Career Options Post Secondary - Autumn 2012 by Gordongroup

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careeroptionsmagazine.com Fall 2012 / Volume 26 No. 2

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16 Social EntrEpreneurs: Marc Kielburger on the Business of Changing the World

18 How to Be an

‘Intrapreneurial’ Employee

37 WorkStory.net:

A Kaleidoscope of Career Paths

Do You Have What It Takes to Be an Entrepreneur? An Interview with Bruce Croxon of CBC’s “Dragons’ Den” page 23

Kia Ora (Hello!) from New Zealand!

career options Fall 2012

Take the Plunge! International education is your path to adventure page 27

7 Entrepreneurship:

18 Me, Inc.: Entrepreneurial

37 Wondering About a Job or

By Jordan Adams

By Kerri Zanatta-Buehler

By Fraser Tripp

The Opportunity of a Lifetime

Employees Can Be ‘Intrapreneurs’

20 10 Where to Find Help: Young Canadians Building Ambitious Ventures: 10 Simon Jalbert 15 Bella Hwang 25 Evan Price

12 Entrepreneurship Is

Everybody’s Business By Hilary Thomson

16 Social Entrepreneurship:

Combining Business Savvy with Desire to Change the World By Jordan Adams

Resources to Advance Your Entrepreneurial Goals

23 Interview with a Dragon: The Risks and Benefits of Being an Entrepreneur By Jordan Adams

27 Sports-Mad New Zealand: Combine Adventure with Study in Kiwi-Land By Kathryn Young

32 The Practicalities: Many

Career? Workstory.Net May Inspire You

40 Helping You Find Your Path: Career Centres Help with More than Just Resumés By Sharon Ferriss

44 De-Mystifying University

Allows Aboriginal Youth to Visualize Themselves in Higher Education By Kakwiranó:ron Cook

46 HelpX Helps Those Who Help Themselves By Jasmine Irwin

Ways to Bring Down the Costs of N.Z. Study By Kathryn Young

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What’s on at Careeroptionsmagazine.com

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Paul D. Smith MANAGING EDITOR | GORDONGROUP

As always, you can check out the latest issue of Career Options online, or browse the archives for more great feature articles from past issues. But there’s a lot more in store at our website, careeroptionsmagazine.com.

Kathryn Young PROJECT MANAGEMENT | GORDONGROUP

Matei Savulescu ART DIRECTION | PRINT MANAGEMENT | GORDONGROUP

Leslie Miles

Blogspot is a space where guest bloggers share their thoughts about post-secondary education, entering the workforce, finding the “right” job and getting a career on track. Submit your own blog ideas at careeroptionsmagazine.com/blogspot/

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Laura Willsher DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING SALES | GORDONGROUP

Kirill Kornilov ADVERTISING SALES | GORDONGROUP

PINTEREST is the latest social media craze, and Career Options

Pauline de Gonzague, Colleen Hayes, Andrew Moore

has hopped on the bandwagon. The virtual pinboard is used to share interesting photos and ideas—we use it to help students and recent graduates in all aspects of their careers. Check out our boards for job interview tips, office outfit ideas, easy lunch recipes, office decoration, books worth reading and much more. Visit pinterest.com/careeroptions

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Denise Damecour CONTRIBUTORS

Jordan Adams Kakwiranó:ron Cook Sharon Ferriss Jasmine Irwin Erin Jackson Hilary Thomson Fraser Tripp Kathryn Young Kerri Zanatta-Buehler Career Options is published bi-annually in January and September by the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE), 720 Spadina Avenue, Suite 202, Toronto ON M5S 2T9 FOR SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION, CONTACT PAUL D. SMITH:

Tel.: 613-634-2359 Fax: 416-929-5256 Email: pauls@cacee.com Website: careeroptionsmagazine.com FOR ADVERTISING INQUIRIES, CONTACT KIRILL KORNILOV, Director of Advertising SALES, GORDONGROUP:

Tel.: 613-288-5363 Fax: 613-722-6496 Email: kkornilov@gordongroup.com Website: gordongroup.com ISSN: 1712-1183 The Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE) is a national, non-profit partnership of employer recruiters and career services professionals. Our mission is to provide authoritative information, advice, professional development opportunities and other services to employers, career services professionals and students.

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NOTE: The opinions expressed within are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect CACEE policy. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher.

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American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine

38 KPMG

36, 49 Appraisal Institute of Canada

14, 49 McGill University, Faculty of Engineering

Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR)

15, 48 Cameco

Money Mart

20, 48 Canadian Payroll Association

Morgan International Canada Inc.

Certified General Accountants Association of Canada

5, 48

New England Center for Children

Certified Management Accountants of Canada (CMA Canada)

47, 48 Nexen

Brock University, Faculty of Graduate Studies

45, 48 DMC Mining Services 3

Career Options is distributed to students at post-secondary institutions across Canada. Career Options is available free of charge through campus career centres.

Education First

11, 49 Enterprise Rent-A-Car 43

Forest Products Sector Council

Perth Education City

Queen’s University, School of Graduate Studies

Ross University School of Medicine

Shell Canada

13, 48 Halliburton

29 Sprague-Rosser

Halton Regional Police Service

6, 33

Harris Institute

St. George’s University, School of Medicine

Humber College Business School

Study and Go Abroad Fairs

Humber College School of Media Studies & Information Technology

IFSE Institute

Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme

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21, 48 Sun Life Financial 19, 48 Teck Coal Limited 3

University of Waterloo, Master of Public Service

EDITOR’S LETTER

Celebrating entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, risk-taking and leadership

n this issue of Career Options we celebrate entrepreneurs, those people who create an enterprise from their imagination and effort. Starting your own business is a very real option for new grads, and there are many success stories, a few of which we present here. There are also plenty of resources available to help you get started, some of which are also introduced here. For example, experience is a great teacher, and franchise opportunities offer resources and mentors to help you get started. If you think you might enjoy working for yourself, then read on— there is something inside for you. And if you’re not sure about working for yourself, then you should also read on. The first question any entrepreneur must answer is, “Am I cut out for this?” The answer to that question is the most important piece of information you will need. There’s an old saying that a university is “a place where mostly ‘A’ students teach mostly ‘B’ students to go to work for mostly ‘C’ students.” I have always taken this to mean that the “C” student is an entrepreneur. It’s a saying of dubious merit, as all generalizations are, but it’s catchy, and makes struggling students feel better about their circumstances. And we’ve all heard about the success of Bill Gates, whose experience shows that success may indeed come to those who opt out of academic excellence as the means to prosperity. As a former member of the “C” class, however, I can assure you that not all of us are tech billionaires. I also know that there are entrepreneurs who were honour students, so the saying lacks the external validity my quantitative stats profs used to talk about. But there is an interesting kind of truth being spoken here. Success of the type that creates jobs for other people is exceptional, and must, by definition, require an exceptional path. Graduation followed by employment with a large corporation or government department is a worthy accomplishment, and it’s a well-travelled road that offers established rewards. Those who seek a different kind of success must take a different road and leave behind the comfort of the crowd. Doing so introduces an element of enhanced risk, as any innovative effort must, but it also offers enhanced reward. Being your own boss offers the freedom to do what you want, and the thrill of making an impact on your own terms, but these perks come at a price: the risk of failure. Balancing this equation is the challenge all entrepreneurs must face— how much risk will they tolerate to collect their reward? If entrepreneurs are indeed different, perhaps it is their willingness to take on risk that makes them so. That is in fact one of the theories explaining why some people are willing to gamble with their money (or their family’s) and their time. But others refute that supposition, pointing to studies that show entrepreneurs don’t see risk as others do. They believe so strongly in their idea that they simply can’t imagine it will fail. So be it a gambler’s heart, or the faith of the believer, something drives these exceptional people to make their own way. Statistics Canada reports that the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector is the largest employer of Canadians, and it stands to reason that a good number of those SMEs are directed by entrepreneurs. Canadians owe a great deal of our prosperity to the individuals who take the risk to start their own companies, and that is not likely to change. Enjoy the issue!

Paul D. Smith is the Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers and Editor-in-Chief of Career Options magazine. Email Paul at pauls@cacee.com

For more information, visit: cacee.com, careeroptionsmagazine.com

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Entrepreneurship:

The of a

By Jordan Adams

Opportunity

Lifetime

isk-taker, innovator, trailblazer, opportunist: many words could be used to describe an entrepreneur, but what exactly does entrepreneurship itself entail? The most basic description of an entrepreneur is someone who starts his or her own business, but the concept goes a lot deeper than that.

The attributes of an entrepreneur sometimes where everything is going the wrong There is no “cookie-cutter” set of skills you need way, and unless you really like what you do it’ll be hard to keep going with it.” to be an entrepreneur, says Simon Jalbert, a participant in The Next 36, a national program There are many other useful traits that can help for Canadian undergraduate student innovators. The one trait most entrepreneurs share, however, you achieve your goal of starting a business. While drive and work ethic are difficult to is drive. You need ambition and a strong work “learn,” there are many valuable skills that, ethic in order to be a success. experts say, people are not born with but taught.

One frequently referenced definition comes “To be a successful entrepreneur, you have from Harvard Business School professor Howard to love a really long work week where you’re Stevenson: “Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of thinking constantly about your business, and opportunity without regard to resources currently have a deep-seated passion and focus,” says controlled.” What this means, according to Claudia Hepburn, Executive Director and coDave Valliere, professor of entrepreneurship at founder of The Next 36. “Without that you can’t Ryerson University, is that you see an opportunity sell your idea to anyone, or bounce out of bed that’s “so compelling,” you have no other choice early or stay late to make it succeed.” but to pursue it—even if you don’t have the necessary resources. You simply assume that Jalbert agrees: “You have to find something you’ll find a way to get it done, he says. you’re passionate about. There are days

Career O ptions

For example, an ability to sell is a skill that some people, mostly introverts, think they need to be born with—but this is a myth, says Valliere. “There’s research to support that you aren’t born with it,” he says. “Anybody can do this, learn this, and be successful in it. We’ve looked at successful entrepreneurs and found that all sorts of people are successful, and it has nothing to do with your personality.” Fall 2 0 1 2

Rodney Larmand is President of College Pro Painters, a company that develops over 700 entrepreneurs a year by providing students with the chance to start their own business. Larmand says that no two entrepreneurs are the same. “Many of our people are introverted. They have drive and passion, but it’s not always evident. Our entrepreneurial experience is a catalyst for growth because we teach them to sell, lead people and communicate more effectively because it’s needed to run a business,” he says. “In the last 42 years we have proven that with the right raw material, leadership and management skills can be learned. Many of our strong leaders have an introverted side which helps them listen, reflect and build lasting one-on-one relationships, which is critical in leading others.”

“It’s about seeing things that don’t yet exist and figuring out how to create them.”

culture can have an impact on how many entrepreneurs are produced. “Canadians are very modest; they’re not shooting for the stars. They can, but they don’t.” Hepburn and The Next 36 want to change the attitudes of young Canadians so that they produce more top-level companies.

Another learnable skill is how to think like an entrepreneur. In fact, programs like the entrepreneurship major at Ryerson University’s Ted Rogers School of Management are based on teaching entrepreneurial skills.

“We believe that many top Canadian students don’t set their goals high enough and slide into corporate jobs where they have productive lives and good income, but don’t create value by building great organizations like Facebook and “It’s about seeing things that don’t yet exist RIM,” she says. “They need the role models and figuring out how to create them. We think and the skill sets and the practice in building of ourselves as the creative or artistic part of organizations for Canada to develop high-impact business,” says Valliere, who is also the Director entrepreneurs. The goal of The Next 36 is to of Ryerson’s Entrepreneurship Research Institute. increase Canadian prosperity by developing the “Entrepreneurs see possibilities; they see things next generation of high-impact entrepreneurs.” that don’t yet exist. They have a different set of mental tools.” The Next 36 was inspired by “Economics of For example, all of the technical tools needed to create websites like Amazon or Facebook already existed before these sites were created. People may think those sites were not innovative because “anyone could have done it,” Valliere says. “They could have done it, but they didn’t. The question is, how do you develop that ability to see things before somebody does it? A lot of things are obvious after the fact.” This is what entrepreneur majors at Ryerson learn, along with opportunity identification, business planning and management of innovation.

Growing the entrepreneurial spirit in Canada The research Valliere conducts has looked at culture as a possible cause of whether people in a society will think like entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurship,” the top-rated course at the University of Toronto for six years. The professor of that course, Reza Satchu, helped found the program that selects 36 of the best and brightest students in Canada with dreams of running their own business. “That course made us think Canadians really needed a program that takes the best students who show the best promise, ambition and achievement,” says Hepburn. “We thought we could put together a program that didn’t exist in Canada, or the rest of the world, which offers an extraordinary set of experiences and relationships to change the trajectory of their growth.”

Many think that Canada doesn’t produce enough high-impact entrepreneurs who create world-class companies and products. Valliere says a country’s

The 36 aspiring entrepreneurs are selected from over 1,000 applicants—university students in their third, fourth or fifth year of study—and are placed in groups. Most spend the first five months working remotely on their ventures while they finish their degrees. Then, in the summer,

careeroptionsmagazine.com

Fall 2012

they all come together in Toronto, where the groups live together and work on their projects. Each group is given a mentor, someone from the business world who knows the industry, such as Jordan Banks, the Managing Director of Facebook Canada. They attend special classes taught by top professors from the Rotman School of Management, Harvard Business School, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and the Richard Ivey School of Business. The students work on mobile, high-tech or Internet-related ventures, because they are the easiest and cheapest to start in nine months, says Hepburn. Tuition is covered by donors, such as founding patrons and top Canadian business leaders Jimmy Pattison, W. Galen Weston and Paul Desmarais. Investors contribute up to $80,000 toward the students’ ventures. Hepburn’s advice to interested applicants and future entrepreneurs is to always act with integrity and professionalism. “You have to present yourself as credible, which means following through on the commitments you make,” she says. Even if you don’t have access to the same resources these students do, with a great idea and a solid plan, it isn’t as difficult to attract an investor as you may think, says Valliere. “Investors can’t just let money sit in the bank,” he says. “They want to give the money to somebody, but it has to be somebody worth giving it to. If you have found an opportunity and have a plan to exploit that opportunity, you’ll find somebody. “But you have to have done your homework and have a real plan—something that’s feasible and not too risky,” he says. Having a well-thought-out business plan is crucial; otherwise, you may be entering hazardous territory.

The risky side of entrepreneurship “Entrepreneurship is a very risky thing to do and a lot of businesses fail,” says Hepburn. “You can’t be too idealistic and caught up in your own way of thinking. You need to respond to market signals for when your product isn’t wanted.” The public often assumes that entrepreneurs are big risk-takers, Valliere says, but it only looks risky from the outside. “Entrepreneurs don’t like to take risks.... They have extra information; they know something that we don’t. So we teach how to do that—how to figure out what no one else knows yet,” he says.

Larmand says the College Pro Painters program— running for over 40 years—can help minimize risk by providing participants with mentorship and education on how to run a business. Students lease a franchise for one year and learn the ins and outs of entrepreneurship as they go. An intense training program takes place during the school year to prepare students for work in the summer. They learn how to market their services, hire employees, deal with customers, draft estimates, create budgets, manage finances and resolve conflicts, among other business skills. College Pro ensures its student entrepreneurs speak with past participants to gain a sense of how the program works. “That way they’re able to understand the challenges, and the ups and downs,” Larmand says. “People excel based on how quickly they learn. You have to understand you’re going to make mistakes.” Entrepreneurs make a lot of mistakes, and good entrepreneurs don’t repeat them. Success comes from how quickly you learn from those mistakes, he says.

Some students may be wondering if their degree will make them good entrepreneurs. The bigger question is, do you need a business degree to be a success? Larmand says no. “No more than half of our students are in business,” he says. “A lot of arts students find they really like running a business. The non-business students learn where they want their life to go and how to get into the business world. And I think a lot of them will source out an entrepreneurial role in a corporation, like being a high-level manager.”

want to do their own thing and set their own hours. Or maybe they want to create a legacy.” Achieving success and autonomy means you need to be proactive and self-motivated. “If you have to be directed by others, you’re not really entrepreneurial,” says Larmand. The sooner you start thinking about your ideas, the better.

“It’s never too early to start thinking about how you can solve a problem and make life easier for At the end of the day, having that drive and passion people,” says Hepburn. CO will be your most important key to success as an entrepreneur. If you’re doing what you love, and Jordan Adams is a Carleton University doing it on your own terms, you can achieve what journalism graduate. many are striving for: being your own boss.

Benefits of entrepreneurship

“Entrepreneurship is a good method of achieving all sorts of goals: making money, improving the world, and having a fun and interesting career,” says Valliere. “A lot of people do it for the autonomy; they don’t want to have a boss. They

For more information, please visit: ryerson.ca/ent, tedrogersschool.ca, thenext36.ca, collegepro.com, careeroptionsmagazine.com

» Young Canadians Building Ambitious Ventures

Simon Jalbert

his young entrepreneur’s passion for “you have to develop ideas, you always have to be business sparked from an unlikely pitching and be the best salesperson you possibly can.” background: sports. Simon Jalbert’s love of being part of a team and playing a leadership role translated well into his start-up companies. After completing his bachelor of commerce at Saint Mary’s University, Jalbert and the three other members of his team analyzed Halifax and asked, ‘What industry Jalbert was selected to participate in The Next take on different roles for the StrokeLink project. has the most jobs to offer people?’ Out of that 36 entrepreneurship program. With his team, he He does most of the financial work, but says research we started a project where we taught developed a tablet application called StrokeLink, entrepreneurs have to dip their hands in all pots. those kids the skills they need and how to do well which he hopes will empower people who have “I’ll do some design work and quality assurance— in interviews.” About 97 percent of students in suffered a stroke. The app includes exercise you find yourself doing a bit of everything,” he says. the program got jobs in the end, he says. programs specific to the patient, progress monitoring and educational material. As a member and president of his university’s His advice for young entrepreneurs is to develop Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) chapter, their attention to detail. “An ability to move back “Everyone seems extremely excited about it,” says Jalbert also helped to develop an employment to the bigger picture is important as well,” he says. Jalbert. “We’ve been invited to speak at health assistance program for young people in Halifax. “And finally, you have to develop ideas, you always technology conferences all over Canada. People “We identified that a lot of kids in Halifax don’t have to be pitching and be the best salesperson are taking notice, which is definitely exciting for us.” come from wealthy families,” he says, “so we you possibly can.” CO 10

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careeroptionsmagazine.com

By Hilary Thomson

Entrepreneurship is

everybody’s business

harmacy students as entrepreneurs? Many people think that studying business is the best way to learn the skills necessary to create a successful business. However, this is not always the case. The knowledge base for a business can come from any number of fields and areas of expertise, such as health care, community outreach and even the military.

Jeff Wandzura is a participant in this year’s The Next 36 program, in which 36 students from universities across the country are separated into nine groups of four and challenged to come up with a product they’re in charge of creating, marketing and selling—in other words, starting a business.

The idea for MobiCare was a collaborative effort, Wandzura says, adding that his team “wanted to do something in the health care field and a couple of our teammates are personally affected by Alzheimer’s.” He sees the importance of bringing technology into the health care field, and says the creation of MobiCare is helping to do that. Wandzura became involved in The Next 36 because he couldn’t see himself working at a nine-to-five job in a pharmacy. “When you have your own business, you see the results of your hard work right off the bat,” he says. “You see success for the time you put in, and you meet lots of interesting people.”

Wandzura is a pharmacy student going into his fourth year of undergraduate studies at the University of Saskatchewan. He is now also the President and CEO of EDO Mobile Health. The freshly minted company has developed a mobile app called MobiCare that aids in caregiving for people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

The Next 36 is not the only program that supports young Canadian entrepreneurs. The University of Waterloo’s unique Enterprise Co-op program allows students to build their own company during their co-op term, rather than working for an established company in their field of study.

Wandzura says the app helps to organize care by connecting the support team of the person affected through alerts and requests for help. The app also helps caregivers to identify the progression of Alzheimer’s by inputting the person’s symptoms and comparing them to others with the disease.

Logan Fuller is an electrical engineering student who has taken full advantage of the Enterprise Co-op program. He has created the prototype for a web application called Oikoi (which means ‘houses’ in Greek) that will help students find housing.

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Fuller came up with the idea through his own experiences and through talking with other students. He says most students use Kijiji or Craigslist to find housing, but these sites are not tailored to the needs of a student looking for a place to live. “There is an inherent distrust with postings on these sites,” Fuller says. “You never really know what the living space will actually be like.” Oikoi will use existing programs such as Facebook and Twitter to give students more information about the area and the accommodations they are potentially renting or leasing. Another feature under development is a compatibility program for people seeking roommates. Fuller says that being an entrepreneur, especially from a non-business background, has its challenges but also its rewards. “I am constantly learning about the business side of things,” Fuller says. “You have to wear many hats when you are the CEO of a startup.” Fuller says that Waterloo’s Enterprise Co-op program is extremely valuable, offering an opportunity not only to start your own company but also to gain experience in your field in the process. “Professors push you to think outside of the box,” Fuller says. “The University of Waterloo really supports entrepreneurship.” Fuller will be taking a year off from his studies to grow Oikoi into a profitable business, something that the University of Waterloo fully supports, he says. Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) is a worldwide organization that provides another example of students from different faculties coming together and using their various fields of expertise to develop something new. Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s has an extremely successful SIFE team, which has won many competitions over the years, including the SIFE World Cup in 2008. Shane Skinner, President of SIFE Memorial, says each university SIFE team has its own mission statement. Memorial’s mission is to find “local solutions to global economic challenges,” he says, adding that SIFE Memorial is “all about giving a hand up, not a hand out.” One of SIFE Memorial’s ventures is the Bright Futures program, which gives people with disabilities who are unable to hold regular jobs the opportunity to find ways to make a profit from something they are passionate about. Jackie Squire is among the participants who have benefitted greatly from the program. Because of her disability she was bullied throughout her life, but never had the courage to speak out about her experiences. Now in her mid-thirties, Squire has written and illustrated a book about the struggles of being different and being bullied because of it. Through Bright Futures, SIFE Memorial went through business techniques with Squire, coaching her on personal financing and networking, Skinner says. He adds that Squire has now sold more than 300 copies of her book for a profit of more than $3,000.

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Although there is huge support for the SIFE program in the Faculty of Business Administration at Memorial, Skinner says the 64 members come from all faculties. “It is 100 percent beneficial to have students from different faculties with different experiences and facilities,” Skinner says. “It gives us a well-rounded group to continue developing the best projects to help people in need.” Although university is a stimulating environment that often facilitates the growth of new ideas and even entrepreneurial ventures, great ideas for businesses can also come from other life experiences. Fred Aubin is the founder of Strategic Red Team Consulting, a consulting firm based on ideas and values he learned during his long career in the military. Aubin was a Combat Arms officer in the Canadian Forces for 35 years and has served all over the world. In his later years, he became the head campaign planner for the Canadian Forces. When it was time to retire from the military, Aubin was offered numerous jobs in the government as well as in the private sector, but he was not drawn to any of them. “I didn’t like what they were producing,” he says. “It all seemed very flavour of the day.” And thus Strategic Red Team Consulting was born. Aubin says people in the military must be strong communicators, as well as disciplined, strategic

Fall 2012

“It is 100 percent beneficial to have students from different faculties with different experiences and facilities.” and organized—all qualities that he felt would be of value in the business world as well. Aubin says he purposely advertises his military background as part of his business, and his clients find it to be SRTC’s strongest quality. “I’m not afraid of being old school,” he says. Aubin believes that examining past successes while being innovative and different is the key to being a successful entrepreneur. The venture also needs to be something you enjoy and are passionate about, he says, quoting the Joker in The Dark Knight: “If you’re good at something, don’t do it for free.” CO

Hilary Thomson is a journalism student at Carleton University. For more information, please visit: thenext36.ca, oikoi.co, edomhealth.com, cecs.uwaterloo.ca/students/enterprise, sifememorial.ca, stratredteam.com, careeroptionsmagazine.com

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» Young Canadians Building Ambitious Ventures

Bella Hwang

ella Hwang is proof that not just business more about business, so she completed an MBA Hwang says her students have the entrepreneurial at Simon Fraser University. This led to her helping success has been due spirit. The occupational therapy major to launch a maternal health centre in rural Uganda. to her ability to say yes was working in a hospital when she to every opportunity, realized she wanted to pursue business, after “I think from my health background, I’ve always getting a taste of entrepreneurship with a food and had an interest in combining entrepreneurship leading to her wide culture magazine she launched with a friend. At and health, and working in the field of social range of experiences. the pediatric clinic where she worked, Hwang says, entrepreneurship,” she says. She now works in she “was always excited and keen to launch new the field of “mHealth,” shorthand for “mobile programs with my colleagues, including starting technology supporting health care.” a feeding program and an aquatic program for The skills she says are important for entrepreneurs children with disabilities.” Hwang says her success has been due to her are “persistence, hard work, staying level-headed, ability to say yes to every opportunity, leading to her and having a strong understanding and ability She then started her own private practice, and wide range of experiences. “I think this has been to analyze the industry or market.” Hwang also successfully helped others launch their own the key to understanding how the world works and values creativity, which allows her to come up with practices as well. She realized she wanted to learn how my skills and goals fit into it,” she says. interesting solutions to business problems. CO

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Social entrepreneurship:

Combining business savvy with desire to change the world By Jordan Adams

By Jordan Adams

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s there a problem in society that you’d like to see eliminated? Do you have an entrepreneurial spirit and new ideas? Do you have passion, drive and optimism?

Social entrepreneurship may be the career you’ve been searching for. Not only is it fulfilling to work for yourself as an entrepreneur, but you’re also working for others and for the benefit of all society.

Two leading social entrepreneurs who have helped change the culture surrounding charitable activities and ventures are Canadian brothers Marc and Craig Kielburger. Through their organizations Free The Children and Me to We, they have inspired a generation to push for social change. “Social entrepreneurship is creating a lifestyle to create better choices for a better world,” says Marc Kielburger, co-founder of Free The Children and Me to We, who spoke to Career Options at a recent event for young entrepreneurs involved in The Next 36—a national program for top university undergraduate entrepreneurs. Social enterprises can be either not-for-profit or for-profit, as long as they are working to solve a problem in society. Through domestic programs and international development, non-profit Free The Children aims to free young people from poverty and exploitation, and inspire youth to become socially conscious global citizens.

Fellowship and University Partnerships at Ashoka Canada, a global organization of social entrepreneurs. “Ten years ago, or even five years ago, people didn’t understand the words ‘social entrepreneurship,’ ” she says. “More and more young people are dedicated to creating a positive difference in the world, and can see themselves actually doing that for a livelihood.” “Social entrepreneurship is going to be the dominant force within social change, as opposed to traditional charitable activities,” says Kielburger. The time is ripe to start a social venture. “Get on the wave and ride it because this is the opportunity to jump on now. And you’re going to become a leader in a sector as opposed to a follower in something that’s very established.” So what advice would today’s established and young social entrepreneurs give to post-secondary students? The one, overriding requirement is that you need passion; without that, it will be hard to get through tough times. “Don’t start until you’ve found a problem that you’re so passionate about solving that it just makes you crazy,” says Heather Payne, who started her own social venture called Ladies Learning Code. Her not-for-profit business has been around for just over a year and has already seen more than 1,700 women (and some men— she doesn’t want to exclude) learn technical skills like website building and photo editing from over 400 volunteers in Toronto’s technology community. Her aim is to reduce the inequality of women in the technology industry.

“Get on the wave and ride it because this is the opportunity to jump on now.” Payne, who is 25 years old, says starting a social venture was risky and a bit scary, but it paid off in the end—she’s opening a chapter in Vancouver, and has plans for more in Canada and the United States. Her business background and entrepreneurial mind helped her succeed in social entrepreneurship. “I love the way that social entrepreneurship can combine principles from the for-profit world and the issues we really do need to solve to create really innovative, interesting and sustainable enterprises,” she says. Once you’ve found the cause that drives you, De Simone says to jump right in. “Just take a risk…If nothing is happening, create something.” She says it’s much easier to attract potential investors or partners when you already have your idea and plan in place.

Kielburger says that once you have the ‘why’ of When the brothers started their charity in 1995, your venture ready—the social problem you want it was “uncool” to care about changing the world. to fix—then figure out the ‘how.’ He says to be “I spent Grade 9 in a locker,” says Kielburger, adding shamelessly idealistic and “come up with a that making it “cool to care” is an important factor in larger vision than you think you can fulfill.” the social entrepreneurship industry. “We found a way to create a really welcoming, comfortable environment for women where they “Get yourself out of your comfort zone.”CO “It’s about using peer pressure in a positive way. can learn. Plus, our workshops are accessiblyIt’s coming up with actions and opportunities, priced and actually a lot of fun,” says Payne. For and using celebrities and Facebook,” he says. $50, women spend a full day with tech experts. Jordan Adams is a Carleton University The Kielburger brothers have done that through journalism graduate. ‘We Day,’ a youth empowerment event held Payne has worked in a tech start-up company, across Canada, where guest speakers and but prefers social entrepreneurship. “I’m not performers entertain and engage young volunteers. interested in building the next Farmville. I love For more information, please visit: social entrepreneurship because it’s about looking freethechildren.com, metowe.com, In recent years, social entrepreneurship has at an issue in society and saying ‘I think we can canada.ashoka.org, ladieslearningcode.com, gained more respect and attention, says Claudia come up with a solution that will at least move careeroptionsmagazine.com De Simone, Program Director of Venture, us in the right direction.’ ”

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ME, INC.: Entrepreneurial By Kerri Zanatta-Buehler

employees

can be ‘intrapreneurs’ Work for yourself, or someone else? »

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any people are entrepreneurially driven and know that running their own businesses is the way for them, while others choose to first venture into organizations and perhaps consider entrepreneurship later. Regardless of the route you might take, the skills and attributes you need for entrepreneurial success are also needed to be a successful “intrapreneurial” employee.

An entrepreneur’s success is often based on such attributes as productivity, effort, commitment and leadership. It also includes the abilities to be an effective decision-maker, to troubleshoot and problem-solve, and to be selfmanaging and creative. Entrepreneurs possess drive, and are able to work on their own as well as in collaboration with others. They manage multiple tasks at once and are effective at building relationships to the betterment of their venture. All of these desired traits can be found in many job descriptions for intrapreneurial employees as well. “Many millions of people proudly claim the title ‘entrepreneur,’” says renowned entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson. “On the other hand, a title that hasn’t gotten nearly the amount of attention it deserves is entrepreneur’s little brother, ‘intrapreneur’: ‘an employee who is given freedom and financial support to create new products, services and systems, who does not have to follow the company’s usual routines or protocols.’ While it’s true that every company needs an entrepreneur to get it under way, healthy growth requires a smattering of intrapreneurs who drive new projects and explore new and unexpected directions for business development.”

“INTRAPRENEUR: an employee who is given freedom and financial support to create new products, services and systems, who does not have to follow the company’s usual routines or PROTOCOLS.”

Generally speaking, most people will join an existing organization rather than start their own business—at least at the start of their careers. People often move into self-employment later in life, after they’ve fine-tuned their business skills within an organization; then they venture into the world of self-employment, such as becoming a consultant. That way, they can use the knowledge and expertise they’ve developed through the years, and offer their insight to other organizations. As an employee working within an organization, you’re often advised to approach your job as if you’re running your own company, and recognize that your individual efforts will reflect directly on the success of the organization as a whole. That’s an intrapreneur. So are there places where intrapreneurs can grow and flourish? In organizations around the world, individuals who are given the freedom to

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delve into new territory and exercise their creativity are keeping their employers on the cutting edge and successfully navigating the tides of change. They themselves are consequently staying ahead of the curve; they’re keeping up with the speed at which innovation moves— which is fast and furious these days. “Often everyone becomes so immersed in what they’re doing that they feel like they own their companies,” Branson says of intrapreneurs. “They don’t feel like employees working for someone else.” When people feel this passionate about the work they do, they are committed to it and have a vested interest in it and in their own success as well. This dedication will ultimately reflect on the organization as a whole. So while your name might not hang on the sign in the lobby, “Me, Inc.” is a real company. It’s yours, and one that exists to thrive and prosper with entrepreneurial you at the helm. CO

Kerri Zanatta-Buehler is an employment development specialist at Sheridan College.

For more information, please visit: entrepreneur.com/article/218011, sheridancollege.ca, careeroptionsmagazine.com

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Where to find help:

Resources to advance your entrepreneurial goals There are countless ways you can achieve your entrepreneurial aspirations—and plenty of programs dedicated to helping you realize those goals. Here is just a small sample of the supports available to budding Canadian entrepreneurs. ACE (Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship): This national organization is affiliated with the worldwide SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) program, which hosts international competitions for student entrepreneurs. Many Canadian universities and colleges have active ACE/ SIFE chapters where students learn the ins and outs of entrepreneurship, and then apply that knowledge to create their own community-based ventures. See acecanada.ca

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The Next 36: This new-venture challenge, launched in 2011, arose from a popular course on entrepreneurship at the University of Toronto. Each year, 36 candidates are selected from thousands of applicants to participate; funding comes from various sponsors, including top Canadian entrepreneurs. Students are placed in teams and mentored by business leaders, such as Jordan Banks, managing director of Facebook Canada. The teams develop their venture— which has to be based on mobile or web technologies—while learning the necessary skills to be successful. See thenext36.ca Venture Connection at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Surrey and Burnaby, B.C.: Along with offering academic programs in entrepreneurship and other contests, the university also runs Venture Connection. This program gives support to students from the very beginning—the “first spark” of an idea. Mentorships, resources, seminars, workshops and coops are some of the advantages of joining. Web ventures such as MetroLyrics, Hiretheworld and Buyatab are among the many successful alumni of the program. See ventureconnection.sfu.ca The Genesis Centre at Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s: The Genesis Centre provides support for technology-based businesses and new entrepreneurial ideas. The greater community can access their services—it’s not

just for students. Admission to Genesis provides you with access to office space and equipment, mentors, technical and scientific resources, a large entrepreneurial community and opportunities for networking. See genesis.mun.ca Schlegal Centre for Entrepreneurship at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ont.: The Centre provides resources for students, such as an in-house entrepreneur for advice, co-ops and a loan program for students looking to start their own business. Its Laurier Entrepreneurship Competition offers thousands of dollars in prizes, along with publicity and feedback. There is also the BDO New Venture Competition, a year-long course where students work in teams to develop a venture. Scholarships are awarded at the end-of-year awards reception. See bit.ly/Ou7sP9 Digital Media Zone at Ryerson University, Toronto: It’s not just students that are eligible for this digital media entrepreneurship program; anyone in the greater Toronto area can make a pitch to be supported by the DMZ. When accepted, the hopeful entrepreneurs receive guidance and resources to help make their ventures a success. An alumnus start-up of the program is TeamSave, a social buying website that has since partnered with Kijiji. See digitalmediazone.ryerson.ca

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By Jordan Adams

Interview with a

The risks and benefits of being an entrepreneur Âť

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BC’s hit television show “Dragons’ Den” has brought entrepreneurship into the primetime spotlight. Aspiring venturists present their ideas to the Dragons— some of Canada’s brightest, most successful entrepreneurs—in the hope of striking a deal that will bring their product to the marketplace.

One of those Dragons is Bruce Croxon, a digital pioneer who co-founded the online dating service Lavalife. He now invests in digital start-ups and owns a chain of holistic spas, while also partnering with promising ventures he encounters on the show. He talked with Career Options about what young entrepreneurs need to know to succeed. Career Options: What is a typical day like for an entrepreneur? Bruce Croxon: I would say the answer is there really is no typical day, because I think by its nature, you have to be ready to adapt to changing situations depending on the size of the business you’re involved with. But if you’re just starting up, there really is no typical day. You’re usually underfunded, doing everything yourself. It can be a scramble. The challenge is to take that chaos and the temptation to lose your focus, and try to bring some focus to what you’re trying to do. So the short answer is there is no typical day. CO: What are the risks and hazards of being an entrepreneur? Croxon: The challenge of being an entrepreneur is that it can be a very lonely existence. You’re taking responsibility for the success or failure of whatever it is that you’re being entrepreneurial about. The risk is that you can work and work and work—and there’s no doubt that it’s more work than a more conventional career path—and the risk is you can work really hard and not get the results that can be considered a success. You have to let go of the notion that you put in eight hours of work and therefore should get this much money. The reality is you’ll have to work really hard, and the amount of money you get for the amount of effort you put in may not be equal. You have to keep grinding until things start to happen.

“The challenge of being an entrepreneur is that it can be a very lonely existence. You’re taking responsibility for the success or failure of whatever it is that you’re being entrepreneurial about. ”

live with the ups and downs of it, and not let it keep you awake at night, and if you’re still a nice person to be around and the rollercoaster doesn’t eat you up, there’s no better feeling than working hard at something and having the fruits of your own labour come out the other side. It’s a very rewarding experience.

of which I’ve met very few in my life. CO: What are the qualities needed for a successful entrepreneur?

Croxon: It’s a very personal journey. You acutely feel every victory and you acutely feel every defeat. If you’re the kind of person who can

Croxon: Stamina and stick-to-it-ness. You need to work harder than the next person. You need to be comfortable [with the fact] that you need to be thinking about your business seven days a week, 24 hours a day. In this competitive environment, if you’re not doing that, someone else will be. I think the other quality of a good entrepreneur is the ability to look in the mirror once in a while and realize that you don’t have all the answers. It’s a

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CO: What are the benefits?

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fine line, because you need enough ego to have enough confidence to do it on your own, but your ego can’t be so big that you ignore the mistakes you make or the learning you get from other people and situations. So introspection would be a quality you need. The ability to work with others, too, unless you’re an exceptionally bright person—

CO: When is a “good” idea really a bad idea? Croxon: It depends on what area you’re working in. I work in the digital world. The good and bad thing is you get feedback very quickly. You know how people use the service and respond to what you’re doing. You just really need to listen to your customers and pay close attention to how they’re adapting to the service. In most industries today, because things move a lot quicker than

“there’s no better feeling than working hard at something and having the fruits of your own labour come out the other side. It’s a very rewarding experience.”

they used to, if you’ve got your eyes and ears open, that feedback comes pretty quickly. CO: How do you know when to quit? Croxon: If you’re an entrepreneur, you’re an entrepreneur. Quit doesn’t really enter into the vocabulary of the best ones. They just need to change. It’s not about quitting, it’s about adapting. When you get a certain amount of information and you’re getting evidence that your idea doesn’t work, you need to go back to the people that you’re trying to get as customers, and ask what it is about what you’re doing that they didn’t like, and just change what you’re doing. One of the qualities of a good entrepreneur is the willingness to change direction, to not get too locked into

your own point of view. When the evidence comes in that your point of view is not shared by a market, you need to shift gears and change your idea. That’s really different than just throwing in the towel. CO: What advice would you give to a young entrepreneur in postsecondary or just graduating, especially in terms of money? Croxon: I would say live at home for a bit longer—it’ll save you some rent—and get to work. When you have something that’s worth backing and worth getting behind, the best vote of confidence you can get is from your friends and family. Investors like me, if you’re looking

at early stage ideas, look at whether your friends and family have supported you the best they can. They probably have the best idea of what your odds of success are. CO: What do you wish you knew when you were a young entrepreneur? Croxon: Looking back, I wish I had known a little more about financing and the right time to bring capital into a business. So the balance sheet and financial part of things, I could’ve used a bit more knowledge about. The other thing is it’s probably as easy to go with a big idea as it is a small idea. It’s the same amount of work, so you might as well go for the big one. CO

Jordan Adams is a Carleton University journalism graduate.

For more information, please visit: cbc.ca/dragonsden, brucecroxon.com, careeroptionsmagazine.com

» Young Canadians Building Ambitious Ventures

Evan Price

hrough a program called “I Want to be a Millionaire,” Evan Price received a small start-up fund of $200 to create a business. He went on to turn a profit with his “High-tech Hygiene” service— which included cleaning and energy audits on appliances—all at the tender age of 10! He hasn’t looked back since, and today describes himself as “a true salesman at heart.” His entrepreneurial spirit served him well in later ventures; most notably, he cultivated the largest crop of fiddleheads east of Ontario, and founded the largest organic beer hops farm in Nova Scotia. These businesses helped him pay for his bachelor of commerce at Dalhousie University, where he was Vice-president of Finance and Operations for

the student union—handling over $6.4 million in spending and $2.7 million in investments. Impressed yet? He was also named one of the “Top 10 entrepreneurs under 35” by Nova Scotia’s High Fliers program; received business development funding to the tune of $10,000; and was named the best co-op entrepreneurial student at Dalhousie for 2010, receiving the Sagewood grant of $4,000. His successes haven’t all come easily. “The hardest parts are always around getting the confidence of others and finding partners or startup funding to keep growing,” Price says. “But if you take time and build relationships, that’s much harder to break than simply having the best price.”

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“The hardest parts are always around getting the confidence of others and finding partners or start-up funding to keep growing.”

When building relationships, even just in the classroom, Price advises making friends with people in different programs. “You don’t have to be learning business to start one, but the team you build will be stronger if they are good at different things,” he says. CO Fall 2 0 1 2

By Kathryn Young

Sports-mad New Zealand:

combine adventure with study in Kiwi-land Young Canadians who want exciting international experiences have more options and opportunity than ever beforeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and countries like New Zealand are embracing visiting students. Âť

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ungee jumping, black water rafting, zorbing, jetboating, heliskiing: New Zealand is the mecca for adventure sports, says 19-year-old B.C. student Julia Thrift.

“Why not study in the capital of adventure tourism?” asks Thrift, who is enrolled in the snowsport business management program at Queenstown Resort College on New Zealand’s South Island. “My friends are so jealous.” Snowsports is a specialty within QRC’s adventure tourism management program, where students learn more than just the visitor experience. They also learn how to develop and operate different models of adventure tourism companies, and the skills needed for leadership, marketing, human resources, writing business plans, communications and more. “It’s all internationally transferrable,” explains Program Manager Chris Warburton. In fact, QRC has an agreement with Thompson Rivers University in B.C., whereby QRC grads can automatically go into the third year of Thompson Rivers’ degree program. Similar agreements are in place with other schools, including Ontario’s University of Guelph, where students can study for one or two semesters at Lincoln University in N.Z. and pay the regular U of G tuition fees, rather than higher international student tuition fees.

“Why not study in the capital of adventure tourism? My friends are so jealous.”

Great environment for sports “Very few people are elite athletes,” says Don Adventure tourism is just one of many N.Z. Milham, Team Manager at the School of Sport post-secondary sports programs that are open and Exercise Science at Waikato Institute of to Canadian students. And Education New Technology, known as Wintec. “But health and Zealand is openly courting international students, especially from North America, for these programs wellness is across the lifespan. We have a great that go beyond elite performance to include sports environment for that.” business administration, recreation management, Wintec is located in the small city of Hamilton sports massage, outdoor leadership and even on the North Island, where winter daytime sports turf management.

Career Options magazine would like to extend our gratitude to all those who helped to make our visit to New Zealand such an enjoyable and educational experience. Those mentioned in the articles and many others generously offered us their time and resources, and we are deeply appreciative. Special thanks to Education New Zealand and Air New Zealand, who truly made this trip possible.

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temperatures are usually 10 to 14°C. And that’s part of what makes N.Z. a sports-mad country: it’s easy to get outside and be active when the temperature rarely dips below zero, and then only in the mountains. “It’s a very sports-dominated society,” says Stewart Brougham, Wintec’s Director of Internationalization. “It imbues society with a view that sport is something you should continue with… That passion for sports fuels the supply industry. You need people to run and manage the sports clubs, to manage and coach the teams, work for companies or teach sports in schools.” N.Z. offers Canadian students some attractive post-secondary (they call it “tertiary”) options. You can study in the land of the Kiwi for a semester or two, take courses during a gap year, do an exchange program, or complete an entire diploma or degree. You can even earn credits that will be recognized by your Canadian college or university, through partnership agreements or individual

“You’ll never know if you could have made it if you don’t try. You can make it work and you can get here.”

negotiation. And studying abroad can offer a compromise between gap year travel and going on to post-secondary. “I really wanted to travel, but Mom wanted school,” says Thrift, from Whiterock, B.C. The compromise was QRC. “Queenstown has blown me away—the connections you make. I’ve done things there’s no way I would have done before, like canyoning.” Lincoln University student Jenn Halliday, also from B.C., urges Canadian students to apply for N.Z. programs. “You’ll never know if you could have made it if you don’t try,” she says. “You can make it work and you can get here.” Studying at Lincoln—a beautiful treed campus surrounded by farmland just outside Christchurch—is a dream that Halliday made come true with hard work to help offset the costs. While studying abroad can be more expensive than in Canada, she was able to bring down the price of her Bachelor of Sport and Recreation Management (see “The Practicalities” on page 32). PhD students take note: you pay domestic tuition fees in N.Z., not the higher international tuition fees that undergrads pay.

Many sports programs As well as bachelor’s degrees, Lincoln offers postgraduate degrees and certificates in sport and exercise physiology, parks, recreation and tourism management, plus an elite Sports Scholarship Program and the Asia Pacific Football [Soccer] Academy. Wintec offers certificate programs in sports massage, outdoor education and recreation, and fitness industry training. Bachelor programs are available in coaching, nutrition, exercise physiology and biomechanics, and there’s a one-year teaching program. The communications school offers sports journalism. Otago Polytechnic—based in Dunedin on the South Island, but with other campuses as well—has certificate and/or diploma programs in a range of subjects: snowsport instructing, avalanche safety, outdoor leadership and management, physical conditioning, and sports turf management, plus a bachelor of applied science in physical activity, health and wellness. QRC’s adventure tourism management program, with its specialty in snowsport business management, includes paid internships. N.Z. has a population of just four million people, so its colleges, universities and polytechnics (degree-granting institutions that are like a cross between college and university) are small too. Classes are small and professors really get to know their students. “A student said to me, ‘I can’t believe you gave me your cell phone number so we can call you,’ ” says Chris Hutchinson, Lincoln’s academic coordinator for sports management. “Here, it’s first-name terms.”

“The process of studying in another country enriches you,” says Brougham. “You’re a bit more “Anybody who comes here can be a big fish,” says thoughtful, you learn to be more tolerant. It just Milham. changes you.” And that’s something you get no matter where in the world you go. Hands-on, practical skills The sports programs—whether at the university N.Z. is an easy place to live and study. The culture degree or college diploma level—focus on is different enough to be interesting, yet familiar practical skills and career building. enough that you’ll feel at home amongst friendly people, speaking English—sort of. There are lots “Real people with real skills get real jobs. of fun Kiwi terms to learn if you’re interested That’s always been my philosophy,” says (see “Don’t Tramp in Your Jandals” on page 35). Gary Smith, program manager for Otago’s sports “I found New Zealand like home, but with a twist,” says Halliday. “There are so many advantages: you learn about yourself and different cultures.”

turf management program, where students complete paid internships at golf courses, rugby fields and cricket pitches—and then get snapped up by employers.

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Early involvement in research Many of the sports programs also emphasize early involvement by undergrad students in research projects “so by the time they get to the masters level, it’s not new to them,” says Milham, leading a tour through Wintec’s biomechanics lab. One student is periodically jumping on a metal plate on the floor, sometimes using his arms and sometimes not, while his colleagues look at a laptop measuring his impact. Another lab houses an altitude machine and a heat chamber where students can control for heat and humidity during experiments. Leah Hutching, 22, is a second-year masters biomechanics student researching regular shoes versus toe shoes, and how human mechanics change at different speeds. She hopes to work for a sports shoe company after graduating from Wintec.

“Last year we lived on a beach for a week, rock climbing and sea kayaking.”

At Lincoln, Mike Hamlin, academic coordinator for the sports scholarship program, describes research into new technologies aimed at boosting performance, including compression garments, altitude training for rugby players going to Johannesburg, and the effects of bloodflow restriction on netball athletes while they’re training. Result: increased muscle endurance and strength. (Netball is similar to basketball.) Jenn Halliday says studying in N.Z. has been the best thing for her. She talks regularly with her parents via Skype. “They’re supportive and proud of me that I’m brave enough to take on the world,” she says. So what would she tell Canadian students thinking of studying in N.Z.?

“When you come out of the course, you’re set up to go into the industry,” says David James Moseley, 20, studying outdoor leadership and management at Otago. “Last year we lived on a beach for a week, rock climbing and sea kayaking.” After completing an internship, he now has a full-time sea-kayaking job waiting for him when he graduates. “Some educational institutions lose sight of the end goal, which is jobs,” says Charlie Phillips, CEO at QRC. “We’re really focused on completing that loop.” Students are treated as professionals right from the first day, when they’re greeted with: “Welcome. You’re starting today, not in two years’ time.” Students wear uniforms appropriate to their studies—for the adventure tourism students, it’s black track pants and black QRC t-shirts—and 30

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are marked on grooming, attendance and punctuality. “It’s all about getting ready for the industry,” says Phillips. “Ninety-seven percent of graduates get jobs.” Lincoln’s Bachelor of Sport and Recreation Management degree includes a requirement to complete 480 hours of practical work in a sport or recreation role. For example, students recently organized an Olympic gala day for 800 school children, while others handled the registration and finish-line facilities for the Tour of New Zealand 10-day cycle race through the whole length of the South Island. “Ours is a very enthusiastic, hands-on, fun degree, but does contain robust academic theory before the fun stuff,” Hutchinson says. “We’re working quite closely with industry, not just in Christchurch but around New Zealand.” careeroptionsmagazine.com

“I would tell them to go for it,” she says. “Don’t just dream about it, but actually do it!” CO

Kathryn Young is managing editor of Career Options. Education New Zealand and Air New Zealand invited her to tour N.Z. tertiary education schools and sponsored her trip. For more information, please visit: airnewzealand.ca, newzealandeducated.com, learnmorestressless.com, newzealandpostgraduate.com, lincoln.ac.nz, apfa.co.nz, queenstownresortcollege.com, otagopolytechnic.ac.nz, wintec.ac.nz, careeroptionsmagazine.com

The practicalities: Many ways to bring down the costs of N.Z. study

• A loan from the Canada Student Loans program, worth $13,505 NZD ($11,000 CDN).

“At the end of the day, it’s going to cost maybe a few thousand more than in Canada,” says Jenn Halliday, a Canadian earning her Bachelor of Sport and Recreation Management at Lincoln University, just outside of Christchurch, New Zealand.

• A part-time job of eight to 10 hours per week at an after-school program for children, helping them with homework and doing activities. “I have to work to continue to be here,” she says. Minimum wage is $13.75 NZD ($11.12 CDN).

onsidering studying abroad, but concerned that it’s too expensive? It can be, primarily because international tuition fees are always higher than tuition paid by students in their home countries. However, the good news is that there are ways you can bring those costs down considerably.

To pay for her studies, 20-year-old Halliday won a scholarship, arranged a Canadian student loan and works part-time. Here’s how she makes it work:

By Kathryn Young

Fall 2012

• A merit scholarship from Lincoln, based on her academics and references, is worth $5,000 NZD ($4,046 CDN) per year. “That scholarship was a big help for me,” says Halliday.

• The Canada-N.Z. currency exchange rate favours Canadians. “That makes a massive difference in student loans,” says Halliday, adding that it also helped her make her decision to go to N.Z.

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• She got credit for her one year at the University of British Columbia, so she started in second year at Lincoln.

Canadian students considering studying abroad should apply for every scholarship, bursary or loan they can find. Schools generally have an “International Students” page on their websites, listing all the possibilities. And don’t be shy about asking for help from the schools’ international advisors—they WANT you to study in N.Z.

“I’ve always felt supported,” says Halliday of her move to the far side of the world. “Every question answered. The international advisor helped.” International tuition fees in N.Z. range from $16,000 to $18,000 NZD ($12,946 to $14,564 CDN) per year. But international PhD students pay the same tuition as N.Z. students—about $5,000 to $8,000 NZD ($4,046 to $6,473 CDN).

“QRC will do their best to help you come,” says Julia Thrift, 19, from British Columbia, who has a bursary from Queenstown Resort College where she’s in the snowsports program. “I was really happy. They helped arrange it.”

Some schools have agents in Canada whom you can talk to about the schools, life in N.Z., the programs and the application process. Between agents, the schools and Education New Zealand, there are many guidebooks available offering step-by-step processes for applying for programs, student visas, work visas and accommodation. They’ll give you any advice you need to help fill out the forms.

Here’s the general process

/ Apply to a school. After you’ve received an Offer of Place, pay your tuition fees. You need your receipt to apply for your student visa.

4 / Get medical and travel insurance.

International students are not covered under N.Z.’s health care, so you must arrange your own medical and travel insurance. The schools will help. Otago Polytechnic, for example, uses Uni-Care, which has a special insurance package for international students that costs $510 NZD ($413 CDN) for a full year.

/ Apply for your student visa. This is required if you’re going to be in N.Z. longer than three months. If you want to work in N.Z., be sure to tick off the applicable boxes on your student visa form. International students can usually work up to 20 hours a week while in school and full-time during holidays, as long as you’re there for a program lasting longer than a year.

/ Find accommodation. Each school will help you, whether you want to stay in the Halls of Residence (as they call it), a homestay or your own flat. Living in N.Z. is generally cheaper than in Canada.

/ Make your travel arrangements. Some schools will even pick you up at the airport and take you to your new home!

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/ Start your studies. The schools provide full orientation to the school and the town or city where you’ll be staying.

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Accommodation is another financial consideration. Living in residence allows you to meet more people in your first semester, but it’s more expensive than “flatting with friends” (sharing an apartment). Costs vary by city, and can be as low as $85 NZD ($69 CDN) per week, but Thrift pays $124 NZD ($100 CDN) per week for flatting in Queenstown.

Things are backwards in New Zealand! Don’t forget

N.Z. is in the southern hemisphere, so the seasons and school year are reversed. Semester 1 (autumn) runs February to June, and Semester 2 (spring) runs July to November. Summer holidays are December to February. The deadline for applying to N.Z. schools is generally Nov. 30.

Another option is a “homestay,” i.e., boarding with a Kiwi family, which costs about $240 NZD ($194 CDN) per week, including three meals a day. N.Z. wants international students to be safe and well cared for. Point your parents towards the Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students, published by N.Z.’s Ministry of Education, so they can rest assured. CO

Depending where you’re from in Canada, you’ll find winters in N.Z. a lot warmer. Average August (winter) temperatures are 11°C in Dunedin on the South Island, 5°C in the central part of the South Island, and 12°C in Auckland on the North Island. Snow generally falls just in the mountains.

Kathryn Young is managing editor of Career Options. Education New Zealand and Air New Zealand invited her to tour N.Z. tertiary education schools and sponsored her trip.

N.Z. is all in one time zone, on the other side of the International Date Line, and is 16 hours ahead of central Canada.

For more information, please visit: Immigration New Zealand: immigration.govt.nz; Canada Student Loans: hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/learning/canada_student_loan/index.shtml; Code of Practice for International Students: minedu.govt. nz/NZEducation/EducationPolicies/InternationalEducation/ ForInternationalStudentsAndParents.aspx; Uni-Care medical and travel insurance: uni-care.co.nz; airnewzealand.ca; newzealandeducated.com; learnmorestressless.com; newzealandpostgraduate.com; careeroptionsmagazine.com

Kiwis drive on the left, not the right! Even if you opt not to drive, you must be careful crossing streets or even walking the sidewalks or up staircases, where you’ll feel like a fish swimming upstream if you’re on the right.

Don’t Tramp in Your Jandals, or How to Talk Kiwi Can you decipher this? “Dodgy greasies or too much sculling? You’ll chunder in the dunny.” If not, read on for explanations of some common Kiwi terms. Kia ora (pronounced kyorah) = hello, welcome

Flat = apartment (flatting = living in an apartment, e.g. “I’m flatting with friends.”)

Good on ya, mate! = congratulations, well done

Kiwi = a New Zealander or the small brown bird

EFTPOS = bank card

Scull = to drink beer rapidly

Kiwifruit = kiwi (the fruit)

Tramp = hike

Pakeha = non-Maori person (Maori are the Aboriginal people of N.Z.) Tertiary education = post-secondary education Uni = university Polytechnic = cross between university and college. Polytechnics grant degrees.

Bush walk = hike in the forest

Football = soccer American football = football as Canadians know it

Togs = bathing suit Rellies = relatives

Hockey = field hockey, unless “ice hockey” is specified

Jandals = flip-flops Hottie = hot water bottle Greasies = fish and chips Loo or dunny = bathroom

All Blacks = N.Z.’s national rugby team (the equivalent of gods) Kit = uniform

Papers = courses, e.g. “I’m doing a paper in economics.”

Dodgy = bad, spoiled

Long black = two shots of espresso

Chunder = to vomit

Short black = black espresso

Scheme = program, e.g. an “exchange scheme” means an “exchange program”

Flash = really good, expensive, e.g. “That’s a flash car.”

Flat white = espresso with slightly foamy milk

Career O ptions

Fall 2 0 1 2

Wondering about a

job or career? By Fraser Tripp

WorkStory.net may inspire you

Did you know that you can combine a degree in science with your love of wine? Before creating WorkStory.net, neither did Natalie Allen, a professor at Western University. “I think typically most of us have a kind of narrow range of things we consider possible,” says Allen. “It’s partly because most of us learn about work through the same standard set of jobs that get mentioned and from television, plus a few jobs are kind of odd-ball. But mostly it’s a pretty mainstream set.” Allen is attempting to remedy the situation with the website she co-created with University of Guelph professor David Stanley. Young professionals can use WorkStory.net to post videos and stories about their current job, and how they arrived at where they are now. “What we wanted to do was put together a kaleidoscope of work stories that would give people one more resource as they’re pondering

what they are interested in, what they can do— that kind of thing,” says Allen. Allen hopes that by watching videos on the website, students can think about their skills, interests and training in a less step-wise path à la “Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, undergrad or college” and more in “a mixing and matching the shapes and patterns in their life” kind of way. Allen uses the analogy of a kaleidoscope to give a more concrete idea of what she means. “We would like people to match their interests, knowledge and contacts and think of those as ingredients in a kaleidoscope, and imagine when you turn a kaleidoscope and everything jumbles in a different way,” she says. Videos like one posted by a sommelier are the perfect example of Allen’s goal to show students that they can combine their passions with a career. “We have a grad from Dalhousie, who has his degree in science, who decided that his real passion is wine,” says Allen.

Career O ptions

While it’s still in its early days, WorkStory.net received a lot of attention at the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE) Conference in June. Amy Elder, Director of Career Services at Brock University, was apprehensive when Allen first approached her about the website. The first video Elder saw just happened to be from a Brock graduate. From there she got the idea that WorkStory.net would make a rich database if they could get more alumni to post their own work stories on the website. Brock had a program called ‘Alumni Sharing Knowledge’ that was simply a database listing alumni names and where they worked. Elder says that, while other information such as salary range and position title were sometimes provided, “it was pretty dry information.” With WorkStory.net Elder says students get the information they really want to hear, such as a “day in the life” of the job they’re interested in. She also says the site is a useful tool in the early Fall 2 0 1 2

stages of searching for a career path. Elder says the problem most students have seems to be knowing where to start, and they often end up relying on job boards.

“It’s a great way to talk about the school they went “What I’m hoping is that when we get literally to,” Elder says. “So it’s kind of a nice way for them hundreds and hundreds of these that, combined to contribute as an alumnus in a non-financial way.” with the text stories, this will allow you to click variants of the stories’ tags and allow you to see a Jeff Watson, Employer Relationship Developer at whole bunch of work blends and maybe one that “We tell them to network, to ask for information Western, says they’ve used the website in a similar will inspire you,” she says. interviews. That’s very scary to them,” she says. manner by incorporating it into their Career Week. Allen encourages anyone who is happy in their Elder says WorkStory.net is similar to a mini“We wanted to give WorkStory more visibility. job to create a WorkStory—either text-based information interview without “the scary part of We actually included it in our web feature on or video. Who knows? Maybe you’ll end up calling somebody and asking them for 10 minutes each day,” says Watson. “If we were doing providing just the inspiration a new graduate of their time.” programming that involved a living library event, needs. CO then we featured a librarian as the work story.” Encountering students on a regular basis who Fraser Tripp is a Carleton University might be afraid to branch out, Elder believes that WorkStory.net has featured employees from journalism student. with WorkStory.net available, they could learn about specific companies, such as Golder Associates, a day on the life of somebody in a specific industry. “The site is only going to be as good as how well it’s populated. So if you go on and there are 50 videos, that’s a whole different ball game than if there are 5,000 videos,” she says.

who described their jobs and the paths they took to get them. By partnering with companies and other organizations, the site is able to offer them free exposure and help with their recruiting processes, while also providing a wider range of options for website visitors.

To help with that, they plan on asking alumni to create videos on the spot when they come to network at Brock’s Smart Finish Conference.

While the main objective of the website is to inspire, Allen admits that one video won’t change someone’s life.

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For more information, please visit: WorkStory.net, uwo.ca, brocku.ca, careeroptionsmagazine.com. Or contact WorkStory through email (admin@workstory.net), Twitter (@workstory) or Facebook (facebook.com/workstory).

helping you

By Sharon Ferriss

find your path Career centres help with more than just resumés

» research careers

« « understand your skills «

« » «

« Fall 20 12

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polish your resumé

job shadow

prepare for interviews

gain experience

hether you’re just starting a degree or set to graduate this year, you’re going to need the best advice on how to plan your career—and land that dream job. Your university or college career centre may be one of the best-kept secrets on campus.

The majority of students who use their career centres come for the resumé consultations. But this only skims the surface. What services are offered will vary by centre, but most can provide you with help and individual counselling on topics such as researching careers, understanding your skills, gaining work experience, preparing for interviews and more. One high-impact offering that has grown exponentially at the University of Alberta is job shadowing. During Reading Week, more than 100 employers bring students into the workplace for one to four days to experience “a day in the life,” says Blessie Mathew, Manager of Career Education at CAPS: Your U of A Career Centre. She says opportunities like this help students to get a clearer idea of their career goals. As a specialized career centre, York University’s Schulich School of Business Career Development Centre delivers “concierge services,” says Executive Director Joseph Palumbo. For example, if you’re interviewing with CIBC, the centre can arrange for an alumnus who works for the bank to coach you. Schulich also places a focus on soft skills such as dining etiquette, dressing for success, and the dos and don’ts of social media. Students can even participate in wine, beer or scotch appreciation events. “It’s about rounding out the skills to get an edge to get in the door and stay in the door,” says Palumbo. At Laval University, more than 70 percent of students across 17 faculties are registered with the career centre, but many use only the job board. Students can be disappointed if they don’t see postings that they can directly connect to their field, such as philosophy, says André Raymond, Associate Director of Laval’s placement service. “We have to explain to them that we offer much more,” he says.

Visit early, visit often Career service professionals agree: many students don’t use their career centre until it’s too late to gain the full benefits. “We see the most students when they start looking for summer work, or for work after graduation,” says Mathew. “Then they are scrambling, trying to figure out what they’re going to do.” She would like to see an increase in the number of first-, second- and third-year undergraduate students, as well as students just starting on their graduate degrees, using the centre—which, she adds, is open throughout the summer. Raymond believes a big reason students don’t visit sooner is that they underestimate how challenging a job search can be. “Very often they arrive when they are disappointed with their search,” he says. “They think they only have to make a resumé and respond to a job posting. Also they think it is very easy to pass an interview, until they fail the first one.”

Career O ptions

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Career development never ends “Your career doesn’t start when you graduate— it’s unrolling in front of you when you set foot on campus,” says Mathew. University is your chance to find out what you like and don’t like and to build connections. Palumbo wants students to understand that “career development is a lifelong process. The sooner you start, the better.” He says students can expect to change careers many times: organizations, industries, locations. What’s key is to identify your skills, your brand proposition to employers, and the market conditions. “The 30-year career with one firm is pretty much dead,” says Palumbo, but a 30-year career in marketing, accounting or supply chain is what students need to manage. “Every decision is a career decision,” is a message that students receive at Nova Scotia Community College.

“Your career doesn’t start when you graduate—it’s unrolling in front of you when you set foot on campus.” “Career development is about ‘who am I’ and how that relates to the world of work,” says Laurie Edwards, Director of Career Development at the college. Her colleague Clarence DeSchiffart, NSCC’s Co-ordinator of Career and Essential Skills Services, says his school takes a “whole person” approach to career counselling. This means helping students with self-awareness so they can make the best decisions in the context of life circumstances, whether that’s caring for children or aging parents. “We want people to feel empowered to handle change,” he says.

Beyond the career centre Today’s students are likely accessing the services of their career centre without actually knowing it. A trend among career centres is to work closely with faculty (who have the trust and attention of students) to integrate career learning into the classroom. At the Schulich School of Business, all MBAs and undergraduate students use a tool called CareerLeader as part of their course work to explore their interests, motivators and skills. Students learn the basics about themselves: “Who are you, what are your strengths, and what is the best place to apply those strengths,” says Palumbo. Outside its central career centre, the University of Alberta now has a career development officer within the Faculty of Arts to help students with career education and work experience tailored to their fields. Another satellite office is set to open within the Faculty of Science. Many university career centres, including Laval, are increasingly using technology to deliver career services. Laval puts its workshops, on topics such as writing resumés and cover letters, on YouTube. With more students doing distance courses or studying part-time, Laval has also begun to provide online counselling via a Skype-like system with video webcam.

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Nova Scotia Community College is moving towards offering more opportunities for informal career discussions, such as coffee clubs and lunch ’n’ learns.

Career counsellors don’t bite (really) It’s understandable that students aren’t aware of their school’s career centre. “Students can get overwhelmed with the amount of information that gets thrown at them in the first couple of weeks,” says Mathew. Once students do see a career counsellor, they are often pleasantly surprised. “They’re used to formality and bureaucracy at university. But we’re not about dates and deadlines,” Palumbo says about his Schulich career centre staff. “We’re very warm, easy to get to know, and interested in them as individuals and in their careers.” Palumbo says it’s not easy, especially for undergrads, to ask for help. They might ask their parents or their own networks, but they think, “I don’t see my buddies in the career office, so why should I go?” He says it’s a misconception—and that all students can benefit from career services. However, the onus remains on the student to take the initiative, says DeSchiffart. “No one person has all the answers. Let’s do this together.” CO Sharon Ferriss is the Director of Marketing, Web and New Media at the Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling, a charitable organization that advances education and research in career counselling and career development.

For more information, please visit: ceric.ca, caps.ualberta.ca, yorku.ca/careers, spla.ulaval.ca, nscc.ca, careeroptionsmagazine.com

By Kakwiranó:ron Cook

De-mystifying university allows Aboriginal youth to visualize themselves in

higher education

n the flanks of Mount Royal in the city of Montreal, outreach to Aboriginal youth has taken strong root at McGill University and has since spread branches across Turtle Island. Over the last six years, the university has proactively committed to improving educational outcomes for Aboriginal youth in both urban and rural communities across the country, one student at a time. As the Aboriginal Community Outreach Coordinator, I’m happy to report that this is one of the most gratifying posts I can imagine having at McGill.

De-mystifying the university experience years before students would actually be ready to apply is significant. By inviting Aboriginal youth to experience life at McGill, we strive to help them envision themselves here, or at any other institution. Our dedicated team at the First Peoples’ House achieves this with the collaboration of McGill students, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, as well as alumni, staff, 44

Fall 2012

faculty and administrators, all of whom serve as role models and donate their time and energy to create and facilitate on- and off-campus invitational events. Through these, Aboriginal students aged 12 to 18 have gotten to explore their career interests through interactive workshops and camps hosted by a wide array of McGill representatives.

125 Aboriginal students from Montreal area high schools, who come to enjoy the festivities and glimpse what it’s like to study physical education, physical and occupational therapy, or social work at McGill. Many young lacrosse players from the two nearby Mohawk territories also get a chance to meet and play with members of the Redmen lacrosse team, who have a dedicated Aboriginal liaison.

Nothing speaks more clearly to youth than hearing directly from McGill’s Director of Admissions about the university’s commitment to increasing enrolment of Aboriginal students. Along with the testimonials of current Aboriginal students and discussions with the sole Native professor at the university, these messages will hopefully stay with the youth as they make their way through the rest of high school and prepare for post-secondary studies.

In the spring, we host our premiere outreach event, the Eagle Spirit High Performance Camp. With an equal split between athletics and academics, the goal of the camp is to promote post-secondary studies while emphasizing a balance between healthy mind and healthy body. We focus on health-related careers and partner with the McGill Faculty of Medicine to offer the 30 or so campers from across Canada a truly hands-on experience. In the anatomy lab, nothing gets to the bare bones of what it’s like to be a medical student like holding human hearts, lungs, livers and, well, actual bones in your hands. Even as a thirty-something adult, I

On campus, we host outreach events throughout the academic year, starting with the McGill Pow-Wow in September. We welcome about careeroptionsmagazine.com

still find the experience to be quite stunning, and can only imagine what an impression it must leave on a high school student considering a career in medicine. Just last week I accompanied a group of Mohawk youth from Kahnawake who were invited to visit McGill’s Douglas Hospital to see, learn about and hold human brains in Canada’s only brain bank, and to talk with neuroscience researchers about their work. As McGill’s Aboriginal student recruiter, I get the opportunity to travel across the country to attend recruitment events. So far, I’ve set up in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Alberta and the Northwest Territories. We also sponsor a booth at one of Indspire’s bi-annual Soaring: Indigenous Youth Career Conference events, where approximately 500 to 1,000 high school students will show up depending on the location. While on the road, I schedule community visits wherever feasible to talk with youth, parents, teachers, coaches and guidance counsellors about McGill, and even deliver career exploration workshops when time permits. Here in my home province, I travel to the annual Quebec Aboriginal Science Fair with the McGill chapter of

Aboriginal people are Canada’s fastest growing demographic.

Let’s Talk Science, which provides excellent and stimulating hands-on workshops. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for Aboriginal youth to imagine themselves in higher education. The challenges can be significant—in one Cree community in Quebec that I visited last year, the principal told me that they hadn’t had a high school graduate in the previous three years. Initially I found it shocking, but it gave me pause to reflect; I myself was the only graduate among 12 Native students who started at my high school just off the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where I grew up. I attribute my perseverance not only to all the support I got from family and in school, but also to the role models and mentors who came through my young life.

Career O ptions

McGill is taking a long-term approach to encourage Aboriginal participation in higher education, which will in turn help Canada meet its increasing demand for human resources— after all, Aboriginal people are Canada’s fastest growing demographic. I find the increasing number of eager McGill volunteers to be inspiring, and I wholeheartedly encourage you to forge a pathway for Aboriginal youth into your organization. The goal here is to engage Aboriginal youth as a friendly, inclusive partner. CO

Kakwiranó:ron Cook is a member of both the Akwesasne Mohawk and Oglala Lakota Sioux Nations, and has served as McGill University’s Aboriginal Community Outreach Coordinator and Career Advisor since February 2010.

For more information, please visit: mcgill.ca/fph, mcgill.ca/deanofstudents/ aboriginaloutreach, indspire.ca, careeroptionsmagazine.com

Fall 2 0 1 2

HelpX

By Jasmine Irwin

helps those who help themselves

that the host may later browse. Once registered, the helper can sift through postings and contact hosts offering jobs that interest them. Because of the slow economy, it’s been hard for young professionals to find work directly out of university or college. Taking a gap year to travel the world or pursue an unpaid internship appeals to many, but can also break the bank when it comes to living expenses. HelpX provides an interesting alternative: you can travel as little or as much as you want and try your hand at a variety of different vocations—all while living for free (except for the cost of transportation). HelpX commitments vary in length—it can be difficult to find a placement for less than one or two weeks, and they can last up to a year. Hosts often offer longer stays in exchange for teaching skills, such as how to build a house addition. A lot of helpers choose to stay at a variety of placements to offset the cost of long-term traveling and experience new jobs.

However, when I returned home and visited the website, I learned that HelpX acts as a liaison between independent hosts (families or employers seeking assistance in return for housing) and helpers (labourers looking for the opportunity to stay somewhere new) for a minimal, one-time fee. The well-known organization WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) operates on similar principles, but with a focus on organic farming. HelpX is much more varied; hosts offer positions that include hostel receptionist, goat herder and childcare worker.

“Flexibility is key,” says Ali Tamlit, a 24-year-old student and HelpXer from England. “Patience and a willingness to give things a go can lead you to enjoy an experience that was initially not so good.” Tamlit and his girlfriend, Frances Kelsey, took a I was stunned at the sheer number of postings; year between their undergraduate and masters there are thousands of them, organized by degrees to spend eight months traveling Europe, geographical region. A prospective helper could HelpXing along the way in Austria, Slovenia, garden in Alberta, tend sheep in Ireland, assist in Turkey and France. They mostly worked in an elementary school in Morocco—the possibilities landscaping and childcare, but also helped seemed endless. This was exactly what I’d been with sheepherding in Austria. looking for. If you want to tailor your HelpX experience to Several months later, I spent two beautiful weeks further your career development in specific areas, working outdoors in southern France, staying in a that is absolutely possible. Many HelpX placements 17th-century farmhouse surrounded by vineyards. I take place in the areas of small business, am certain it will not be my last HelpX experience. agriculture, building and hospitality. Have open communication with hosts regarding your skill HelpX.net launched in 2001 and has grown steadily set, and propose ideas around how you can use ever since. The site isn’t flashy or aesthetically them in your placement. For example, if you are a arranged, but is very easy to navigate. Hosts post marketing and communications major, ask a host profiles of varying length and detail—some include if you could spearhead a publicity and advertising pictures and lengthy descriptions of their home and campaign. Hosts can review your effort, and their the job, while others are very minimal. The standard endorsement could be valuable when moving arrangement between host and helper is five to forward into the workplace. eight hours of work for five or six days a week; these terms are dependent on each host’s needs Even if career development is not your specific and practices. To access host contact information objective, it’s hard to come out of a HelpX and read reviews, the user pays a ‘Premiership’ fee, placement without experiencing some remarkable which grants them a two-year HelpX membership skills and growth. “My interpersonal skills grew in for 20 euros (around 25 dollars). In doing so, the just the few weeks that I did HelpX,” says Kelly user constructs a helper profile, which details if Agnew, a student from Virginia who did a placement they are traveling alone, with a friend or as a couple. this spring. “I was exposed to new experiences that The helper can list skills, qualifications and interests have made me a more adaptable person.”

careeroptionsmagazine.com

‘‘I

just wish there was a simple, hasslefree way for me to work somewhere interesting in return for food and lodging,” I said to a friend as we waited for a train in Barcelona. We were both students on exchange in France for the spring, and I was trying to plan what to do for the short period after school in Europe ended but before my summer job in Canada began.

“Well, that exists,” she told me. “It’s called HelpX. Look it up.” I was initially skeptical—I had never heard of HelpX or met anyone who had tried it. Most international volunteer organizations I researched presented mazes of administrative red tape, sometimes with hefty participation fees.

Fall 2012

more tips on HelpX-ing »

/ Location: Look for placements in an area where you want to spend some quality time! There are HelpX locations all around the world, with concentrations in North America, Europe and Australia. It is less common for developing countries to have HelpX placements, but they certainly exist and are growing in number. You don’t need to go abroad to participate in HelpX; there are over 300 hosts in Canada, from the Yukon to P.E.I. If you’re interested in traveling between HelpX stints or on your days off, it’s important to consider transportation options in the area of your host’s location. Hosts are often unable or reluctant to make frequent trips to a train station that might be hours away. Working on a gorgeous and remote Croatian island is incredibly appealing—however, that makes it hard to go on fun, tourist day trips.

2 / Hosts: Premier members can look at host reviews left by

former helpers. “For a first time I’d go for a HelpX with a lot of recent, positive reviews, and for a profile which is comprehensive,” says Frances Kelsey, a British student who has been travelling and HelpX-ing for more than eight months. “For example, it should explain what you’ll be expected to do, how many hours, what you could do on your days off, what the accommodation will be like, etc.” When contacting a host, ask as many questions as you need to get a complete picture of what the placement entails before you commit. Be respectful and honest when it comes to what hosts are seeking— if they require someone with cement and construction experience, don’t apply based on your Grade 9 woodshop class.

/ Safety: I chose to try HelpX by myself, which as a young woman was fraught with the standard dangers of any solo travel. I chose my first placement in a family environment only a few hours from my ‘home base.’ There are many placements available for couples or friends, which would make for a great trip. If you’re HelpXing alone (which is also a blast), just ensure you leave the contact information of your host with someone at home in case of a problem.

/ Preparation: Some countries (like Australia) require a work visa for volunteer labour. Make sure you check out the visa requirements before leaving home. Bring work clothes and footwear— one of my friends had to mulch in the outfits she brought for springtime in Paris. She sure looked cute but tomato plants didn’t appreciate it.

I hope I’ve served the same purpose my friend did while we waited for the train all that time ago, giving a small piece of information that could lead someone else to a big adventure. The beautiful thing about HelpX is it is there for you whenever you’re ready, for as long as you want. The sheep in Ireland are waiting… CO

Jasmine Irwin is a media and public interest student at Western University. For more information, please visit: helpx.net, wwoof.org, careeroptionsmagazine.com

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