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Tag: Career Counsellor

Top 5 Ways Today’s Career Educators Can Help Post-Secondary Students

In today’s highly competitive job market, transitioning from post-secondary education to a successful career can be challenging for many students. However, the guidance and support of dedicated career educators can transform these challenges into opportunities for growth and achievement. Here are the top five ways career educators can help post-secondary students navigate their paths to success.

Personalized Career Counseling

A personalized approach allows career educators to listen attentively to students’ aspirations, strengths, and goals, paving their road to success. Career educators gain profound insights into their students’ unique talents and aspirations through individual appointments. They provide tailored guidance and meaningful support throughout the student’s academic and professional journey. Having a personalized approach empowers students to make well-informed decisions about their career paths and educational pursuits.

Resume Building and Interview Preparation

Crafting a compelling resume and acing interviews are pivotal skills students must master to thrive in the job market. Career educators become invaluable mentors in this regard, assisting students in creating impactful resumes that effectively showcase their achievements and potential. A resume workshop should be organized or recommended to cover topics such as proper formatting, organization, and relevant keywords to include. Moreover, suggesting mock interview sessions to your students provides constructive feedback to help them hone their communication and presentation skills. This comprehensive approach ensures that students are well-prepared to leave a lasting impression on potential employers.

Networking and Industry Insights

Career success is often contingent on establishing a solid network of professional connections and keeping current on industry trends. Career educators should actively promote networking opportunities, encouraging students to interact with industry professionals, alums, and potential employers. Additionally, recommend workshops and seminars featuring seasoned professionals offering valuable insights into industry trends, skills, and available job opportunities. By encouraging these interactions and sharing industry insights, career educators enable students to stay ahead of the curve and make informed decisions about their career paths.

Skill Development and Professional Growth

Academic accomplishments are essential; however, possessing diverse soft and technical skills is crucial for career success. Career educators act as skill development facilitators, identifying areas for improvement and recommending relevant training or courses to bridge skill gaps. By emphasizing the importance of continuous learning and professional development, they instill a growth mindset in students, enabling them to embrace challenges, adapt to changing circumstances, and seize new career opportunities. At Talentegg, we understand the importance of providing students with the needed support for a smooth school-to-work transition. This is why we offer E-learning courses to enhance your student’s soft skills and expand your career educator tool kit. With our comprehensive course offerings and user-friendly interface, TalentEgg’s E-Learning platform can be invaluable in empowering students with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in today’s competitive job market.

Emotional Support and Resilience

Embarking on a career journey can be emotionally challenging, with students facing stress, uncertainty, and occasional setbacks. Career educators should provide not only academic guidance but also much-needed emotional support. They cultivate a positive and encouraging environment, instilling a sense of self-belief in their students. This emotional support, combined with resilience-building strategies, equips students to face challenges with confidence and determination, strengthening their mental well-being and fostering their capacity to persevere in adversity.

Conclusion

In brief, career educators are indispensable in shaping post-secondary students into confident and prepared professionals. They equip students with the tools to excel in their careers and instill a lifelong learning mindset. As the job market evolves, career educators remain instrumental in guiding students through their academic journey and empowering them to thrive in a competitive professional world. With their unwavering support and guidance, students can navigate their paths to success with clarity and determination.

Evolving, Growing & Becoming as a Career Coach

February 22, 2023 / James Highet / 0 Comments

TalentEgg was fortunate enough to interview Shaunna-Marie Kerr, Career Education & Exploration at the School of Continuing Studies at York University, with 10+ years of career coaching experience. She is the leader of the virtual career services portal for students and recent alums at the School of Continuing Studies at York University. She provides support and services to students, conducts research and analysis of the labour market and works with technology companies to leverage digital and AI tools in their programs. In addition to her work at the University, she has her coaching practice, is a board member of an anti-violence centre, and is a mother to a four-year-old.

Career Inspiration

Inspiration for Shaunna-Marie’s journey into career education and coaching started after graduation when she faced challenges finding a job that aligned with her skills and values. She began working in a non-profit pre-employment and education program for women who were homeless or precariously housed and discovered her passion for helping people find meaningful work. She saw the positive impact of employment on people’s dignity and self-worth and realized that career and workforce development solutions were where she wanted to focus her career.

Greatest Achievements

We were curious and wanted to know what Shaunna-Marie’s most significant achievements were, and she was glad to fill us in. “In a general sense, my greatest achievement working with students or clients in my coaching practice is all the moments when I have witnessed that mid-conversation shift from frustration and hopelessness to a feeling of possibility and hope.”

Going from there, we asked what she would like to achieve in the future as a career coach. “I have no five-year plan, that’s for sure! My approach is more about seeing a range of possibilities and working to create doors I can walk through later. I feel like we are all ever-evolving, growing, and, as Michelle Obama says, ‘becoming.’ I don’t like to limit my future to only the things I can imagine right now. “

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Shaunna-Marie believes that career development and workforce development can only be effective with inclusion, equity, and diversity. She works from an actively anti-racist framework and constantly thinks about her role in systemic and structural oppression. “I recognize the power that place, identity, and perceptions of ‘other’ have as determinants in education, employment, health… everything.”

Kerr went on to say, “Something I think a lot about, in relation to myself but also that applies to employers, is how to engage in non-performative DEI work. It often feels like DEI work is being done as a favour or as good PR when we know that inclusive and equitable hiring is imperative if employers want to have the highest quality candidates, talent, and sustainable growth. In a practical sense, this looks like recognition of foreign and international credentials, skills and competency-based assessments and hiring, and culturally competent interviewing, onboarding, and retention strategies. “

Successfully Transitioning Students from School-to-Work

The Career Services department at the School of Continuing Studies is working on developing a map of the lifecycle of students to provide better support and services at the right time.

“We want to make sure that students are receiving the right information, at the right time, in the right way – interview prep, for example, might not be the most helpful thing on day one of a full-time program, but some exercises around career pathway mapping in those early months of studies could be impactful! We are also expanding services for Alumni to ensure that we have a supportive off-ramp from career services when program alumni might be experiencing a lot of challenges and change and opportunities.” Kerr told us.

Information Overload

We asked Shaunna-Marie to share her thoughts on what she thinks are some of the most common pain points her students face; she told us, “The biggest pain point students seem to have is the amount of information, often conflicting, about career development. We are in a time where so much information is available, but it is increasingly misleading, unrealistic, or just out of date, and many students feel overwhelmed by it. The pandemic and likely recession has led to an almost global sense of general uncertainty regarding the labour market, and we’re seeing more conflicting information about hiring trends across sectors.”

How Can Employers Help A Student’s Career?

With so many conflicting routes and varying information available, we wanted to know how future employers can help their new hires and students. “I believe it’s important for employers to understand the ‘new world’ that these graduates are emerging into and have empathy for the ways in which their last few pre-workforce years have been impacted.”

Kerr went on, ” At the same time, I believe it’s important not to underestimate their abilities and the value they bring to the workplace. For example, the facility many new grads have with virtual and digital environments can go a long way towards bridging organizational gaps that may emerge in virtual/hybrid working arrangements. Many new grads have always lived some parts of their lives in virtual or digital settings, even pre-pandemic.”

She went on to say, “I can think of several ways that their ability to seamlessly integrate their virtual and digital interactions with their in-person interactions can be leveraged in support of team and culture building, inclusion, and even strategic and operational planning related to things like client relations in hybrid settings. I think other aspects of being an inclusive workspace for everyone in a virtual/hybrid environment, like ensuring meaningful check-ins and recognition, dedicated ‘quiet’ hours for deep work, recognizing things like Zoom fatigue, and open office hours for senior leaders can also be helpful.”

Advice for Fellow Career Educators

Advice for Employers Kerr believes that employers should understand the changing world of work and adapt to the new digital recruitment and hybrid work environments. They should provide clear information about the hiring process, be transparent about the skills they are looking for and be open to diverse candidates and new ways of working.

Shaunna-Marie had this final thought for her peers. “Don’t stop your own career development! Keep learning, exploring, and identifying new and promising practices, pursuing professional development, and building your own networks. I learn so much from talking to other people in the career development and workforce development spaces – including former TalentEgg Career Coach of the Year (2020) Ibiyemi Balogun, who always inspires me with her passion for career coaching, planning, and development.”

How to Support International Students To Get The Soft Skills They Need For Work

February 22, 2023 / James Highet / 0 Comments

One of the top struggles career educators tell us is international students need enhanced support to enter the Canadian workforce successfully. The issue is exacerbated by two other issues we hear from career educators; although students need soft skills training, there isn’t enough time to fit it into the curriculum and it’s critical for your educational organization to produce successful graduates. So how can we take that added factor of international students needing enhanced support and turn it into a success story for you and them?

Enter our e-Learning Soft Skills Training courses! We’re working with certified adult educators, clinical psychologists and other subject matter experts to tailor our lessons to help fill that soft skills gap through specialized programs for students and recent grads.

As the world becomes more interconnected and globalized, more and more students are choosing to study abroad. International students bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to their studies, but they may also face challenges in developing the soft skills they need for the workforce. Here are a few ways that educators and schools can support international students through our backpack-to-briefcase course:

Relationships At The Core

Provide opportunities for workplace relationship success. One of the key benefits of studying abroad is the opportunity to learn from and interact with people from different cultures. Schools and educators can support international students by providing opportunities for future workplace relationship success. Relationships are a key driver of workplace success. It is pivotal that students build and nurture effective relationships with their colleagues, managers, customers, leaders, and stakeholders throughout their careers.

Verbal & Nonverbal Communication

Help students develop their English language skills. For many international students, speaking, reading, and writing in English is essential for success in their studies and future careers. But learning other valuable communication techniques, such as the importance of body language, ways to structure your conversations at work so that they are meaningful, impactful and just as valuable.

Inclusive Outlook

Guide your students on the understanding of unconscious bias and that it is often rooted in or created by specific cultural, gender, or socioeconomic stereotypes that they may or may not be aware of. Through our course, we’ll help your students to develop their self-awareness of what may be their unconscious biases and learn inclusive communication techniques to broaden their communication horizons and help them make decisions through a wider spectrum of decision-making.

We’ve built our custom eLearning programs to support the school-to-work transition and early career development of Canada’s top young talent. TalentEgg’s virtual courses are designed to help all of your students, international and locally to close the gap between soft skills and the Future of Work by offering virtual e-Learning Soft Skills Training courses and certificates. Career Educators can take the first step in preparing students for their future careers by tackling the need for soft skill development by contacting TalentEgg at elearning@talentegg.ca.

How Schools and Employers Can Help Support Students

January 19, 2023 / James Highet / 0 Comments

McMaster University is one of the top post-secondary schools in the country. We had a chance to speak with Tanya Kett, M.Ed., CDP, CPC, a career counsellor at the university. Tanya supports undergraduate students from all Faculties and levels. Part of this support includes addressing students’ concerns, helping them explore their options, discussing their career goals and developing personalized career and further education plans. Her primary focus is equity-deserving students who experience barriers to their career development. Tanya engages students in a collaborative process to navigate their career journey and works with colleagues to develop new programs and services. The department offers individual appointments, drop-ins and group webinars/workshops, both hybrid and in-person. Here at TalentEgg, we wanted to know more about her 19 years in career development and her advice to schools and employers to help students flourish.

Why Career Education/Coaching?

My high school guidance counsellor encouraged me to work as my co-op in our school’s career centre. I learned about all the resources and assessments we had and eventually had class visits from my peers. At that time, I wanted my career to involve helping people navigate their career and education options — but I had no idea what job that was. It wasn’t one of those job titles we know about (i.e., teacher, social worker, lawyer). Years later, during university at McMaster, I discovered the career centre (where I now work!), got involved as a peer mentor and learned about the different roles, such as counsellor, advisor, coach and practitioner. There were so many options! Building connections from that experience and a few other vital contacts along the way were pivotal to my career.

Rewarding Achievements

My achievements are connected to my students and colleagues. When the students I have the privilege of supporting succeed, that is my most outstanding achievement. When they let me know they landed a job, got accepted to their program or had an “aha moment” about their career path, it lets me know I’ve made a positive impact. It reminds me how valuable our work in the career field is for students. Colleagues who support one another and share expertise and resources contribute to students’ success.

If I had to pick my most outstanding achievement, it would be that I found a career that I love and am passionate about.

Future Goals

I want to carve out more time for professional development. I always have a long list of ideas, such as courses, certificates and conferences to attend, but I tend to focus more on students during the academic year. This doesn’t leave a lot of time for PD. I feel like there is so much to learn about changes in technology and how we deliver service, theoretical approaches to consider, and so many resources to explore.

Commitment to DEI

My commitment is to support students who identify with equity-deserving and diverse groups who may experience barriers to career development. I collaborate with them to identify actionable items, strategize, gather resources and develop a plan to instill a sense of hope, confidence, optimism and self-efficacy so they can realize their career potential. My focus throughout my master’s degree was exploring diverse career development (disability, Indigenous, first-generation and international students) through the lens of student affairs.

Supportive and inclusive employers have the opportunity to create positive and meaningful experiences for students who may need someone to take a chance on them. It is a chance to diversify their team; we all know that diversity adds value.

Pain Points & the Effects of the Pandemic on Students

Students are generally overwhelmed with school and keeping up with other priorities like working, volunteering and extra-curricular opportunities. They often wonder how to be competitive for programs/jobs when they feel they are behind their peers in terms of experiences. The pandemic made it challenging to engage in networking opportunities, such as connecting with professors and employers to foster meaningful conversations. It also took time to adjust to the reliance on technology for academic and work tasks traditionally done in person. Now, everyone is adapting yet again to in-person learning and work environments. They may need to consider more travel time to various in-person appointments and engagements, which didn’t happen as much in the last couple of years.

Transitioning from School-to-Work

In the last two years, our team researched, developed and launched resources to guide students in the transition to work. We now have website content, a downloadable tip sheet, a customizable workshop, and one-on-one support to help students with this transition. During the pandemic, we offered captioned and recorded versions of our live webinars on topics such as virtual interviews, networking and career fairs to equip students with tools to navigate virtual recruitment practices.

Acknowledging, validating and normalizing student concerns is often a starting point for many conversations about transitioning to work. Several students identify with “imposter syndrome,” where they may not feel capable or confident in the role they landed, creating dissonance between their perceived potential and their actual potential. This can happen for various reasons, including diversity identification; therefore, it is valuable for employers to have inclusive training plans, mentoring (matched to employee) and opportunities to check in throughout the first few weeks to foster belonging in the workplace.

How Employers Can Help Support Students

Students with the opportunity to have a mentor at work often tell me how valuable it is to know they have a point person for questions as they transition to their roles. Transitioning from school to work is a great life experience — be kind, be patient and offer support so that students don’t feel like they always have to ask (sometimes they don’t know it’s okay to ask!). For example, ask every employee during the onboarding process if they have accommodation requests; that way, those with accommodation needs will feel included and supported in the hiring process. It will go a long way in building morale and confidence for new employees, which in turn produces a positive company culture. Leverage the digital expertise of Gen Z as our virtual/hybrid work environments evolve.

Connecting With Top Student Talent

The best way is to diversify what employers may consider a “top” student. It’s not always academic achievements or workplace achievements that make a student a great addition; life experiences also count. Consider the students’ potential — maybe they haven’t had the same opportunities as others yet.

Take a holistic approach to the application process and ensure it is inclusive and accessible. Some students may be in a program different from their career interests but engaging in self-learning opportunities because they’ve found what they are passionate about well into their undergrad. This demonstrates a commitment to finishing what they started and the initiative to find other learning or experiential opportunities, skills and qualities relevant in the workplace.

Invest time to train, mentor and foster a culture of inclusion in the workplace not only to attract but also to retain students who may end up as top employees. Some wonderful colleagues across our campus can work with employers to set up company recruitment events, information sessions, coffee chats, etc., and participate in career fairs to get to know our students beyond their application.

Advice For Peer Career Educators

One of my mentors told me many years ago that “career counsellors never stop their career development.” I’ve found that to be true, and it’s advice I pass on to others. New trends, technology and approaches continually shape how we work with our clients. Carve out time for your professional development; watch webinars, read articles, attend conferences, take a course, join professional networks, find a mentor — whatever you find helpful for your practice. Build your network to include a diverse range of contacts.

Final Thoughts

Careers are a journey; they take time to build, grow and develop. It’s essential to choose a direction, not a destination — this leaves more options open for you and optimizes your chances for success. It takes patience, persistence and perseverance. Set goals, build your network and have a parallel plan. These things are all part of building your career resilience.

You are not alone; You will get there.

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Tag: Career Counsellor

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