heard the phrase “dress for the career you want, not the one you have”? Help create a lasting first impression by dressing neat and smart! Make yourself stand out from the crowd by putting on your business attire, formal or casual. Don’t be too casual – avoid wearing torn jeans, slippers, or t-shirts with inappropriate messages or words.

Sept 24: Three days to the BIG Fair!

Prepare your “Elevator Pitch.” Introduce yourself by using a 30-60 second speech that you could complete within one elevator ride if you had to. Tell the employers who you are, why you are here today, what you know of the company, and what you can offer. Use the attached exercise to help plan your elevator pitch.

Elevator Pitch Exercise

Sept 25: Two days to the BIG Fair!

Read through “Career Fair Do’s and Don’ts” for some quick tips on how to network and approach exhibitors.

Career Fair Do’s & Don’ts

Sept 26: One day to go to the BIG Fair!

Is your Big Fair checklist complete?

• Elevator speech
• Appropriate attire
• Copies of resume
• List of exhibitors to visit
• Pen and paper

If it is, get a good night’s rest! See you at the BIG FAIR!

Have you ever tried cleaning out an office that had been used by several people before you (one of which I’m pretty sure filed everything he ever did) for a decade or so? It’s a lot of work. I mean, I understand the importance of hanging on to things when they’re important or sentimental, but do you really need the minutes from team meetings that are over 10 years old?

As you may have guessed, cleaning out my office is exactly what I started doing yesterday. Not because I’m leaving – in fact, it’s quite the opposite. My name’s been on this office for a year now, but it still doesn’t feel quite mine. A big part of that reason is that there’s so much junk in here from previous residents. So, in anticipation of the Fall semester, with so many new beginnings for so many students, I decided to clear the junk out, starting with the massive filing cabinet on the far wall.

While 99% of what I found in there ended up in the scrap paper pile or recycling bin, I did find one absolute gem of an article dating back to 1994. After showing it around jokingly to a couple of colleagues, one suggested that I write an article about it – so here it is (thanks, Penny)!

The article in question was written in 1994 by a gentleman named Philip Whitford. The title at the top of the page dictates in big, bold print:

Modern Job Concepts: TEN FEARS OF THE EMPLOYER (more…)

Being a pretty typical introvert, one of the things that I need to put more effort into than a lot of more outgoing people is building and maintaining new relationships.  Friends, coworkers, other professional contacts, you name it – any new relationship.

I use the words “more effort” with purpose.  To say that networking with people is more difficult or challenging for me would be misleading.  While the effort that something requires and its difficulty level often overlap, there are two fundamentally different constructs at play.  Not everything requiring a lot of effort is difficult, and not everything that’s difficult demands a lot of effort.

Any conversation about looking for work that I have with students involves a discussion about networking.  For many, even the word ‘networking’ evokes feelings of terror.  I’ll admit, I still cringe a bit when I hear the concept being discussed in certain circles.  That might sound kind of strange coming from a career advisor, but read on to see my explanation. (more…)

A routine is one of those things in life that can be either a huge relief or a giant burden.  I know that I tend to oscillate between those two feelings, generally dependant on whether or not I have an established routine in my life at the time.  I think that for the most part, we’re creatures of habit.  Without some kind of structure in day to day life it becomes very easy to get lost, as there may not be an easy way to put things into relative perspective.

Of course, tolerance, let alone preference, for an unpredictable lifetstyle varies.  From what I know of myself, I would put myself somewhere in the middle of that spectrum.  I’m pretty comfortable with change and don’t really get stressed out about the future most of the time.  My baseline way of seeing the world seems to be something along the lines of “things get crazy sometimes, but I’ll be okay.”

As far as lifestyles go, I’ve covered most of the bases between ‘lack of any kind of routine’ and ’same routine every day, week after week.’  The former category is best illustrated by the on-call shift work that I’ve done for several years, concurrent with taking classes for most of that time.  Nevermind not knowing what your week is going to look like – this is more like not knowing whether you’ll be working that day/night when you get up for the day.  As a career advisor, things have been much more predictable and I’ve been able to establish a pretty consistent routine that’s been quite comfortable. (more…)

Book Review By Melissa Venable of Green Careers: Choosing Work for a Sustainable Future. By Jim Cassio and Alice Rush. New Society Publishers, 2008. (304 pages)

Most people today are probably familiar with the term “going green”. We are provided with encouragement to recycle at home and often on the job. The grocery store will put your groceries in reusable bags, and may even offer small discounts for doing so. Maybe you’ve even tried new environmentally friendly light bulbs or drive a new hybrid car. Careers now are going green, too.

This book provides an overview of what it means to pursue a green career field. Green careers are defined by Cassio and Rush as “…jobs that are focused on sustainability and/or environmental protection and preservation”. Green Careers is divided into two main parts: Green Career Profiles and Additional Information and Resources.

Career Profiles
The Career Profiles are divided into the following career groups:

*Engineering
*Environmental Health and Safety
*Government Regulations and Planning
*Building and Landscaping
*Business and Enterprise
*Education, Communication, and Law
*Natural and Land Resource Management
*Natural Sciences
*Physical Geography
*Sustainable Agriculture
*Electric Utilities (more…)

If there’s someone who knows about the terrifying journey that is the work search, it is Marissa Nahanee. Marissa was a panellist at the Indigenous Peoples Career Stories event on March 3, 2011.  Marissa has worked on many world class events, including the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Torch relay and visits by Princes Charles and Edward.  This is quite an impressive resume for someone still in their twenties. But Marissa’s job did not just happen to her – she had to work for it.

When Marissa started her event planning classes, she told people that her goal was to work for the Olympics, and then manage her own company.  Everyone told her she was crazy, especially because she wanted to coordinate First Nations events specifically.

After graduating, Marissa attended networking event after networking event, pitching her ideas and showing her passion to recruiters.  Months later, she received a Facebook message from an employer asking if she would like to work for the Four Host Nations to plan Olympic events!  Amazing!  But let’s rewind.  How did this happen? (more…)

Ever wonder what exactly makes a good impression when it comes to business? With my new job under my belt, I’ve networked and met several influential individuals.  Upon introducing myself, shaking hands and getting to know these people, I have come to realize that there is a certain business etiquette that everyone that hopes to make a good impression should know.

If you can’t prevent embarrassing yourself in person, the person you’re trying to make an impression on will think you lack the self-control to do what’s needed.  Business etiquette is also important because it shows that you can present yourself comfortably while showcasing how comfortable people will feel around you.

Here are some tips on two essential areas of business etiquette: handshakes and emails. (more…)

Try to imagine the following scenario:

Recently graduated, you’ve decided that it’s finally time to really buckle down and spend some time looking for and applying to jobs.  Full of hope, promise, and excitement, you sit down at your computer, stretch out your arms, and psych yourself up with the best internal pep talk you can think of.  “Yes!  You can do this.”  “There’s a great job out there, just waiting for you to find it!” “Let’s go get PAID!”

For the first hour or two, you don’t encounter too much to change your mind.  You’re probably a little buzzed from the two extra large coffees you’ve already had, but despite the elevated heart rate and twitchy toes, you’re feeling pretty good.  You’ve even found a couple of jobs that you’ve decided to apply to and you’re sure that, at the very least, you’ll get an interview.

And then the hours turn into days.  You’re starting to get frustrated with the lack of new job postings on the online job posting boards  you’ve been checking two, three times a day.  You’re beginning to feel twitches of rage when you read the words, “2-3 years of experience in the field required.” Just where are you supposed to get that experience?! You just graduated!

via xoxobook.com

Before you know it, it’s been a few weeks since you gave yourself that initial pep talk, and that rock-solid pillar of optimism that you started this whole process with has been slowly but steadily eroded by the sand-laden desert winds of apparent futility.  You haven’t gotten any calls to schedule interviews, and you’re getting desperate.  “Please, please don’t make me go back into the restaurant industry,” you plead.

And with that last, desperate thought, you know: You’ve lost your perspective. (more…)

Image via Wikipedia

Well, another year has come and gone, and the internet is abuzz with resolution ideas, tips and advice for self-

improvement, self-proclamations to eat less, drink less, exercise more, and achieve long-dormant goals, and – who could forget – the students are back from their short holiday breaks for another grueling semester of classes, assignments, exams, late nights studying, and stress.

In the world of career blogs, all kinds of articles have been popping up in the last few weeks concerning ways that job seekers can revamp and re-energize their job search, makeover their resume, solidify their personal brand, and etc.  For the most part, I didn’t find a whole lot of new information in these seemingly obligatory “new year, new career” posts.

However, I will admit to having being somewhat lax in one area of the career identity spectrum: online presence.  Sure, I set up a basic personal website a while ago, I have a profile on LinkedIn, twitter, facebook, and the rest.  I thought I had my bases covered.  That was until I read a few posts out there in the “career blogosphere” recently that focused on the issue, and I decided, in uncharacteristic fashion, to adopt a resolution for the new year: to create a new online me.

You might be wondering what the big deal is.  “I’ve got my privacy settings on facebook clamped down,” you say, “isn’t that enough?”  Well, the fact of the matter is that, these days, employers DO check out what the internet says about prospective employees, and the information that they find can drastically influence whether or not they decide to give job seekers a chance.  So, as a job seeker who wants to make sure that google doesn’t ruin their job hunt, you have two main tasks:

1. Clean up any online profiles you have that have any kind of even semi-questionable content from the perspective of potential employers.  In other words, keep your personal life hidden.
2. In an opposite sense, increase your professional visibility online, so that when employers use online tools to look you up, they do find you, but what they find is the good stuff.

With the above two tasks in mind, I’ve put together a list of 10 things that I’m sure you’ll find helpful in your own quest to create a new online you this year.

1. 

   Image via Wikipedia

   Quite simply, google yourself.  This is probably the first thing that employers will do when they decide to check you out online.  Make sure you put your full name in quotation marks (i.e. “David Lindskoog”), and be sure to try out all the different permutations of your name to get a full sense of the results (i.e. “Dave Lindskoog,” “D Lindskoog,” D T Lindskoog,” etc.).  Does this simple search yield some questionable results?  If so, you’ve got some work to do.

2. In a similar vein, set up a google alert for your name, so that when new content begins to appear in that google search, you’re aware of it (remember, you’re likely not the only one with your name).  Essentially the google alert will continuously do a search with your name, and when new results appear, it will let you know.
3. Google isn’t the only tool that employers will use to try to find out about you online.  There are others, such as pipl.com, that are arguably more comprehensive.  In fact, using this tool I found my old flickr photo stream, which had a whole bunch of pictures I wouldn’t necessarily want an employer to be looking at, so I immediately took them down.  Phew.
4. Here’s another helpful tool that you can use to get an idea of your online identity: the online identity calculator,  This tool will help give you an idea of roughly what percentage of the first three pages of google search results have to do with you, so that you can try to beef up that percentage.  Why the first three pages?  Research has shown that employers rarely look beyond three pages of search results.
5. They say that the traditional paper-based resume is going the way of the dinosaur.  It’s probably not long before it becomes a relic of the past, so why not get a jump on things by setting up an online resume on visualcv.com?  It’s quick and easy, and you’ll be able to link to it easily from anywhere.  It will also appear on google search results.  Handy.
6. 

   Image via CrunchBase

   Have you heard of LinkedIn?  Many people have and are setting up profiles, but it’s kind of startling how many students I see that have never even heard of it.  Essentially, LinkedIn is like a more professionally-tailored version of facebook that is very friendly to job-seekers.  It’s also a great way to keep track of your professional connections and solicit recommendations/references for past work that you’ve done that are visible and easily shared.

7. Speaking of facebook, how’s your profile doing?  How would it look to an employer?  You may have your privacy settings set to be very strict (which I would recommend to everyone anyway), but there still may be pictures, comments, etc. that an employer could see using a simple search.  Also, you don’t have control over what your friends say and their privacy settings.  In a word, be careful – people have lost jobs over facebook and lots more will.  But there is a way to be visible on facebook without getting screwed – consider setting up a fan page on facebook to represent your professional self.  This page can be visible to everyone while your personal profile is in lock-down mode.
8. Just like facebook can get people into trouble, the common act of emailing seems to also be difficult for some to do.  It’s almost like the instant, faceless, somewhat-anonymous nature of emails has given some people the idea that they don’t have to exercise common courtesy using this form of communication.  Since we don’t have a “sarcasm key” yet, the fact is that emails, texts, etc. don’t have the luxury that other forms of more direct communication do of tonal cues such as voice tone, facial expressions, body language, and such.  As a result, your intended message in an email could very easily be confused for something different, perhaps even hostile.  That’s the motivation behind programs like Tone Check, which are designed to alert you to language in your emails that could be confused for something you didn’t mean to convey.  Handy, and a potential job saver.
9. Try to establish some regularity to your facebook/twitter/LinkedIn/etc. updates.  These tools won’t really get you noticed unless you have an active presence out there.  Also, be sure to link all of your profiles to one another so that you make it easy for people to find out more about you no matter how they first find you.

10.  Consider setting up your own website if you haven’t already – it’s easier than ever these days with sites like wordpress.com that will let you set up a blog for free that can easily be converted into a sort of online portfolio.  This site can also act as a sort of hub for all of your other profiles/portfolios to be linked to.

Hopefully the above give you at least a start to creating the online presence that you always wanted this year.  Oh, and you should probably drink less and exercise more, too.

 
David Lindskoog is a career advisor with SFU Career Services, and Dave’s Diary is an ongoing series of journal entries touching on various aspects related to careers and well-being. Look for updates every Friday.

Want to hear my thoughts on a particular topic? Send me an email, and I’ll do my best to include it in my next post!

This will be my final blog entry of 2010, as the holidays loom closer and closer, seemingly with more rapidity every year.  It’s been quite pleasant writing here weekly over the past few months, and I hope to continue making a regular appearance in the New Year.

Have you ever been told that you have to “sell yourself” in order to succeed in finding a job?  Are you a reserved, overly modest introvert who shudders at the idea of “talking yourself up” to others?  If yes, then you’re in the same camp as me, and a whole lot of other generally nice, well-meaning people.  Additionally, you’ve probably wondered if there’s any alternative to the “sell yourself” mantra that so permeates the world of the work search.

Fear not – today, semantics comes to the rescue

*     *     *

There is an alternative way to think of the self-promotion aspect of the job hunt – one that may have a larger appeal to the modest introvert crowd than the idea of “selling yourself.”  It’s a subtle word swap that nonetheless has significant influence on the meaning of the phrase.

It’s time to shift from “selling ourselves” to “acknowledging ourselves.”

I knew from the first time the distinction was made to me that I would never think of that feared, self-aggrandizing, seemingly shameless self-promotion that until then was an inherent part of all job applications, the same way.

“To sell oneself” has a good many connotations that I’m not a big fan of, many of which revolve around the consumerist ideals that fuel our incurable western affluenza.  I start to think of car dealerships, cell phone providers, and Jehova’s witnesses.  People trying to convince me that I need something that, really, I don’t.  It’s aggressive.  It’s adversarial.  It’s cutthroat.  It’s you saying, “Hey! You! Look at me!  Look at how great I am!  I’m what you need!  BUY ME!”

And maybe that works for you.  There are a good many industries in which you likely have to embrace those kinds of attitudes to succeed.

But, it’s hard for a person that values modesty to throw that value out the window in the job search.  It’s become quite clear that applicants’ values and their fit with those of the organization are an important consideration in employers’ hiring decisions.

“To acknowledge oneself” brings to mind connotations of integrity, honesty, and self-affirmation.  There is no argument or attempt to convince anybody of anything, rather a simple recognition of what you’re bringing to the table.  A confident assertion made after a self-reflective process that says, “I know that I have value.  These are some of the ways I think I could be of value to you.” This kind of attitude masks no insecurities, it is immune to counter-argument (because no argument is being made), and it sounds collaborative as opposed to adversarial.

Image via Wikipedia

You’ve probably seen the movie Fight Club.  The “acknowledge yourself” attitude is the Mickey (Brad Pitt) of Fight Club, exuding a quiet confidence and knowledge that the skills you have will get you through at the end of the day.  The “sell yourself” is the Brick Top of Fight Club, living high stakes, making sweeping claims, using scare tactics, etc.  And anyone who’s seen the movie knows who comes out on top.

Happy holidays!

David Lindskoog is a career advisor with SFU Career Services, and Dave’s Diary is an ongoing series of journal entries touching on various aspects related to careers and well-being. Look for updates every Friday.

Want to hear my thoughts on a particular topic? Send me an email, and I’ll do my best to include it in my next post!

Image by Maggie Osterberg via Flickr

Last week I wrote a little bit about my experiences working in restaurant kitchens part-time during my undergraduate degree.  While I do enjoy reminiscing about those times, I’m also aware that not all readers will necessarily benefit from such a personal discussion.  Who wants to read about some guy washing dishes 8 or 9 years ago, anyway?

Nonetheless, the crux of the post was meant to be encouraging, uplifting.   My relentless optimism was shining through, and its light was meant to illuminate a basic concept that I believe gets very quickly overlooked by many students and recent graduates in their job search: transferable skills.

This week, you’ll get to read a little bit more directly about the concept, and how you can use it effectively in your next job search.

*     *     *

What is meant by the term “transferable skills?”  Simply and intuitively speaking, the phrase refers to a group of skills, or abilities, that you can use across a variety of (employment) settings.  Often, these broad skills form the basis for the development of narrower, more “advanced” skills.  For any video game/Dungeons and Dragons nerds out there (yes, I reluctantly admit that I include myself in these categories), this is equivalent to a set of basic skill or attribute areas that you must first “level up” in before being able to use the really awesome moves that allow you to efficiently destroy large numbers of enemies.

There are many categorizations of transferable skills out there, but one of the most commonly referred to in the career development field is the rather epically named “Employability Skills 2000+.”  They group skills into 3 main categories: Fundamentals, such as communication and problem solving skills; personal management, such as positive attitudes, responsibility, and adaptability; and teamwork, such as working with others and participating in projects and tasks.

There are lots of other categories that one could see as valuable across situations.  For example, research and planning/analytical skills, leadership skills, interpersonal skills, organizational skills, time management skills, etc.

I have a sense that that’s not really new information to anybody.  However, I’ve talked to quite a few very intelligent, eager students that fall into one of 2 categories:

1. Student who wants to find a job in their field, but thinks they have no related experience on their resume
2. Student who has lots of experience, usually pretty confident, but doesn’t contextualize the claims they make on their resume

Wait a second.  I thought you were talking about skills, Dave – why the sudden shift over to “experience?”

Well, it’s not a huge logical leap to see the connection between skills and experience.  We need experience to gain and build skills.  We need those skills to obtain experience with which to use and improve those skills.  On and on it goes.

This is intuitive and I don’t need to explain the concept any further – it’s just common sense.  But there’s often a huge gap between what we see as common sense and what we actually put on our resumes.  We know there’s this connection between skills and experience, but most of us won’t explicitly make that connection on our resumes.

Anybody can make the claim that they’ve got great communication/organization/interpersonal/etc. skills on their resume.  Anybody.

So what use is that information to me as an employer?  The answer is not very much, in and of itself.  All I know for sure from such a statement is that you think you know what I want to hear.  I can’t count the number of resumes I’ve seen where this kind of claim is made, without any context provided to back it up.

It’s a very simple solution.  For the student who thinks they have no relevant experience to their field, looking at those transferable skills that are relevant to whatever job they are applying to and contextualizing them on their resume with whatever experience they have opens up a world of relevance and possibility.

Image by vpickering via Flickr

A personal example: I learned excellent time management skills during my time as a prep cook.  In order to get everything ready for lunch/dinner service, I had to know what needed doing next, how much time it would take me to do, what needed to be prioritized, and when to ask for help.  Without time management skills, I wouldn’t have been a good prep cook at all.  I know that (hopefully) my next job is not going to involve making sauces in giant batches or cutting 20 lb boxes of vegetables into square inch pieces, but it sure will draw on those same time management skills.

But unless I made that connection explicit on my resume, how would an employer know?  Do you want to take the chance of forcing them to connect the dots, to see why what you’ve done in the past is relevant?  Simply stating that I developed great time management skills isn’t good enough.  The best policy is to make it clear how you used those skills and why they ultimately helped the company.  Talk about specifics.  Talk about outcomes.  The relevance will be obvious.

The same applies for student type number 2, who has lots of relevant experience but doesn’t think they need to provide any specific context.  The employer might have an idea of why a certain experience would be relevant to them, but you’re still missing a huge opportunity to influence (in a good way) how they interpret your experience if you don’t make direct connections between what you did and why it mattered that you did it.  This also has the added benefit of saving them from the mental work of thinking about why something might be relevant, and that’s always a good thing.

We all have transferable skills.  Perhaps that’s why it’s of very little value to simply state that you are great at a certain skill, because there’s bound to be a whole bunch of other applicants who’ve said the same thing.  Only you have your unique combination of skills and how you’ve applied them within certain experiences.

David Lindskoog is a career advisor with SFU Career Services, and Dave’s Diary is an ongoing series of journal entries touching on various aspects related to careers and well-being. Look for updates every Friday between September and December.

Want to hear my thoughts on a particular topic? Send me an email, and I’ll do my best to include it in my next post!

via The Library of Congress via Flickr

Not a lot of people have the luxury of being able to go through their post-secondary education without at the same time holding down a part-time job.  Without a doubt, I was one of those poor souls not long ago, slaving away at seemingly menial, shamelessly servile jobs to pay the proverbial bills, sacrificing my weekends, evenings, and summers for The Man.  I’ll be the first to admit that there were many times when I asked myself, “is this worth it?”  “Do I really want to get up at 5:00 AM today to stand in a walk-in freezer counting inventory for an hour?”

Whatever the answers to those questions were, I continued on, often coming perilously close to discovering a personal breaking point wherein my academic pursuits would be irreversibly compromised.

Why do we do it?  Perhaps more accurately, why must we live in a society and conform to educational and economic systems that force us to do it?  It’s just all so pessimistic and doom-and-gloomy, isn’t it?

Maybe not.

*     *     *

While I can vividly recall experiences from those past jobs that left a distinctly bitter taste in my mouth, I’m only now starting to get a sense of their rich, complex flavours, left lingering on my palate like a fine single malt scotch, the near off-putting boldness of that first sip reluctantly giving way to a warm, delicately sweet, cinnamon-like smokiness that fills my entire mouth with joy.

via Wikipedia

While I don’t officially condone the combination of scotch with post-secondary studies, I can definitely get behind the idea of working part-time while you’re at school, even if it’s at a job you don’t think will help you get anywhere career-wise.

My own experience working at jobs I thought would have no bearing on my career included 5 combined years of working in restaurants.  It wasn’t even the part of the restaurant industry where the most money is made (serving).  No, I decided it would be a great idea – you know, really fun and what-not – to work in a restaurant kitchen.  I guess I liked the idea of working with food, and some misguided voice in my head told me that it would be good money.

I learned a few things really quickly in my first kitchen job:

via Wikipedia

1. Dishwashers have the hardest jobs in the kitchen
2. Everyone starts out by washing dishes
3. Washing dishes isn’t really all that fun
4. The minimum wage at the time ($5.90) couldn’t really be considered ‘good money’

However, after about 6 months of battling with dishes a couple times a week, I was promoted to the glorious position of ‘line cook.’  It was a glorious first week watching someone else slave away in the dish pit while I learned the intricate dance every good short-order cook masters, in which every movement into the cooler, over to the deep fryer, to the salad bowls, etc. in what is the functional equivalent of a crawl space, is carefully executed to waste as little energy and time as possible.

I sliced my fingers, twice bad enough for a trip to the ER to have the tip of my thumb sewed up.  I burned my hands and arms, again, and again, and again.  I swore when customers made absurd requests for their food, and began to wonder why people with multiple death-allergies bother to eat at restaurants.  I woke up at 5:00 AM to bake bread and desserts and prepare food for services.  I encountered and dispensed with more grease than I could have imagined possible.  I worked with some real jerks, and some really really great people.

And I learned.

I learned how to handle getting a job done under intense pressure, in a short time.  I learned the value of teamwork and how a good team environment differs from a bad one, and the difference this makes to everyone on that team.  As I climbed the kitchen hierarchy, I gained some incredibly valuable leadership experience.  I had a few enemies, but far more friends.  I had great bosses who invested in my development not only as an employee, but as a professional and a person.  I even used the chef at the last kitchen job I had as a reference for my grad school applications – and I got accepted.

All while I finished up my BA.

Not so doom-and-gloomy now.

Though I think I could go for a nice scotch.

David Lindskoog is a career advisor with SFU Career Services, and Dave’s Diary is an ongoing series of journal entries touching on various aspects related to careers and well-being. Look for updates every Friday between September and December.

Want to hear my thoughts on a particular topic? Send me an email, and I’ll do my best to include it in my next post!

“A good manager doesn’t fire people, he hires people” – Michael Scott, The Office

I’d be lying to you if I said that there wasn’t a lot of talk out there about some pretty negative stuff related to the job market for students these days.  And, there’s probably good reason to be concerned: BC’s unemployment rate is currently a shameful 7.5% (higher in the interior), which is notably higher than the average unemployment rate of 6.0% for BC over the previous 10 years.  With the woeful state of the economy, there comes a healthy dose of pessimism, and I’ve seen this in person many times over the last couple months in the form of students coming in to my office.

Well, being the hopeless optimist I am, I’ve decided to write today about a few reasons that I think students can be optimistic about their careers.  In doing so I may fly in the face of simple logic, reason, common sense, and the known laws of physics.  But, if it makes other people (read: me) feel better, does it really matter?

*           *           *

Reason 1: The Hidden Job Market

(there’s more jobs than you think out there)

image from tcsworldwide.com

Here’s a fun fact for you: around 80% of jobs are NEVER posted.  But wait, before you get all excited and say, “That’s not good news at all!” stop and think about what this really means.  If you’ve ever tried searching for work using advertised postings like online posting boards, classifieds, etc., and come out of the other end of that process feeling totally demoralized, demotivated, and defeated, you’re certainly not alone.  I’ve been there.  The good news is that there’s a lot more jobs out there than you even knew existed, probably about 80% more.

Why are these jobs never posted?  It’s easy to answer that question if you think about it from an employer’s perspective: the last thing they want to do is to have to sort through hundreds of applications from their craigslist ad, screen a whole bunch of candidates, hold a bunch of interviews, and do all of that WORK, all so they can ultimately hire someone that they just met and aren’t sure they can trust.  It makes a lot more sense to see if they can hire someone internally, or promote someone from a lower level position to the new job opening.  Much less work, much less risk.  If that’s not possible, they might spread the word around to their current employees to forward the job posting to people they might think would be qualified and/or interested in the position, adding one degree of separation to the process.  If that doesn’t pan out, why not pay someone else to fill the position if they can afford to do so, instead of using their HR person’s valuable time?  This is what staffing agencies do.

The last thing that most companies will do is post their job online.  So why would you spend all of your job search time looking at online job ads?  This is a very passive way to job search, and it makes far more sense to use a more active approach.  Contact organizations that you would consider working for, inquire if they have openings, meet people in your field for information interviews so that you can be one of the people that they forward that job posting to.  In doing so, you have learned one of the Zen secrets of tapping into the Hidden Job Market.

Reason 2: Generational effects

(goodbye baby boomers, hello millenials)

from leftyparent.org

I like fun facts.  Here’s another one: two of every three jobs created between 2006 and 2015 will have been to replace retiring workers.  That’s projected to be a stronger driver of labour demand than economic growth.  It’s also why certain jobs, like anything in health care, or funeral directors, etc., are predicted to grow very strongly in order to take care of our aging population.  Even if the economic recession delays age of retirement somewhat, a plethora of jobs will eventually be created from retirement.

Reason 3: Post-secondary degrees are worth something after all

(money, that is)

What’s that?  You want another fun fact?  Well okay then.  Guys, simply by virtue of having a post-secondary degree, you will earn 40% more than your contemporaries that only have a high school diploma.  Ladies, that same number jumps up to 50% for you.  This is a widening gap, and it already may be the widest that it’s ever been.

Isn’t that good news?!

We’re in the age of what the industry folk call a “knowledge-based economy.”  This is in contrast to what was previously a “resource-based economy” in Canada.  Because of this shift, the value of a post-secondary degree has actually gone up (which goes against the popular belief, illustrated in a recent article in The Peak, SFU’s student newspaper, that everyone and his dog has a BA and therefore it’s rather worthless, though I wholeheartedly agree with the general sentiment of the article and the author’s stance on the value of cooperative education).

from toothpastefordinner.com

So there are my top three reasons to be optimistic if you’re a student wondering about how you’re going to make it in the world with that lonely piece of paper called a degree that you’re working towards.  Keep your chin up!  You don’t have to defy gravity to have a happy career (but if you do, give me a call.  That would be awesome).

David Lindskoog is a career advisor with SFU Career Services, and Dave’s Diary is an ongoing series of journal entries touching on various aspects related to careers and well-being. Look for updates every Friday between September and December.

Want to hear my thoughts on a particular topic? Send me an email, and I’ll do my best to include it in my next post!

MSEmploy Canada – Canada’s Microsoft-focused Job and Training Portal is sponsoring free career fairs.  Meet and have face-to-face interviews with hiring managers from companies seeking to fill Microsoft-related positions. Jobs like: Net Developer, Project Manager, Tech Support, Exchange Specialist, SharePoint Consultant, QA Analyst, Navision Consultant, and Help Desk Analyst.

**Bring plenty (10+) copies of your resume to hand out.**  Connect with companies looking for candidates now and visit with IT training companies about special deals. If you plan to attend, please register at our website.

Vancouver
May 12, 2010 @  9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Executive Hotel & Conference Center
4201 Lougheed Highway, Burnaby, BC

Find Out More!
To see the updated list of companies attending: www.msemploy.ca/eventlist.aspx
For more updates follow us: www.twitter.com/msemploycanada
WWW.MSEMPLOY.COM – (905) 402-9956

Learn how you can volunteer to get your dream job! Get help with your volunteer job search, resume, interview and networking skills. This workshop is offered at all 3 campuses from February 2-4! RSVP today on Symplicity!

Have you ever thought about working in a place that you are familiar with?  Perhaps a Tim Horton’s close by? For many students the idea of working at SFU might be a great option, if you prefer a healthy 10 minute jaunt to work after class or an opportunity to learn more about how a university operates.

There are many different places to work on all three SFU campuses. Being aware of the different resources available when applying for work on campus can make the search less frustrating. There are many options such as applying for the temp pool or applying for an actual job on campus depending on how many hours you would prefer to work.  Applying for the Student Temp Pool (information is provided at www.sfu.ca/hr) may be preferable for students who wish to work on campus but have the flexibility of working when they want to during the semester.  The following link is filled with information on applying for work and useful tips to help make your job search at SFU easier: (PDF) http://www.sfu.ca/career/documents/AGuidetoWorkandVolunteerOpportunities.pdf

Some great options to help in your search for work at SFU are to get involved with SFU Co-op and/or volunteer on campus.  Through SFU Co-op and volunteering you can familiarize yourself with various resources on campus and gain valuable work experience.

In addition, as a volunteer at SFU, you can also get access to information about certain jobs on campus that may not be posted on SFU websites and network with current employees at SFU. Networking is a great way to find out from current employees how their work experience has benefited them and get some great advice about resources on campus.

If you need more information and/or would like to speak with a Career Advisor in Career Services feel free to book an appointment by calling 778/782-3106. Good luck in your SFU job search!

By: Natasha Kwan, Career Peer

CAREER DAYS is coming again this year

hosted by Career Services and AIESEC

on September 22, 23 and 24!

Do you have some free time this semester?  Why not put it to good use and come volunteer for Career Days?  Without a big time commitment, Career Days is a wonderful opportunity for students to network with future employers, meet other students and of course, have FUN!   So invite your friends and enjoy this spectacular volunteering experience! 

For more information, please visit the Career Days page at http://www.sfu.ca/careerservices/careerdays/ or email us at sfu.careerfair09@gmail.com.

If you’re interested in volunteering, please fill out the application form at http://tinyurl.com/volunteer09 ! Thank you very much! 

Hope to see you all in training!

If you are an unemployed recent graduate or in your final semester and beginning your work search, plan to attend Career Services’ FREE Job Finding Club –August 24 to September 4th.  This 2 week program teaches job seekers the most effective means of finding work in their field using group-support and strategic job-hunting techniques.  During that time we will help you to:

– Identify your skills and be able to talk about them with confidence
– Create resumes and cover letters that will get you interviews
– Discover unadvertised jobs and tap into the hidden job market
– Enhance your interview skills to get those job offers
– Develop skills and strategies to overcome obstacles
– Bring new energy to your job search and much more!

Attend the next information session (no registration required) to see if this SFU Career Services sponsored club could be your path to successful work!

Job Finding Club Info Session Dates:

Tues July 21 @ 10:00 – 11:00
Thurs July 23 @ 1:00 – 2:00
Tues Aug 4 @ 2:30 – 3:30
Thurs Aug 6 @ 12:30 – 1:30

Submit your job club application NOW to avoid disappointment as interviews start on August 11th. 

DROP BY Career Services MBC 0300; or  PHONE: 778-782-3106; or EMAIL: career_services@sfu.ca

Do you have some business ideas you’d like to discuss?  Drop by for a casual chat with an experienced entrepreneur!

Mentor Meet is a Venture Connection initiative to provide a sounding board to SFU students for their business concepts and ideas, and to provide more information on the free Venture Connection programs that are available for SFU student entrepreneurs!

NEXT MENTOR MEET SESSIONS:
**All Mentor Meets take place 12pm-1pm**

     Jul 23 (Thu) SFU-SRY Mezzanine
     Jul 24 (Fri) SFU-BBY AQ (near Renaissance Cafe)
    
     Aug 12 (Wed) SFU-SRY Mezzanine
     Aug 14 (Fri) SFU-BBY WMC 2nd floor

This week’s Mentor:  Jim Derbyshire, SFU’s Mentor-in-Residence

AND… don’t forget the deadline for a Venture Co-Op Fall 2009 Workterm is July 19!  Contact your co-op department for more details.

Follow Jim on Twitter http://twitter.com/jimventure
Join us on Facebook – search for “Venture Connection: The Student Entrepreneur Hub”

WHERE?  North Surrey Recreation Centre
10275 – 135th Street, Surrey, BC
(near Surrey Central SkyTrain Station)

FREE ENTRY to Numerous job opportunities!

Mega Door PRIZES:
42″ Plasma TV
Laptop
$ 1000 cash ~~ and more!

www.pics.bc.ca