jobpostings Magazine (Oct. 2012, Vol. 15, Issue 2)

OCTOBER 2012 | VOLUME 15

ISSUE 2 | CAREERS I

page special report

ls Aboriginea in th workplace

Take this touchscreen and sell it

Demand for electronics means tech retail jobs on the rise

risky business

LEARN HOW TO BET ON YOUR FUTURE

The Change Generation Gen Ys are fighting for respect, for their careers, and for their futures

JOBPOSTINGS.CA

*4 -YEAR

BACHELOR OF COMMERCE PROGRAMS

10 DEGREES * OF CHOICE DECIDE ON YOUR SPECIALTY AFTER TWO COMMON YEARS OF BUSINESS STUDIES.

VIEW YOUR CHOICES AT BUSINESS.HUMBER.CA/DEGREES

1

ACCOUNTING

2

E-BUSINESS MARKETING

3

FASHION MANAGEMENT

4

FINANCE

5

HOSPITALITY & TOURISM MANAGEMENT

6

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

7

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

8

MANAGEMENT STUDIES

9

MARKETING

10 SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

OUR PEOPLE ARE AS DIVERSE AS OUR CAREER OPPORTUNITIES Shell employs a diverse mix of men and women of different nationalities and ethnic groups, orientations, backgrounds, abilities and cultures because we believe that every individual has something valuable to offer.

We understand that the more diverse the workforce, the wider the variety of ideas we bring to the table and the better we understand our increasingly varied customer base.

For more than 20 years Shell Canada has partnered with Indspire, formerly the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (NAAF), to support and recognize Aboriginal people in pursuit of their goals.

Through Indspire’s Shell Aboriginal Scholarship Program and the Oil and Gas Trades and Technology Bursary Program, we help Aboriginal students achieve their educational goals. To learn more about scholarships, visit www.indspire.ca.

To learn how you can become part of a diverse, international network comprising some of the finest minds in the business, visit www.shell.ca/careers.

Let’s deliver better energy solutions together.

There’s lots of excitement in store for you as Executive Team Leader.

We’re getting our Store Leadership team in place and are seeking ambitious people who can create the best shopping experience for our guests. If you have a passion for developing dynamic, sales-driven teams and are looking to grow your career, we can’t wait to hear from you.

Join our team. Expect the best.

target.ca/careers © 2012 Target Brands, Inc. Target and the Bullseye Design are registered trade-marks of Target Brands, Inc.

FASHION MANAGEMENT & PROMOTIONS POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICATE From retail management to logistics: this program offers the unique skills you will need to launch your career as a(n): • • • .

Fashion Buyer Logistics Coordinator Product Development Manager Visual Merchandiser

WORKS.

business.humber.ca

The Change Generation Change. We’ve grown up with it. Since we were little, computers have grown smaller, the economy’s gotten tougher, and the Power Rangers have cycled through an innumerable amount of Zords. We’ve even grown used to the idea of climate change—something no one would have thought of fifty years ago.

And now, employers are increasingly looking for multidisciplinary work experiences—people who can wear a hard hat one day and a bowler the next.

TABLE OF CONTENTS JOBPOSTINGS.CA Aboriginal special report 21 Inclusion works

Inclusion Works is a networking event, job fair, and convention. Jobpostings investigates this event, which promotes inclusive work environments for Aboriginal employees.

24 Get some roots

The Canadian Roots Exchange shows Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals the cultural wealth of the First Nations Peoples.

27 Inclusion @ Work

We profile a sample of Canada’s most Aboriginal-friendly workplaces and share why they make the grade.

Industry reports 38 FIND YOUR INNER MANAGER

Management training programs are on the rise across Canada.

40 Call us, maybe?

Learn about the business of turning a consumer’s “maybe” into a “yes.”

JOBPOSTINGS.CA | OCTOBER 2012

42 SELL this touchscreen

A growing demand for electronic devices means more jobs in tech retail.

10 Interview Smarts

James McKay, at BMO asks, “What’s your career defining accomplishment?”

11 CRUNCHING NUMBERS

Check out our infographics page that shares our latest job search statistics.

12 Success Stories

Michael Gore-Hickman, a franchisee with College Pro, shares his story of finding success in running his own business. Sponsored by Rogers Wireless.

16 Risky business

Learn how to manage risk when betting on your future.

45 Edu-ma-cation

Learn how to climb the ladder—we profile business management diplomas.

48 Start up

Kenshi Arasaki, of A Thinking Ape, shares his experience starting a mobilegaming app company.

Thought Jobpostings was only a magazine? Think again. We’re a 24/7, job-hunting, career-launching, school-acing machine— both in print and online. Head over to jobpostings.ca to check out these web exclusives (and much, much more): FIVE RETAIL MYTHS FROM THE MOVIES Retail’s one of the fastest-growing industries in Canada. So why, then, do many consider it a dead-end job? We blame it on Hollywood. We tackle some of the biggest misconceptions about the retail industry—by going all Mythbusters on Clerks, Pretty Woman, Empire Records, American Beauty, and more.

CERTIFYING SATISFYING CAREERS Becoming a certified general accountant doesn’t mean you’ll be relegated to the 64th floor in a faceless corporate tower (though there isn’t anything wrong with that). It can also bring you closer to extracurricular passions—including a career in the high-flying fine arts world.

THE SALESMAN: ALEC BALDWIN VS. JIM HALPERT Any proper salesperson will tell you that their work is part labour, part art. Each salesperson, too, will have their own technique, their own styles, and their own strengths. So we deconstruct the sales technique of two pop-culture salesman: The Office’s Jim Halpert and Glengarry Glen Ross’s Blake. Who’s the better salesperson? You decide.

Images: © iStock.com

GLOBAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICATE From marketing to finance; from advertising to international trade; this program offers the unique skills you need to launch your career in: • • • • • • •

Marketing Finance Advertising International Trade Retail Wholesale Supply Chain Management

business.humber.ca

WHO'SHIRING 01

Shell

02

Target

20

CN

23

BMO Capital Markets

26

TD Bank Financial Group

Masthead publisher

Nathan Laurie nlaurie@jobpostings.ca

29 Edmonton International Airport

associate publisher

29

Talisman Energy

33

College Pro

37

Sun Life Financial

39

Canon

41

Petsmart

41

Insight

David Tal dtal@jobpostings.ca @DavidTalWrites

43

The Source

IBC

The Home Depot

Graphic Designer

Mark Laurie mlaurie@jobpostings.ca

editor

Anthony Capano acapano@jobpostings.ca

schoolshowcase 14

web editor

Mark Teo mteo@jobpostings.ca

St. George’s University

DEVELOPER

schoolINDEX IFC

Search for your next job at

Humber, The Business School (Undergrad)

Humber, The Business School, Global Business

07 Humber, The Business

School, Event Management 09

Humber, The Business School, Alternative Dispute Resolution

46

Humber, School of Media Studies and Information Technology

46

Centennial College

47

Brock University

47

Niagara College

47

Queens University

47

Ross University

47

American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine

47

Sheridan College

OBC

Humber, The Business School (Postgrad)

GENERALADs 13

Rogers Wireless

18 Insurance Institute of Canada 44

ACE Canada

JOBPOSTINGS.CA | OCTOBER 2012

contributors

Lisa Charleyboy, Amir Ahmed, Ofelia Legaspi, Rasheed Clarke, Ariadna Levin

03 Humber, The Business

School, Fashion Management 05

Mishraz Ammad Bhounr mhounr@jobpostings.ca

national account manager Mary Vanderpas

1ST & 2ND YEAR

EDUCATION ACCOUNT MANAGER Shannon Tracey

HARDER. BETTER. FASTER. STRONGER.

GUIDE

MASTER FOUR NEW SKILLS TO MAKE SCHOOL A BREEZE

The sunny side of networking

interns

Christina Wang, Daniele Alcinii, Rebecca Spence, Erika Jarvis, Alex Guibord, Autumn Ladouceur, Paul Schroeder

Published by Passion Inc. 25 Imperial Street, Suite 100 Toronto, ON M5P 1B9 jobpostings.ca 1-877-900-5627 ext. 221

Renovate your résumé Busting the B.A. bias

1st and 2nd Year Career Planning Guide

Are you new to the university and college lifestyle? Feeling a Stay ahead of little the stressed? Don’t fret. Be on the look out for this free guide, game found in your career centre next to Jobpostings Magazine.

FALL 2012

Jobpostings Magazine is published eight times in the school year. Issue dates are September, October, November, January, February, March, April, and May. Copies of jobpostings are distributed to over 105 universities and colleges across Canada.

Contents of this publication are protected by copyright and may not be reprinted in whole or part without permission of the publishers.

You fool! This isn’t even my final form!

EVENT MANAGEMENT POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICATE From trade shows to cultural festivals; from sporting events to fashion shows; from conferences and meetings to weddings: this program offers the unique skills you need to launch your career as an: • • • • • • • •

Event Coordinator Marketing Assistant Special Events Organizer Promotion Coordinator Account Representative Trade Show Planner Conference Coordinator Corporate Meeting Planner

business.humber.ca

EDITORS NOTE

08

EDITOR’S NOTE

Born for

DAVID TAL

change

An aspiring novelist. A film and video editor.

A film lighting technician. A human resources management student. A government communications officer. A magazine editor. Looking back, I’ll admit that my career probably looks like one big hot mess.

I don’t feel too bad, however. That’s because over the years I’ve found that I’m not alone.

Eccentric careers like mine are becoming more and more the norm. Gone are the days where one started their career early and stayed with one company for a lifetime. Gone are the days of marrying young, mortgaging young, and multiplying young. Gone are the days where most people can expect to pay off their student loans before their 30s or even expect that their educations will sufficiently prepare them for the real world of work.

Some in our parents’ generation say that we’re lazy, entitled, self-obsessed dreamers who have it too easy. Ahem. Let’s take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

The reality is that decades of our parents’ generation demanding low taxes without sacrificing government services to pay for said tax cuts have left our governments cash-poor and saddled with enormous debt. This (along with decades of questionable monetary policies) has increased inflation steadily to a point where a household can no longer comfortably live off of one income, can no longer easily pay off or even afford mortgages, and don’t even talk about large families. And with less children paying into the pyramid scheme of social security, the entire system will be bankrupt long before we’ll be able to enjoy it when we retire.

Us, entitled? I think not! It wasn’t our generation that tanked the economy, nor was it ours that bailed it out. The reason we don’t act like our parents’ generation is because their spoiled lifestyle no longer exists. We have to chart a new path, a new lifestyle, all while adapting to a time where science and technology reinvents the world every five to ten years.

In this world, it pays to look out for yourself.

But more important, it pays to be a dreamer, because our generation is just hungry enough to make those big dreams a reality.

That’s why in this issue we chat with students and recent grads, professors and recruiters, to explore the central theme of our generation: change.

As well, this issue carries a special report on Aboriginal youth in the workplace. Overall, the Canadian Aboriginal community is championing a wealth of new business and cultural initiatives. A large reason for this is the make up of its population—compared to the rest of the country, the Aboriginal community is far younger and growing at an impressive rate. If given the right resources and support, these Aboriginal youth are poised to become tomorrow’s leaders. In this report, we devoted five pages to exploring the opportunities Aboriginal youth are taking advantage of to succeed.

Read on, friends.

The Change Generation’s flightiness might just be a side effect of its undeniable ambition Gen Y currently makes up 23% of the workforce.

By 2020, this figure will be 40%

40

But only 57% feel they have “total control” over their careers

80%

%

76%

of Gen Ys expect to reach a senior position in their careers

24%

of Gen Ys expect to have “at least three” career changes

57%

23 %

2012

2014

2016

2018

JOBPOSTINGS.CA | OCTOBER 2012

2020

80% of Gen Y want to have “total control” over their careers

A Bank of Montreal study found that 41% of 18- to 34-yearolds surveyed expect to stop working before age 60.

Sources: n-gen Generational Index Report, Ottawa Business Journal, Sunlife Financial

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICATE Get the hands-on training and skills you need to add to your current career, start your own practice or launch a career as an: • • • • • •

Arbitrator Community Outreach Coordinator Conciliator Conflict Resolution Facilitator Employee Relations Officer Mediator

business.humber.ca

INTERVIEW SMARTS

James McKay Diversity Recruiter, Aboriginal Peoples, BMO Search and Recruitment Group, Human Resources Division at BMO Financial Group

"Stay away from generalizing and be as specific as you can" So you screwed up in the interview, huh? They asked the ol’ “What’s your greatest weakness” question and you answered with “cupcakes,” hoping to get a laugh. Awkward. Lucky for you we have friends on the inside—recruiting friends (the people who’ll be interviewing you). It cost us a few favours, but they finally agreed to explain why they ask what they ask, and what the best answers are. It’s a cheatsheet for interviews. Good luck!

“Of all of the things you’ve accomplished in your career, what stands out as the most significant? Or, what’s your career-defining accomplishment?”

I ask this question because, if answered well, it can tell me almost all I need to know about a candidate. To get a good answer, I will probe for “facts” and look for details of your accomplishment. That’s why it’s important that you prep well in advance with the facts and results that will really make your accomplishment stand out over others.

To help you do this, I’ve prepared a list of questions you should ask yourself when preparing for this question. If you can answer them all, then your accomplishment will shine on their own merits. To be clear, the successful candidates that I’ve hired in the past answered the question by ensuring they covered the following points:

JOBPOSTINGS.CA | OCTOBER 2012

10. What technical skills were needed to accomplish the task, and what skills did you learn?

1.

Why were you chosen for this role? Did you volunteer? If so, why?

2.

What was your actual role in this project?

3.

What was the situation you faced when you took on the project?

4.

When did this take place and at what company?

13. In retrospect, what would you do differently if you could?

5.

What was your actual title? Who were the people on the team? What was your supervisor’s title?

6.

Describe the environment, the pace, the resources available, your boss, and the level of professionalism.

Stay away from generalizing and be as specific as you can. Focus on what you did and what was accomplished. Try and think about how you went above and beyond the call of duty.

7.

What were three or four challenges you had to overcome?

8.

What were the actual results obtained and did you meet your plan?

Try to tell a story—that way it will sound more natural to the interviewer. And if you’re proud and passionate about your accomplishments, let that enthusiasm and energy shine through while you’re telling the story.

9.

Give examples of where you had to influence or where you persuaded others to change their opinion.

If you’re well prepared and confident when this question comes up, you’ll be able to give an answer that’s both impressive and memorable.

11. How long did it take to complete the task?

12. What did you like the most and least?

CRUNCHING NUMBERS

11

CRUNCHIN’

NUMBERS SO YOU’RE Looking for a job?

The top three sources of new hires are

So you want a job? Well, you could pound the pavement and shove your résumé into the mailbox of every store you find, or you could use science. We at Jobpostings have gathered the tastiest morsels of data to get you the latest job search statistics.

I want a job, but I don’t want to leave the house.

I got the job! How do I get out?

60% of Gen Yers are looking for another job. Even though 57% are satisfied with their current job. 70% of recent graduates will leave their first job after two years.

Referrals | cOMPANY sites | job boards Referrals are sometimes hard to come by.

How do other students search for jobs?

A job site isn’t a bad place to start. In a survey

by DECODE & Brainstorm, students answered that their top most helpful sites were:

40% 35% 20% 16%

CAMPUS CAREER CENTRE EMPLOYER WEBSITE

WORKOPOLIS MONSTER

You can work virtually. In 2008, 7.8% of businesses worked virtually. In 2009, it was 18.3%.

If a company sees my facebook page, won’t they reject me?

Maybe. The best advice is to simply shield your Facebook profile from searches to keep your personal life personal. If you must have it open for everyone, the following are the most common things HR staff would like people to do on their profiles:

LinkedIn, facebook, career builder and 13 other sites follow behind

36% 60% 56%

Can I use social media in the job search?

Life sure seems a lot harder, doesn’t it?

13% JOBPOSTINGS

Get rid of political and religious affiliation Hide personal pictures Delete offensive content on your wall

That’s because it is. In a Pew Survey, 82% of the public say it’s harder for young adults today than it was for their parents.

80%

of companies used Linkedin to find talent.

Facebook (50%) & Twitter (45%) followed.

That’s depressing. Can you give me some good news?

According to stats, your odds are only one in 11.5 million of being eaten by a shark this year.

75% harder to save for future 71% harder to pay for college 69% harder to buy a home

Sources: links.visibli.com, youngupstarts.com, images.experience.com, careerenlightenment.com, comerecommended.com, www.sixwise.com

OCTOBER 2012 | JOBPOSTINGS.CA

SUCCESS STORIES

12

SUCCESS STORIES

Sponsored by

Michael Gore-Hickman

From left to right: Brad Copes, Business Manager, Michael Gore-Hickman, Franchisee, Rodney Larmand, President

Where did you go to school? What program did you attend?

I attended the University of Saskatchewan, Edwards School of Business, and earned a bachelor degree in commerce marketing.

What drew you into your current field?

A friend of mine heard a class talk about the job. When she told me about it, I thought I would be a good fit so she signed me up. I received a call that night and then went to meet Brad and Danny at the College Pro booth.

I filled out an application form; I had three interviews; a week later, I was hired.

Tell us a bit about your responsibilities: For the past two years I have run a franchise—an entire painting company. I found work, made sure customers were happy, hired painters and a production manager to help move around equipment, and I bought all of my painting equipment (about $20,000 worth of equipment). The biggest day-to-day responsibility I have is keeping the people I hire busy. You promise a hard-working 19-year-old a job for the whole summer and you have to deliver. I managed to never run out of work during the past two years.

What is the most challenging aspect of your position?

Throughout the month of May there is so much to do and you are the only person who

JOBPOSTINGS.CA | OCTOBER 2012

Company: College Pro Position: Franchisee Length of employment: 2 years Degree: Bachelor of Commerce Marketing

can do it right. This involves training your painters and making sure they are working.

It is surprising what you have to tell people not to do, otherwise they will do it. During May you have the stress of looking for work while getting your painters and business set up. That is the biggest hurdle you face, and if you can overcome it, it’s pretty much smooth sailing from there.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

One of the most rewarding aspects is the pay-off at the end of the year. I also love developing my employees. Last year, one of my painters was selected as a franchisee for the following year, and he is on his way to the President’s Awards ceremony. The reward you get from developing people is similar to being a teacher. I also love driving around town and seeing all the painting jobs I’ve done.

What skills have you learned through your work experience?

College Pro has changed my life. I wouldn’t be in the position I am today, met the people I’ve met, or know I am capable of doing the things I am planning on doing if it wasn’t for what College Pro has taught me. Now I know I can run a small company if I was ever to be put in that position. In the past, I was more of an employee: now, I am an employer.

What do you think it takes to be successful in this career?

Perseverance is what it boils down to. You can do anything you set your mind to, but if you think you’re going to fail, you’re going to fail.

You can’t ever give up. Of course it’s hard, but you have to see the light at the end of the tunnel and figure out the things you have to do to get there.

Is there one accomplishment you are most proud of to date?

I have grown the College Pro brand in my area. I have been getting calls from bigger commercial clients who got my number through word of mouth. I am proud of the name I’ve developed for myself in Saskatoon.

What are your future career aspirations?

I am going into a full-time role with College Pro in September. I will be responsible for recruiting, hiring, training, and the overall success of the College Pro operations throughout Saskatchewan, while still running my own franchise.

What advice do you have for students looking for their first job?

Don’t be afraid of challenges. If the job looks hard, or looks like you may not succeed, you should give it a try anyways, because that’s the only way (and the best way) you’ll learn.

Also, never ever say the words “I can’t.” I’ve been told that too many times over the past two years and it turns out I could, and I did.

LIFESTYLE

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TUNES

STREAMING

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BREATHTAKING

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TUNES BREATHTAKING CONNECT DOWNLOAD INSPIRE EXCITING

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Creating World-Leading LIVE Internet INSPIRE LIFESTYLE Experiences.

UPLOAD CONNEC CONNECT CONNE CT T B R E AT H TA K I N G S H A R E

LIFESTYL

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STREAMING ACCESS

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CONNECT INSPIRE

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ONNECT

FESTYLE

DOWNLOAD SURF

Download speeds like you’ve never seen before.

WIRELESS LTE We were first to launch the lightning-like speeds of LTE in Canada – the fastest wireless network technology on the planet. With LTE you can download a song or a photo in under a second.1 So buckle up; the fastest-ever mobile internet speeds are now here.

So what’s next? If you’re with Rogers, you’ll be the first to know.

rogers.com/InternetExperiences

Rogers LTE network available in select Canadian cities. Visit www.rogers.com/coverage for details.

1 Times specified are approximations only and will vary depending on size and quality of content. Copyright © 2012 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved. ©2012 Rogers Communications.

TITLE

06

showcase

St. George’s University School of Medicine St. George’s University is an international institution of higher education in Grenada, West Indies, founded in 1976 as an independent School of Medicine. The University broadened its mission in the following years to offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in veterinary medicine, public health, science, business, and liberal studies.

Many St. George’s students come from Canada — over 700 Canadian students currently study at the university, alongside many permanent and visiting Canadian faculty.

They join students and faculty from 140 countries in the 43 academic programs offered at St. George’s.

Internationally accredited programs The university’s programs are marked by a strong network of affiliations with educational institutions worldwide, located in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Ireland.

St. George’s has been honored with numerous accreditations and approvals from international institutions and governing bodies including, in 2011, accreditation from the AVMA Council on Education for its School of Veterinary Medicine. The 12-year-old St. George’s Master of Public Health program is accredited by the U.S. Council on Education for Public Health, only the fifth institution outside the U.S. to receive this distinction.

Successful alumni Over 9,000 of St. George’s MD

JOBPOSTINGS.CA | OCTOBER 2012

graduates have practiced in over 45 countries in every medical specialty and subspecialty around the globe.

St. George’s graduates excel in all qualifying examinations. In 2010, the first-time pass rate for St. George’s U.S. and Canadian medical students on the USMLE Step 1 Exam was 94%, topping the overall rate of 92 % for all U.S. and Canadian medical schools.

Medical school curriculum St. George’s University provides a wide range of entry options and an extensive foundation for students with varied academic qualifications in the three-year premedical and four-year MD programs that lead to your Doctor of Medicine degree.

Students may enter St. George’s seven-year Bachelor of Science/ Doctor of Medicine program after high school through programs such as those offered through affiliations with the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Caldwell College. However, most students from North America who hold a bachelor’s degree with the appropriate premedical courses enter directly into the four-year medical program.

Most medical students will begin their study on Grenada’s True Blue campus. However, the Keith B. Taylor Global Scholars Program provides students with an opportunity to spend the first year of the four-year medical program in Newcastle, United Kingdom, on the Northumbria University cam-

pus. Immersed in the U.K. culture, students follow a program identical to the first-year program offered in Grenada, further encouraging their international experience.

anatomy labs, dormitories, lecture halls, and a research institute. In addition, all students have access to the 17,000-square-foot student centre, which houses a cafeteria, food court, offices for student organizations, a fitness centre, lockers, showers, and many more amenities.

The clinical sciences take place in the final two years. Students are placed at one of over 60 clinical centres and affiliated hospitals in the United States and the United Kingdom, All of which are done on services with approved postgraduate training programs.

The campus houses over 2,000 students. Free bus transportation is available from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. to accommodate students living off campus in various areas of the island.

Dual-degree options

Faculty

Students may choose to advance their knowledge in specific areas of medical study with dual-degree

St. George’s University has more than 1,700 faculty members, with over 400 based in the Basic Sci-

That’s the average, first-time pass rate St. George’s medical students achieve on the USMLE Step 1 Exam

programs offered within the School of Medicine: in public health (MD/ MPH), in the life sciences (MD/ MSc), or in business administration or international business (MD/ MBA).

Grenada campus The stunning True Blue campus is the heart of the university. This $250+ million state-of-the-art university community is located on the southwestern corner of Grenada, on a peninsula overlooking the Caribbean Sea. The wireless-enhanced campus has recently seen the construction of more than 65 new buildings, including a library,

ences part of the curriculum. Each year, more than 400 visiting scholars lecture in the School of Medicine; they come from institutions such as Cambridge University, Georgetown University, and Emory University.

Contact Information on the university is available at www.sgu.edu, and through YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter at StGeorgesU. Information about St. George’s that might be of particular interest to Canadian students, including videos of enrolled Canadian students, is also available on the university’s website.

SPONSORED BY ST.GEORGE’S UNIVERSITY

WHERE WE STAND STuDyiNg DivERSE pATiENT populATioNS HElpS STuDENTS pRoDucE Top uSMlE STEp 1 fiRST-TiME pASS RATES TESTiNg WEll AND KNoWiNg THE WoRlD EvEN BETTER Will MAKE you STAND ouT

©2012 St. George’s University

US/Canada: 1 (800) 899-6337 ext. 9 1280 sgu.edu/future-students • sguenrolment@ sgu.edu

Grenada, West Indies

RISKY BUSINESS

16

JOBPOSTINGS.CA | OCTOBER 2012

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RISKY BUSINESS

17

Learn how TO manage risk when betting on your future By: Rebecca Spence

A lot of successful entrepreneurs die at that stage. That’s where overconfidence comes into play.”

When 20-year-old Jason Duong was going into his third year of commerce at Dalhousie University in Halifax, he had an important decision to make. He was about to begin his second work-term when he had to choose between a job offer that could earn him close to $10,000, or an entrepreneurial co-op that could potentially net him anywhere between negative $10,000 and, well, who knows?

Before you read on, think about what kind of decision you would make if you were in this position. A cushy nine-to-five job at an established company paying $15 per hour doesn’t sound like a bad deal, does it? The steady income would help out with all those pesky expenses like tuition, food, and maybe even a few after-work pints. Needless to say, it’s a safe route with very little risk or uncertainty involved.

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Images: © iStock.com

But what if Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, or those inventors of Instagram, Kevin Systrom and Michel Krieger, had decided to take the safe route? Where would we be today?

Uploading our unfiltered, non-artsy food photos onto our PCs to share on MySpace?

That’s not a world anyone wants to live in.

Anyway, back to Duong in Halifax. He passed on the job offer, took out a $5,000 loan from Nova Scotia’s Students in Business program, and invested $5,000 of his own hard-earned money into a one-year business plan to create a company called Mixtape Apparel: an ecofriendly fashion line that used recycled tape cassettes as belt buckles. Duong launched in November 2010.

“There were a lot of risks associated with it,” says Duong, now 22. “You’re putting up

OCTOBER 2012 | JOBPOSTINGS.CA

RISKY BUSINESS

18

money on something that’s not guaranteed.

You basically have to do your own research, and whatever your research concludes is all you have to act on.”

Risk versus uncertainty For so many people, the idea of taking out a loan, as well as investing your own money into a venture that isn’t even 100 percent a sure thing, is downright scary. What if nobody likes your product? What if you embarrass yourself ? What if you lose everything? How could the inexperienced Duong be so willing to confront risk so head-on?

Dr. Jeffrey Spence, a psychology professor at the University of Guelph, says you can attribute that to differences in risk-perception, in that certain individuals may have different propensity to engage in risk as they have different perceptions of the consequences. But that doesn’t mean that Duong was being reckless. “You can make a risky choice, make a risky decision, or engage in risky behaviour, that perhaps was very well thought through,” says Spence.

Sean Wise, author of Wise Words: Lessons in Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital, says most successful entrepreneurs "look before they leap."

“The myth is that entrepreneurs are huge risk takers,” says Wise, who also serves as the industry advisor and online host of CBC’s Dragons’ Den. “But the good ones always mitigate risk with planning and creativity.”

Knowing Students in Business would give him one year to pay back the loan, Duong assessed his options, just in case his plan went awry, which included taking out a line of credit to pay back the loan. “Before going into it you have to calculate whether you’re going to live after the worst-case scenario,” he says. “You do the best you can to plan for the worst so you have something to fall back on. ... I know the idea of taking out a loan and having to pay it back with another loan is terrifying, but the risk in the grand scheme of things is not that bad. When the alternative is to not do it at all, it puts things in perspective.”

Neil Wolff pioneered the entrepreneurship program at the Ted Rogers School of Management, the largest of its kind in Canada. He echoes Dr. Spence’s notion of risk perception, insisting that risk is all in the eyes of the beholder. “After they’ve done their due diligence and determined what level of sales they need to make this a viable endeavour, and if they

JOBPOSTINGS.CA | OCTOBER 2012

still believe they can do it, then are they really taking a risk,” asks Wolff.

Wolff suggests that because risk is measurable and the information is known, the real challenge for entrepreneurs is navigating uncertainty, where information is truly unknown. “That’s where it takes courage to jump in,” says Wolff.

“That separates the doers and the talkers.”

For Duong, he was clearly committed and passionate about his venture, and he wanted to roll the dice and see what happened. As it turned out, Duong had no problem paying back the loan within a year, although it didn’t leave him with much profit. “If the best-case scenario was a 10 and the worst-case was a one, [the outcome] falls in the middle between a four and six,” says Duong. The business has gone through many ups and downs, likely due to launching right before the holiday shopping season and on the heels of huge hype from local media, which largely petered out in the New Year. But Mixtape Apparel continues to chug along, and Duong spends about 20 hours per week working on it in addition to his day job.

“I have no regrets,” says Duong. “I don’t know how long it’s going to take before I’m fully dedicating my time to [entrepreneurship]. But any experience I get, no matter where it falls, is going to be worth it for me.”

It’s not like jumping off a cliff Dave Hale was one helluva industrious kid.

Growing up in Ottawa, he earned money cutting grass at Saunders Farm down the street from his house. As he got older, he watched the farm triple in size and eventually become the largest agricultural tourism attraction in North America. After moving into a more creative role, Hale settled in as director of marketing for the company by the time he graduated university.

“I learned entrepreneurial skills through osmosis,” says Hale, who was handling everything from corporate sales, customer relations, and guest experience programs, to direct marketing, advertising, web and digital projects.

Working with a small budget, Hale turned to digital channels and social media as a way to promote and market the business, partly because it was cost-effective. His solid results helped him make a name for himself in Ottawa, and in the span of a year he was matching his salary with cash generated from side projects. For Hale, that was the tipping point that

RISKY BUSINESS

19

pushed him to start his own firm. September 8th, 2012 marked the second anniversary of the Soshal Group.

“That’s the right way to do it,” says Wolff, who currently sits on a loan approval committee for the Canadian Youth Business Foundation. “Until you build up a market for yourself and you have more certainty that your business project is viable, well, that’s the right way of managing risk.”

Wolf believes that if a young person really wants to be a great entrepreneur down the road and wants to manage risk, they should follow Hale’s example by getting a job working for a big company, and gaining exposure to the systems of managing a complex organization. “It’s not like jumping off a cliff,” he says. “You need some skills first ... that discipline will help you build an organization.”

Ideally, if you can last two to three years working for a big company, that experience would be valuable, says Wolff. Hey, even Kevin Systrom spent two years working at Google before he cofounded Instagram.

Though Hale, now 24, doesn’t think it was risky to start his business, he feels the potential risk of growth and expansion. “We’re getting to a point now that we have enough business in other cities that we could be or should be opening a second office there,” he says.

But Wolff is cautionary about the risk of growing, since entrepreneurs are forced to go back into the investment stage by sinking more resources into hiring more people or taking on another lease. “A lot of successful entrepreneurs die at that stage,” he says. “That’s where overconfidence comes into play.”

On the other hand, Hale insists that his company, which currently employs 12 people, needs to keep growing in order to have stability, financial security, and maintain innovation with its clients. “It would be foolish not to extend what we’ve done here to other Canadian cities,” he says.

Ultimately, if Hale wants to increase Soshal Group’s upside potential, he doesn’t have a choice but to expand. “It’s like an S-curve,” suggests Wolff. “You’re going backwards, but then the peak of every curve is going to be higher than the last curve.”

Be an executer As much as Monica Mei Chiu dreamed of having her own fashion line, she knew it was going to take a lot of experience before she

was ready to launch her own brand. And a bachelor of business administration degree from University of Toronto along with a stint at Ryerson’s school of fashion weren’t going to cut it for her. She needed to set both short - and long-term goals. “Don’t be a dreamer,” she always said. “Be an executer.”

Three internships later—including a marketing and merchandising internship with Armani in New York, a public relations internship in Hong Kong, and a manufacturing and design internship in China—Chiu felt she had enough well-rounded experience to start applying to business competitions. “As you’re writing your business plan you gain confidence and momentum,” say Chiu, reflecting on her decision to enter Ryerson’s Start Me Up competition. “You start thinking, ‘Oh yeah, I can do that!’”

Chiu failed to make the contest’s short list in her first attempt, but the following year she not only found her way onto the shortlist, she walked away with the grand prize: $25,000 in start-up capital. Passing up job offers in China, Chiu launched Aime Luxury, a simple and elegant line of women’s wear, in 2008.

SIX ways to be a

successful risk-taker ALWAYS Trust your instincts

DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP

UNLEASH POSITIVE ENERGY

ANTICIPATE FIRST AND ACT

Learn from failure

BE REALISTIC

Sounds like a dream come true, right? But even Wolff is a tad skeptical. “The judges believed that her business had the greatest potential, relative to the other competitors,” he says. “But just because they validate it doesn’t mean it’s going to work.”

Indeed Chiu still had to face risks and uncertainty along the road, especially having launched at the beginning of the global recession. No matter how thorough her business plan was, it had no way of predicting the U.S. housing crisis and subsequent financial meltdown. As Wolff says, “Anything can happen.”

“I was definitely a debt-collector for a while,” she admits. “With the economic storm that arose soon after my launch, I changed course as a result in both sales projections and moderated my once ambitious timeline to expand overseas, which I believe saved my business.”

Chiu reacted to this setback with courage and confidence, without being cocky. Her flexibility to the global environment helped to minimize the potential downside, while also taking advantage of the situation as a learning experience.

“I don’t mind having some failure on my profile rather than having not achieved anything at all,” says Chiu. “The learning and the growth is a payout in itself.”

Jason Duong | Mixtape Apparel Idea: An eco-friendly fashion line that uses recycled tape cassettes as belt buckles.

Challenge: Keeping the business visible to maintain public interest.

Dave Hale | Soshal Group Idea: Using digital channels and social media as a way to promote and market a business in a cost-effective way.

Challenge: Deciding whether to expand into other cities and risking extra investment monies to do so.

Monica Mei Chiu | Aime Luxury Idea: To launch a simple and elegant line of women’s wear.

Challenge: Reacting to global market pressures and moderating growth projections to develop expansion plans sustainably.

OCTOBER 2012 | JOBPOSTINGS.CA

Connecting with Community Valuing Diversity

CN operates the largest rail network in Canada and the only transcontinental network in North America, encompassing over 20,000 route miles of track. It’s a big job, involving the transportation of almost five million carloads of freight annually.

And it’s a job that requires the passion and teamwork of its 23,000 employees.

Being an industry leader doesn’t just happen overnight. Our success wouldn’t be possible without our people, who take us to the next level through innovative thinking and a high concern for performance excellence.

Right now, we have tremendous opportunities for people who share our passion to join CN’s growing team. A large number of retirements coupled with new market opportunities means we are able to offer exciting, well paying careers with a stable and innovative company.

Follow us on Facebook

Find your place at jobs.cn.ca

We have a diverse range of unionized and management roles available including:

• • • • • • • • •

entry-level managers train operators dispatchers electricians clerks civil engineers accountants marketing specialists IT specialists

INCLUSION WORKS

21

SPECIAL REPORT

Aboriginals in the workplace

Profiling Canada’s top national Aboriginal career convention | By: Lisa Charleyboy In the media, we all see images of poverty in Aboriginal communities. What we don’t see are images of successful Aboriginal professionals in the workplace. That’s not because there aren’t any, but because of the way Aboriginals are portrayed in mainstream media.

This is what the Aboriginal Human Resources Canada (AHRC) set out to change with Inclusion Works, an inclusion and career convention.

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Images: © iStock.com

OCTOBER 2012 | JOBPOSTINGS.CA

The Aboriginal population is the fastestgrowing demographic in Canada. In the next 15 years, more than 400,000 Aboriginal youth will reach the age to enter the labour market

The Aboriginal population is growing While the overall Canadian population grew by 8% from 1996 to 2006, the aboriginal one grew by 45%

40% 30% 20%

10% 0%

“At the Aboriginal Human Resource Council, we are fortunate to witness the education and workplace success of so many Aboriginal people,” says Kelly J. Lendsay, president and CEO of AHRC. “We wanted to help close the Aboriginal employment gap and break down the negative stereotypes of Aboriginal people by sharing positive news and profiles of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit people to Canadians through the media. We also wanted to profile the business case for inclusion and the good work being done by many employers that are committed to social and economic inclusion.”

Inclusion Works is an annual national event.

Approaching its fifth year, Inclusion Works hosts employers and Aboriginal grads from across Canada. The event acts as a catalyst for social and economic inclusion, with case studies, workshops, and a recruitment fair. The partnerships, AHRC hopes, will help create jobs for recent Aboriginal graduates and increase inclusion in the workplace.

There is a strong need to improve Aboriginal inclusion in the workplace: unemployment rates in Aboriginal communities are double that of non-Aboriginal populations. This unemployment leads to a huge disparity in living conditions across Canada. Aboriginal peoples also face challenges that other groups do not, in access to education and networks to access progressive career paths.

Elyse Campbell, a recent MBA grad from the University of Saskatoon’s Edwards School of Business, attended this year’s Inclusion Works after a long road of work and study. “I left high school with a plan to go to university,” Campbell says, “but discovered that I couldn’t afford to go to school for four years, and needed to find a program that would allow me to start working as quickly as possible … So I went to college to pursue a three-year business administration marketing diploma that I knew I could trans-

JOBPOSTINGS.CA | OCTOBER 2012

fer into a university degree later if I needed to, and while I was in school I worked a few parttime jobs and took on some student loans to get through it.”

Campbell graduated with her diploma. She worked full-time and went back to school to finish her degree. After more student loans, an internship in San Francisco, and getting married, then divorced, she returned to do her MBA. “[I did it] so I could earn enough to not only support myself and pay off some student loans, but actually start to enjoy life.”

1998

2000

ABORIGINAL POPULATION

2002

2004

OVERALL POPULATION

The Aboriginal population lives throughout Canada, the majority of whom live in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia.

17% BC

21% ON

“And that’s where I am today,” she says. “I want to just enjoy working one job without any classes on the side for the first time since high school.”

At this year’s Inclusion Works in Edmonton, Campbell originally planned for interviews with four employers. By the end of the day, she met seven. “I think that surprised me the most: that after an interview, these recruiters were willing to follow up with you and build jobs or source jobs in their organization. They were all very approachable and genuinely interested in finding the right match,” says Campbell.

“Success breeds success. You really do see the people that have gone through Inclusion Works and they have opened doors, broken down barriers, created networks, and had life-changing experiences,” says Kelly Lendsay. “I think we are developing the future leaders of Canada.

Over the next five, 10, 15 years they are going to emerge as public and private sector leaders: running corporations, running public service, and our Aboriginal organizations.”

The Aboriginal population is the fastest-growing demographic in Canada. In the next 15 years, more than 400,000 Aboriginal youth will reach the age to enter the labour market. At Inclusion Works, it is this image of a strong, diverse, and accepting workforce that the Aboriginal Human Resource Canada is working to cultivate.

Images: © iStock.com

2006

16% AB

MB = 15%

SK = 12%

QC = 9%

NS = 2%

The representation of Aboriginals in the workplace rose by almost a third between 1998 and 2002 to 1.7% of the total workforce.

1998 - 2002

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Turn your potential into performance At our company, we have been helping our customers and communities for over 190 years. Working with us means being part of a team of talented, passionate individuals with a shared focus on working together to deliver great customer experiences. We stand behind your success with the support you need to turn your potential into performance.

BMO® Financial Group is committed to an inclusive, equitable and accessible workplace. By embracing diversity, we gain strength through our people and our perspectives.

BMO’s Aboriginal Recruiter is interested in hearing from Canada’s Aboriginal students and graduates. Interested Candidates can apply to aboriginal.recruitment@bmo.com and include the words “JobPostings Magazine” in the subject line.

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Registered trade-mark of Bank of Montreal

Lisa Charleyboy Canadian Root Exchange brings Aboriginal education to life By:

While many students go on global exchanges to learn about other cultures, there’s a lot of culture to experience right here in Canada. There are over one million Aboriginal Peoples in this country, but many Canadians know little about this rich and robust culture.

The Canadian Roots Exchange (CRE) is a group of young indigenous and non-indigenous Canadians. They travel across Canada to learn and experience the daily life of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities. They believe education and awareness will bridge the gap between Canada’s peoples.

The participants change from trip to trip, as youth aged 16-26 are invited to apply to attend during summer. These young people include both native and non-natives who are interested in understanding Canada’s Indigenous peoples.

CRE was co-founded by Dr. Cynthia WesleyEsquimaux, Ronan McParland, and David Berkell. Dr. Wesley-Esquimaux is an assistant professor in Aboriginal studies and the faculty of social work at the University of Toronto, and a member of the Chippewa of Georgina Island First Nation in Lake Simcoe. Berkell, a former student of Wesley-Esquimaux’s Aboriginal studies classes, also co-founded Operation Groundswell, a volunteer backpacking program. Together with McParland, the three of them created the Canadian Roots Exchange

JOBPOSTINGS.CA | OCTOBER 2012

to offer a truly Canadian experience.

Funded by the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Social Work, Wesley-Esquimaux, Berkell, and McParland were able to take 23 students for eight days in the summer of 2009. That first journey, Shielded Minds, was turned into a documentary film. The documentary showcases the experiences these youth took part in.

There were a total of 14 trips in the summer of 2012, with more planned for 2013. This exchange program looks at creating positive change and improving understanding of aboriginal peoples in an enriching, educational manner, and enables youth to learn more about the Canadian context beyond any textbook.

“We do everything. From recreational activities like going to sweat lodges, setting up fishing nets, and going dogsledding, to learning about the political structure in a First Nation community, visiting health centers, public schools, and high schools,” says Wesley-Esquimaux. “Some of their experiences are based on the environment in which they are now in. So if they go camping, they have to learn how to make fires, set up camp, and learn to canoe.”

“The non-native youth get to go to a community that they would otherwise not have access to. They get to spend time with native peoples from all walks of life,” says Wesley-Esquimaux.

“They have met principals with PhDs, they’ve

met elders and seniors that share history that hasn’t been written about yet, and they get to meet teachers in public schools on reserves.

They get all kinds of access that they wouldn’t normally have, so it really enhances their understanding and substantially changes the way they see the native community.”

CRE also allows native youth to reconnect with their culture. “One girl met her father for the first time when we visited his reserve,” says Wesley-Esquimaux. “Another girl who had been adopted away from her mother because of drug addiction, and whose mother became one of the women killed by Robert Pickton.

She came on exchange when she was 16. That was her first connection with the native community and she’s been a vocal advocate ever since.”

Kiera Dawn-Kolson (Tso’Tine-Gwich’in), an Aboriginal activist, singer, songwriter, and multi-disciplinary artist, was a part of the Indigenous Youth Gathering at the 2010 Winter Olympics. She was approached by Ronan McParland to advocate for CRE. That set her off to Sault Ste. Marie in 2011 to participate in one of the cross-cultural exchanges.

“It was a really great experience. I just absolutely have the highest respect for the Ojibwe people, and I’m honoured to have been able to be a guest and to be so warmly welcomed,” Kolson says.

Images: © iStock.com

Kolson’s experience inspired her to host an exchange in her Dene territory near Yellowknife.

“A lot of the participants that I was involved with last year were absolutely blown away because they didn’t realize how integrated our spirituality was in our everyday life and the land around us, and they were absolutely humbled by our diligence to maintain this relationship with the land,” Kolson says.

EDUCATION ATTAINMENT LEVELS ON THE RISE

HEAVY FOCUS ON TRADE-RELATED EDUCATION

While education remains a problematic issue for Aboriginal people, the situation is improving.

The proportion of Aboriginal people with a trade certificate was higher in 2001 than the non-Aboriginal working age.

45

Kolson recently won $1000 from the Ashoka Changemakers Competition. “They gave three awards to young women under 30 who were committed to trying to create positive awareness in their community,” says Kolson.

40 35

And creating positive change is what’s at the heart of the Canadian Roots Exchange. Wesley-Esquimaux notes that although youth are exposed to stereotypical representations of native people in Canada, that changes during the exchange. “The youth get out in the community, meet people, see the richness of First Nations people’s lives, the richness of their experience, and it changes everything,” she says. “So many of them come back and work for us after that.”

Kolson is one of many exchange participants who contributed back to the organization. “To be able to provide an atmosphere for safe and open dialogue between Aboriginal and nonAboriginal Canadians, I think, is instrumental for us to be able to heal and move forward as a nation.”

20 15

12.1%

in the Aboriginal population compared to

30 25

10.8%

in the non-Aboriginal population.

10 5

19%

0 Between 1996 and 2001, the proportion of Aboriginal people between the ages of 25 to 64 without a high school diploma dropped from 45 percent to 39 percent.

During the same period, the proportion of Aboriginal people with post-secondary qualifications rose from 33% to 38 %.

In particular, almost 19% of Aboriginal men aged 25 to 64 reported being certified in building and construction technologies and trades.

OCTOBER 2012 | JOBPOSTINGS.CA

Find your perfect career at TD.

Why work for TD? At TD, you’ll have the opportunity to grow throughout your career – through access to development programs, networking opportunities, job coaching and mentoring.

We encourage you to get involved!

We have an active Aboriginal Employee Circle with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal employees from across Canada. By participating in the Circle, you’ll be able to provide guidance and learn about the exciting work TD is doing within Aboriginal communities across the country. So you won’t just be an employee, you’ll be a valued team member whose voice is respected and heard.

If you’re interested in TD, we’re interested in you.

A Passion For Opportunity

To learn more about working at TD, visit www.td.com/careers

Inclusion at Work

27

Inclusion at Work

A sample of Canada’s most Aboriginal-friendly workplaces

By employing Aboriginal Employees throughout our organization, we are creating role models for other Aboriginal people—most specifically, students—which helps us continue to grow our communities and employee base.

Aboriginal inclusion in the workplace is a crucial part of the overall discussion that is taking place around diversity and inclusion in the current Canadian jobs scene. At Jobpostings, we commend those companies that support workplaces where everyone— especially those within the Aboriginal community—can be their authentic selves.

These organizations have realized that diversity can help maximize the potential of all employees. We’ve profiled a sample of Canada’s most Aboriginal-friendly workplaces to show you how they take Aboriginal inclusion seriously.

Images: © iStock.com

Cameco Company profile Cameco is one of the world’s largest uranium producers, accounting for approximately 16 percent of the world’s production from its mines throughout North America. Cameco is also a leading provider of processing services required to produce fuel for nuclear power plants, and generates 1,000 MW of clean electricity through a partnership in North America’s largest nuclear generating station located in Ontario.

Commitment to diversity Cameco is also Canada’s largest industrial employer of Aboriginal people. Through an array of programs to support students, schools, and communities, as well as on-the-job training and targeted recruitment and retention programs, Cameco has continually and successfully increased its Aboriginal workforce. “Cameco is committed to creating and maintaining a welcoming, inclusive, barrier-free work environment which allows all employees to perform their jobs at an optimal level,” says Kaylynn Shroeder, Cameco’s VP of human resources. “We appreciate the contributions of every employee. We understand the true value of a diverse workforce, and we embrace, encourage, and support workplace diversity.”

OCTOBER 2012 | JOBPOSTINGS.CA

Inclusion at Work

28

Supporting Aboriginals at work

Northwestel

Cameco recognizes the importance elders play in Aboriginal communities and provides the same support to its employees through a site elder program at its northern Saskatchewan sites. “Members of a diverse workforce bring new ideas, perspectives, experiences, and expertise to the company,” says Schroeder. “This allows Cameco to continue to innovate, manage change, and grow as a respected industry leader and employer of choice. A diverse workforce helps Cameco to succeed.” The program is a means of confidential and bilingual support and guidance for employees.

Company profile

What does it take to succeed at Cameco?

Schroeder advises recent grads to be confident, be effective team players, show initiative, and be open to constructive criticism. Do that and you will have a rewarding career! Remember, you are a valuable asset to any organization because the diversity of ideas, traditions, and experiences you bring is what makes any organization successful.

Transcanada Company profile TransCanada builds and operates the energy infrastructure that North America needs. With more than 60 years of experience, TransCanada is a leader in the responsible, reliable, and safe development and operation of North American energy infrastructure.

Commitment to diversity TransCanada builds positive relationships with Aboriginal communities by participating in initiatives designed to include Aboriginal people and give back to their communities. “TransCanada is committed long-term to increasing Aboriginal employment and career advancement,” says Deborah Goodfellow, TransCanada’s director of HR client services.

“TransCanada believes that providing opportunities benefits both our organization and that of the Aboriginal and Native American communities we recruit from.”

Supporting Aboriginals at work For example, the newly formalized Aboriginal and Native American Employee Network encourages communication, community, and a sense of belonging amongst the 69 Aboriginal employees currently employed by TransCanada. The network sees mentorship and sponsorship of students as a key strategy for recruiting future graduates. TransCanada awards millions of dollars through scholarships, contributions, and donations to Aboriginal students and postsecondary institutions. By encouraging education, TransCanada increases the number of Aboriginal professionals and tradespeople in the workforce.

TransCanada is proud to have hired 14 Aboriginal students this summer alone.

What does it take to succeed at TransCanada?

Ask lots of questions and provide feedback to your employer. There are many opportunities available to young graduates and it is important that you are positioned to succeed!

JOBPOSTINGS.CA | OCTOBER 2012

Northwestel services the largest operating area of any telecommunications company in the Western Hemisphere, over the most remote and rugged terrain in Canada. It provides a complete range of voice, video and data solutions to residential and business customers in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon, northern British Columbia, and Alberta.

Commitment to diversity “We have the pleasure of working and serving a diverse customer base, of which approximately 50 percent are Aboriginal peoples,” says Lee Vincent, Northwestel’s assistant VP of human resources. “We believe very strongly that our employee base should mirror our customer base. This makes us better at designing and delivering products and services that meet our customer needs.”

Northwestel also believes strongly in investing in its communities, focusing on building capacity in northern communities, and working collaboratively to support and grow northern students, with a very specific target of hiring northern Aboriginal students as employees. “By employing Aboriginal employees throughout our organization, we are creating role models for other Aboriginal people—most specifically, students—which helps us continue to grow our communities and employee base,” says Vincent.

Supporting Aboriginals at work Some of the many programs that Northwestel currently offers within its Aboriginal Relations area include: dedicating 50 percent of its Northern Futures Scholarships to Aboriginal recipients; operating an Inuktituk-speaking contact centre to provide services in the primary language of Nunavut; and providing mandatory Aboriginal relations diversity training for all employees.

What does it take to succeed in Northwestel?

Aboriginal grads accept a position that matches their career path, their passion, and their interest,” says Marni Delaurier, Northwestel’s manager of human resources operations. “Work hard and focus on learning and understanding the business. Take the time to meet people, and ask questions and learn as much as possible, as the possibilities are endless.”

Dalene Friesen, Newalta’s managing director of human resources. “In order to do so, we remove all boundaries that may prevent us from hiring based on skill and potential. Having a richly diverse workforce, supported by a respectful and inclusive work environment, enhances our innovation, and drives continued business growth.”

Supporting Aboriginals at work “Diversity is not something we ‘do,’” says Friesen. Diversity, she says, is woven into the fabric of Newalta’s culture by establishing company values that create a welcoming environment regardless of demographics. In order to ensure employees are strongly aligned with the company's core values, Newalta provides Aboriginal Awareness Training for managers who work with Aboriginal employees or who are responsible for building and maintaining relationships within aboriginal communities where it operates. Another important step Newalta has taken is working in partnership with an Aboriginal consultant who helps create a respectful and engaging work environment.

What does it take to succeed at Newalta?

When working in this industry, start by seeking advice and learning from a mentor. The benefits are invaluable. A mentor provides a young graduate with the opportunity to learn from the trials and errors of someone more experienced. A mentor can offer guidance through the graduate’s professional and personal journey in order to achieve greater success.

SaskPower Company profile SaskPower supplies electricity to more than 470,000 customers in Saskatchewan. As a growing company, SaskPower strives to revitalize it’s infrastructure and augment existing generating and network facilities with the goal of ensuring a sustainable energy supply —one that is safe, reliable, and enhances the quality of life and economic competitiveness of Saskatchewan.

Commitment to diversity

Newalta

SaskPower believes it’s important to encourage an inclusive work environment for Aboriginal employees. “Aboriginal employees share a strong sense of responsibility to make things better for the next generation,” says Laurie Gosselin, of SaskPower Aboriginal relations. “As ambassadors, they will pave the way to help SaskPower become a more welcoming organization for Aboriginal youth.”

Company profile

Supporting Aboriginals at work

Named one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers in 2011 and 2012, Newalta provides engineered environmental solutions that enable customers to reduce disposal, enhance recycling, and recover valuable resources from industrial residues. Newalta serves customers on site at their operations and through a network of 85 facilities across Canada and the U.S. The company’s innovative processes and technologies make it the first choice provider of sustainability enhancing services to oil, natural gas, petrochemical, refining, lead, manufacturing, and mining markets.

Last June, SaskPower held the 2012 Indigenous Leadership Forum for employees. The event was intended to develop solutions to strengthen Indigenous leadership within SaskPower and to engage Indigenous youth in its business. SaskPower also has an Indigenous Network that is intended for employees of aboriginal descent. Its purpose is to cultivate indigenous values and wisdom through their vision: "Success through Understanding."

Commitment to diversity “Newalta aims to attract and retain top talent,” says

As SaskPower continues an exhaustive evaluation of future electrical supply options, the company is investigating potential hydroelectric developments and partnerships with First Nations communities.

investing in people Every year, Talisman employs more than 100 students globally from a variety of educational backgrounds. We offer students meaningful work experience and exposure to industry leaders.

Talisman is a global oil and gas company focused on making investments where it matters most: in energy, in people and in the communities where we work.

www.talisman-energy.com/careers

Walker, a geologist, joined Talisman as a student in 2006.

JOBPOSTINGS.CA | OCTOBER 2012

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The Change Generation

31

The Change Generation Gen Ys are fighting for respect, for their careers, and for their futures By: Erika Jarvis

At the same time today’s post-secondary students started high school, a technological big bang imploded the way regular people communicated, did business, networked, and even shopped, had fun, and fell in love. By the time they graduated, companies not 10 years old were valued at a billion dollars and some of the world’s biggest companies were toppled like ten pins in a bowling alley.

What can we say, 2000s? It’s been real.

What smart companies have learned from this whirlwind is that the digitized world is a dangerous place if you underestimate it. Those who aren’t looking two steps ahead and evolving in that general direction are destined to be sent the way of the dodo (or Blockbuster, if we’re going to be specific).

The upshot is that companies today are looking to stock their workforces with super flexible, multi-disciplinary people who can see the big picture and slide with ease into roles that—well, they’re not even sure what they are yet. Lucky for them, this generation is perfect for the job ( … whatever it turns out to be).

The Change Generation If you’re under 30 but your grandparents wonder at all the things you’ve already done with your life, if you’re OK with constantly being told you’ll have a bunch of different careers—and, to be honest, you’ve already started down that path anyway—then please stand and introduce yourself to the group: you’re a member of the Change Generation.

In the not-too-distant past, people’s careers started young and were supposed to last a lifetime. In contrast, the Change Generation grew up being told they could be anything they wanted, with the unintended consequence that they took it to mean everything.

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada says that people starting their careers today can expect to have approximately three careers and eight jobs over a lifetime, but to twenty-somethings even that sounds like an understatement when you consider they’ll fill that quota just by taking a year abroad and going to grad school.

The Change Generation are far more likely to delay marriage, mortgages, and babies in favour of different work, study, and life experiences before settling on “just the one,” and even then they still maintain projects on the side. Meanwhile, the rocky economic climate—which has been famously hard on the under-30s—has

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created a generation of multiple-qualification holders, serial interns, and service industry vets, all in one multi-disciplinary package.

The result is a generation of human chameleons with the confidence and experience to become anything to anyone, provided it gets them where they want to go.

Caught in the web Giselle Kovary is the managing partner and co-founder of n-gen People Performance Inc., a corporate training firm which specializes in managing generational differences in the workplace. She says that the careers of young people today cover so many different areas they can’t even be compared to a “ladder” anymore. “It’s more like a spider web,” she says, “moving freely from one industry or sector based on interest and opportunities.”

Because Gens Y and Z have been told so often about all the different careers they’ll have, Kovary says they are particularly quick to adapt to changes, learn new skills, and change professions. “We meet lots of Gen Ys who possess varied skill sets: they

are accountants and DJs; they are IT professionals and chefs; they work in the government, but run a web design company on the side.”

The result is a generation of human chameleons with the confidence and experience to become anything to anyone, provided it gets them where they want to go.

Enter the matrix People with “spider webs” of experience stand out to somebody like Amanda Valela, university programs coordinator at General Electric (GE), who recruits over 300 interns and new grads per year and is always

on the prowl for these Swiss-army-knife types. “We’ve found it’s not the people with the 90 percent average that are going to be our best employees,” she says. “Because the company is so big and so diverse, it’s very matrix. You need someone who is well rounded, resourceful, and a leader.”

When looking at résumés, she looks for participation in campus groups (particularly if you weren’t just a member but a leader), sports, teaching assistant positions, and extra internships or co-ops. “When you have a student that has that range, we see it as an ability to spot out opportunities and take action on it.”

Laws of change Matt Straw, 29, is a typical member of the Change Generation. After high school he travelled for a few years, working at a couple of different jobs he wasn’t exactly enamored with, before deciding to study political science at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. It was good, he says, but nothing he could see himself parlaying into any particular career. Finally, motivated by a couple of buddies, he decided to try law

The Change Generation’s BIOLOGICAL MAKE UP n-gen is a training firm in Toronto which specializes in the management of multiple generations across the company. According to them, the main attitudes and attributes of Gen Y are:

JOBPOSTINGS.CA | OCTOBER 2012

Innovative and creative

Collective action

Techno-savvy

accept challenges

Expressive and tolerant

Optimism

Civic duty

Confidence

Diversity

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The Change Generation

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at the University of Saskatchewan, which turned out to be something he could see a real future in. However, even in third year he decided not to specialize because, “generally lawyers don’t find what they want to specialize in for at least few years.”

Straw says that his background has already come in handy with his new direction, saying, “there’s a lot of overlap in terms of research and writing, critical thinking, analytical thinking. So it was a fairly smooth transition.”

Multi-disciplinary experience definitely gives you the edge that higher education alone often can’t anymore.

CLASSIC-ally trained While he was studying, Straw also volunteered at a downtown legal clinic in Saskatoon called CLASSIC (Community Legal Assistance Services for Saskatoon Inner City), which is gaining a reputation for turning out some of the best articling students in the province.

CLASSIC is able to offer free legal services to the poor and disadvantaged using the manpower of University of Saskatchewan law students, who work on cases under the strict supervision of qualified lawyers. Head supervising lawyer, Amanda Dodge, says that the work students do at CLASSIC is deliberately multi-disciplinary in focus.

“If a student came to me and said, ‘I just want to do immigration files,’ we would say, ‘No, we want to give you a more varied, rounded-out experience,’” she explains. “So yes, we’ll make sure you work on some immigration law, but we’ll also make sure you have a criminal file and a civil file. Because students, even though some of them do come in with those passions and preferences, sometimes they’re surprised by what areas of law they really like.”

Straw is now about to start articling at a corporate law firm which he says was looking for “well-rounded, personable people with lots of experience in different areas,” and Dodge says that she knows of a firm which only hires the students who have come from CLASSIC. “Our students talk a lot about how, when they’re in these interviews with prospective legal employers, they’re talking about the work they did here at CLASSIC,” she says.

“They say that it forms pretty much the entirety of their interview.”

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One in a million …

Multi-disciplinary experience definitely gives you the edge that higher education alone often can’t anymore. Lisa Taylor, president and founder of a dynamic career-consulting firm called The Challenge Factory, says students beginning their careers need to have something that makes them different, or risk becoming another name in the stack.

“Students often list the degrees that they’re in and the courses that they took and feel that that’s a very specific indication of what they’ve learned,” she explains. “But if you’re in a psychology program and there are 10,000 students in that program with you, they’ve all taken those same courses.

So you’re obviously not demonstrating focus or broad experience. You’re just saying that you’re the same as everyone else.”

Go wide If you don’t have time for extra-curricular activities as intense as CLASSIC, there are other ways to expand your multi-disciplinary repertoire within the work and study that you already do.

Taylor says you can stand out among others with the same degree by bringing more to the course work. “Take a look at the projects or the work you did while you were at school, or the relationships you developed. Focus on something that you uniquely did that gives you that focus on the type of work that you’re looking for, while demonstrating broader gifts than just, ‘I was a student and I took these courses.’ You’ll have a much better positioning in the way that you market yourself.”

At work, most bosses should respond well to a new project idea or a request to expand your duties. Some companies are deliberately introducing these kinds of programs to scratch the itchy feet of employees who would otherwise skip out—with the added bonus of turning them into multi-disciplinary, big-picture-seeing superstars.

“It keeps employees engaged and interested in their work,” says GE recruiter Valela, who says this kind of “lateral” movement is a big part of the culture at GE. “It allows them to broaden their skill set and even build upon that leadership capability. So when that bubble bursts [the Baby Boomers retiring— more on that later], people are ready to fill those higher-level positions.”

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Multi-disciplinary magic So you’re more multi-faceted than a Rubik’s cube and your work history would make Barbie’s look stodgy. How do you write a résumé that shows off a multi-disciplinary dynamo, rather than a hyperactive job-hopper? Listen up, ‘cause this is the key to the kingdom.

You have to get specific about the job you want right now. Sure, as a member of the Change Generation you’ve changed directions as often as you’ve changed your socks, but all the experts we spoke to stressed how important it is to take that huge swath of experience and funnel it into the role that pushes your buttons at this very moment.

The neat part is that having tried so many different things, you should have a better idea of what you want to do—even if it does shift a couple of years from now.

Story time Let’s say that since completing your art history degree you’ve interned at a marketing company, worked part-time in a supermarket, quit an executive assistant job that you hated, and now work full-time at an animal park. But what you really want to do is PR. This very Change-Generation-y application could scream flighty and indecisive to employers, or it could take them on a journey, depending on how you tell it.

“Even if it seems like the jobs are really disparate, if they’re pursuing that ‘sweet spot’ career, then there’s a story that they can hang together and can tell at every future job interview,” says Taylor, who defines the “career sweet spot” as the intersection of your natural talent, passions, basic practical needs, and the kind of impact you want to have in the marketplace.

“Tell that story so that it’s easy for the person on the other side of the desk to understand you, and understand what motivates you, and understand if you’ve left other jobs, why you wouldn’t just take this job and then leave it too. They’re worried about that,” she says. Taylor calls this “connecting the dots,” and it’s of paramount importance to those who have chosen not to specialize. So don’t leave it to super-busy employers to figure out: spell it out in letters they can see from space.

JOBPOSTINGS.CA | OCTOBER 2012

Bubbles and spider webs—say what?

Some companies are starting to realize that they can retain flighty Change Generationers by offering variety within the same company. These new, in-vogue terms refer to policies that will give you a chance to both develop and test your multi-disciplinary skills without having to jump ship.

Bubble assignment This is where you perform a one-off assignment in a different department. Maybe you’re in accounting, but you work with the marketing department to help conceive the spring campaign because you know the sales figures.

Stretch assignment This is an assignment that’s in line with your current duties, but an expansion of them. For example, maybe you’re in charge of coordinating the mailing list at your work, but now you’re given the task of writing the newsletter that goes out.

Spiral career This is where you make lateral moves in an organization or industry, slowly moving up in seniority and responsibility. Each move provides the opportunity to gain a new perspective and understand the industry big picture.

Spider web career A spider web career path consists of different but unrelated areas of experience, connected by one common factor: you. This is the trajectory most common for the Change Generation and is not necessarily a bad way to proceed, provided it helps you decide where you eventually want to focus.

Flat company A "flat" company has less of a hierarchy and a wider, more equal worker base. While this means the senior positions are fewer, you do get a lot more possibility to move around between departments and grow your skills, which would give you a spiral career path.

Finally, only highlight the most applicable skills from your large and jumbled bag of tricks. Showing you have a deep, well-researched understanding of the job you’re applying to can make up for a lack of previous experience in the industry.

climate of change We’ve become so used to the chatter about how garbage the job market is for new grads, it’s almost become a background hum. But one small detail we’re hearing less about is the impending retirement en masse of that critical part of the workforce, the baby boomers.

As of last year, the eldest of this age group—who were born between 1946 and 1964—turned 65 years old, which until very recently signalled the official age of retirement. Even if they don’t retire right away, this group, which forms the largest chunk of Canada’s population—or a massive 46.4 percent of the workforce—are old enough to be seriously thinking about leaving it, just as you’re coming in.

The best equipped to make the most of this upcoming opportunity are the people who have spent this period developing an array of skills with breadth and depth, as well as all of the maturity and resourcefulness that comes with a mosaic of experience.

And the best part is, the way to do that is just to go out there and live your life. Surprise yourself with what you’re good at and improve in areas where you know you’ve always sucked. Don’t be afraid to volunteer, run for student council, start a business, make money, take classes, and travel.

When it comes time to go for that dream job, we’re sure you can take that six months in a yurt and spin it into a marketable job skill.

Oh, and when it comes to going up against those specialists who knew what they wanted to do by the time they could talk? Don’t worry about them. It’s OK to be the oddball in a pool of same-samey candidates (you can sell it as “a refreshing new perspective”), but it’s important to distinguish yourself as somebody who really wants and understands the job you’re applying for— not just cross-pollinating the internet with resumés looking for something, anything, so long as it’s new.

FIND YOUR INNER MANAGER

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FIND YOUR INNER MANAGER Management training programs on the rise across Canada By: Amir Ahmed

Management training programs, leadership development programs, and other sorts of professional development offers newer employees opportunities to advance further in the company. Specifically, these types of training programs offer a valuable commodity in an economy that has many businesses wanting to cut frills instead of making serious investments that don’t factor into an ROI report.

“At first,” says Marie Artim, “It was, ‘Oh my gosh, a full time job. I don’t know if I’ve ever done that before. What am I going to spend my days doing?’ And really, what ended up happening is that they went by so fast because there was so much to do and so much to learn.”

It sounds like a standard quote for anyone’s first day in a new job. But today, Marie Artim is vice president of talent acquisition at Enterprise Holdings, and the above quote is her description of her first day at the Enterprise Management Training Program. Marie’s first day of the program was in 1992, but she still credits it with teaching her the basics of the business.

management above you have all been in your shoes and want you to succeed and grow in your career.”

Management training programs like the one at Enterprise can be great for establishing a common culture, but other programs, like the Rotational Leadership Development Program (RLDP) at Sun Life Financial, can help a select amount of applicants super-charge their career path.

The RLDP at Sun Life moves young employees to three different roles in three years at the company. Alex Kirschner, 22, is an HR business consultant entering his second year of the RLDP.

I think this was the perfect way to introduce us to the organization as opposed to diving right into work with a very limited understanding of the business.

“I spent my first week in orientation with the other RLDP participants hired in my year,” he writes in an email. “I think this was the perfect way to introduce us to the organization as opposed to diving right into work with a very limited understanding of the business. The orientation also helped us establish our peer network by spending time learning more about each other.”

Enterprise Rent-a-Car offers a comprehensive training program for their new hires. Each employee begins at the same level: handling customers, calls, and other tasks to learn the basics of the business. As they work, new hires are also trained and groomed for advancement, since the company hires almost entirely from within.

“For someone like myself, who is still not sure what area I want to be working in five or 10 years from now, the freedom to try different roles and learn about other business units from my peers and from others in the network I have built is an incredible opportunity.”

“Like nearly everyone in our executive leadership team, I learned valuable lessons from my time behind a rental counter in the management training program,” writes Randal Narike, vice president of Canadian operations at Enterprise, in an email. Narike also credits the program with creating a shared culture to build on in the office. “It also fosters a wonderful sense of teamwork when, as a management trainee, you know that the levels of

So when applying for jobs, don’t just look at the hours you’ll work or the duties: see if the company offers some sort of training and development program. The things you learn and the people you might meet can take you higher, teaching you more while you earn money too.

After all, getting paid to learn on the job is a pretty sweet deal. The only alternative is (shudder) more school.

JOBPOSTINGS.CA | OCTOBER 2012

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CALL US, MAYBE?

40

Learn about the business of turning a consumer’s ‘maybe’ into a ‘yes’ By: Ofelia Legaspi Since the Do Not Call List launched nation-wide in 2008, over 10.8 million phone numbers have been registered in an effort to avoid those pesky telemarketers. But the fact of the matter remains: it can be an awfully lucrative business.

Being in the hard-selling business doesn’t necessarily mean being a pest to a curmudgeonly population eating their dinners. Contrary to the stereotype, inside and outside sales can be a rewarding and flexible field. For one, it’s a highly penetrable job market: you can pursue sales at an entry level and receive valuable sales training applicable in many fields. Your stint as the voice of a company will arm you with the very useful art of rhetoric that you can use long after you’ve retired the office receiver.

And of course there’s the money. On top of the base pay, a sales person can really control their worth by earning a hefty commission, competing for the famed monthly company prizes that many businesses like Xerox give to top performers, and advancing their position through meritocracy.

How to sell yourself If this misunderstood field is sounding better and better to you, there is a catch: a candidate has to fit the bill.

“I truly feel that [sales] is the right job for the right person and not the right job for some,” says Natasha Marcetic, a sourcing specialist for Xerox Canada. She explains that while any business background is an asset in sales, non-traditional qualifications are seriously considered.

While entry-level sales job requirements are lax on experience and looks more into one’s flair for persuasion, there are more advanced positions in niche companies that require a specialized skill or a university degree in a certain field.

Compensation for inside and outside sales jobs is results-driven. In fact, if you don’t show results, you don’t get to keep your job. To excel in sales—especially in inside sales where you don’t have the luxury to market something visual or tactile—you’ll need to be strategic and masterful in your sales pitch and closing.

The key to an effective sales pitch Yevgeny Chertov, the judges’ choice winner of the Ideas 2 Entrepre-

JOBPOSTINGS.CA | OCTOBER 2012

neurship pitch contest at the University of Waterloo last July, swears by the two most important things in pitching: asking questions and asking for the “yes.”

“Every single time that I sell my FollowUp (Blackberry) application, I ask ‘How would you like to buy it for two dollars and I’ll install it in your phone right now.’ It’s a strange thing to say, but the fact is if you don’t ask for the ‘yes,’ you’re not going to get it,” says Chertov.

From his short but successful stint at Vox Data, an outsourcing call centre service, Chertov rose from a telemarketer position to the role of supervisor, then on to a management. He explains that the key to a successful inside sales pitch is the obvious: not getting hung up on.

“But I’m not interested” “People with very, very short talk time—clients just hang up on them continuously—they’re the people who need to work on their introduction, their conversation skills,” says Chertov. One way to do this is to build up a company’s credibility in your introduction, then immediately get the target customer talking.

By asking a lot of questions, one can recognize a customer’s needs— both the glaring and the unrecognized. A telemarketer can then tailor his pitch so that his product will appeal to reason, convenience, or a better lifestyle for the consumer.

To avoid the dreaded but-I’m-not-interested response, Chertov assumes the “yes,” explains the terms of the sale, and lets the client take the initiative to interrupt him and decline. This is the aggressive approach in telemarketing, and it’s an effective way of selling because the consumer is not given a window to say no.

Keeping the conversation fresh Even if you believe in your product, keeping the conversation fresh can still be a challenge. “You’re going to have the same conversation 70 to 80 times. Oftentimes, you’ll wind up sounding monotonic,” says Chertov.

This is where creativity comes into play in sales: brainstorming about how your diverse potential clients will need or want your product, and gauging how you’ll appeal to their unique personality. Sometimes, he says, it’s as simple as letting loose and having fun with your clients.

Images: © iStock.com

Take this touchscreen & sell it

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Take this touchscreen & sell it A growing demand for electronic devices Rasheed means more jobs in tech retail By: Clarke You scroll through your contacts list with a swipe of your the finger on the touch screen of your latest smartphone. The playlist on your MP3 player blasts music to your ears via a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. You love your gadgets. You know them inside-out. So why not turn that knowledge into a job with a technology retailer?

Openings in tech retail—for sales associates, customer service representatives, and product specialists—are out there, and more are likely on the way. Microsoft plans to open its first Canadian retail outlet in Toronto’s Yorkdale mall this fall, while Samsung opened its first North American store in Burnaby last July.

The global tech retail industry grew steadily over the last five years and is expected to grow through to 2017. Rising consumer incomes, new retail outlets, and changing lifestyles are driving the rising demand in tech retail, according to a report on the technology retail industry by market research firm Lucintel.

“The ideal candidate for our retail locations would have previous retail or customer service experience,” says Melissa McCague, recruitment coordinator at The Source. “We look for people who are professional and confident enough to approach customers and engage them in the sales conversation.”

JOBPOSTINGS.CA | OCTOBER 2012

McCague adds that a strong understanding of current and developing technology is a major plus. That knowledge of technology helped Ricardo Vazquez land a job as a product specialist at the Apple store while he was in his third year at University of Toronto Mississauga, specializing in visual culture and communication.

“I had a little retail experience and I didn’t take any specific courses for the position, but I had enough passion for the products,” says Vazquez.

“Apple was looking for someone with excellent communication skills and a personality that was worth remembering.”

Beyond personality and communication skills, it helps if you’re knowledgeable not only of tech products, but peripheral information like service plans. Richard Lemieux is the owner of the Calgary outlet of Cell Phone Repair, a store specializing in repairing cell phones, tablets, GPS units, and other devices.

“We deal with people who have phones on different plans,” says Lemieux, “so we have to know about contracts, renewal dates, and replacement plans, to help customers decide whether it’s best to repair a phone or hold out until a contract is up for renewal.”

Tech retail jobs come with their own set of challenges, like unfriendly or impatient customers, and sometimes simply too many customers.

“During product launches, the store had a surreal number of customers, and we had to provide individual attention to every customer,” says Vazquez. While providing one-on-one support was part of the territory, Vazquez notes that teamwork within the store was a normal part of the workday, with staff specializing in different areas coming together to help customers work out their quandaries.

Being able to solve problems and work in an ever-changing environment that promotes continuous learning are some of the rewards that come from a position in tech retail.

Say you’re on the sales floor, showing a customer how to tweet from a new tablet. Is that as far as a tech retail job can go? Certainly not, according to McCague. “We have many great stories of associates that come from the store level and grow with the company to senior positions within merchandising, marketing, and e-commerce.

We provide training courses for all associates to ensure they are current on products, company policies, procedures, and relevant legislation,” she says.

If you’re tech-savvy, a conversationalist, and a people person, a position in tech retail could be a great fit for you. Who knows? You just might find your hands on the smartphone that everyone else camped out in front of your store is waiting for.

Images: © iStock.com

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EDU-MA-CATION

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Getting the edge to move the ladder Profiling post grad business management programs By: Ariadna Levin

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OCTOBER 2012 | JOBPOSTINGS.CA

EDU-MA-CATION

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As a result of industry demand, colleges throughout the country have dramatically increased the number of business management programs.

In Ontario, last year’s enrolment in college business programs increased 19 percent from 2006.

The number of one-year post-graduate certificates increased by 45 percent during the same time period. This trend is seen throughout the country. The motivation for students applying to this program is to add practical skills on top of what they learned in their liberal arts degree.

Quite often university grads who are already working feel there is no room for them to grow in their current positions, and realize they need more credentials to move up the ladder. While getting an MBA is prestigious and highly regarded in the business world, even an MBA doesn’t necessarily guarantee success in finding better employment. Post-diploma and certificate business programs offered by colleges meanwhile, are getting more acknowledgement.

Specialized diplomas are on the rise, be it event management, sustainable business, or international business. College programs are known for their hands-on approach, practical skills, and a direct connection to employers through placements, co-ops, and internships. They are much cheaper and shorter than university degrees and often offer pathways to a degree if you decide to upgrade your diploma.

“Often you don’t need a degree because your

years of work experience count,” says Lori Karpman, a management consultant and university professor. “There are some good postgraduate programs out there in Canada offered for those who are working and want to learn and expand their career opportunities. They can only climb the ladder with the education required. These programs are excellent and absolutely increase employability because you have to be really dedicated to hold a management position and do this program.”

One example is the one-year graduate diploma in business administration, offered by the Molson School of Business in Montreal. It’s designed for those who want to improve on their managerial skills “without spending two, three, or four years doing an MBA,” says Dr. Bakr Ibrahim, director of the program.

The core of this kind of program is based on the managerial decision-making skills for professionals. The program is meant for professionals from every area, who want to know a little bit of accounting, management, organizational behavior, marketing, and finance, so they can make more informed decisions. “It’s not intended to create an accountant or create a financial advisor or a marketer,” says Bakr, “but rather ,to acquaint them with the functional areas of business.”According to Bakr, 90 percent of applicants have no background in accounting, so the program allows the typical graduate from university to understand the basics of accounting and finance. “Once [students] take these courses, they have more knowledge that they need to make proper decisions and to be involved in administration,” he says. “It really improves the skills of any profession.”

“The challenge for students in any profession is to go back to school. For some students it’s very difficult to go back to school after many years. It takes a few sessions before they get back in the studying mode, but it usually doesn’t take too long.”

A lot of colleges now offer a range of specialized business diploma programs. Students can

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choose a program tailored to their specific needs, such as human resources, public relations, sustainable business management, and international business, just to name a few.

For instance, Seneca College in Toronto has introduced a Green Business Management program, which provides students with an advantage in a very competitive business environment.

“Specifically, they learn the project and changemanagement skills needed to help an organization implement environmental sustainability into its bottom line,” says Chris Dudley, director of the program. This eight-month program has a placement component embedded into it so students gain business experience while they learn.

The program is designed to provide ways to increase business productivity through sustainability initiatives, covering important concepts such as change management strategies, leadership, corporate social responsibility, and business case development, all in relationship to sustainability initiatives, says Dudley. “This knowledge is desired in the business world, and will allow graduates to differentiate themselves by increasing their own personal brand,” he says. “Graduates will be able to lead sustainability efforts from wherever they are employed in an organization.”

The great advantage of a college education is practical learning and connection to the employers. There is a mandatory seven-month placement that’s woven into the eight-month program. Students work on a sustainability project for a company as they are learning, while placements focus on assisting businesses in developing and implementing sustainability projects and practices. “This provides students with real-world learning as well as expert instruction,” says Dudley.

“Graduates of the program find themselves working in a range of profit and nonprofit businesses in Canada and around the world. A number of graduates have also become Ecopreneurs, starting up their own businesses with a green focus.”

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Kenshi Arasaki

A Thinking Ape By: David Tal

“This is really cliché, but as a kid I made a killing selling candies,” Kenshi Arasaki, 28, says with a laugh. A University of Calgary alumnus, Arasaki co-founded A Thinking Ape, one of the highest grossing mobile app developers in the world. But it wasn’t always clear that entrepreneurship was for him, let alone the highly competitive gaming industry.

“While I was doing my computer science degree ... I had this very conventional thought process: finish school, get a job at a prestigious company, then follow the main track of life that a lot people are expected to have,” says Arasaki. But his thinking changed when he was recruited by Amazon.

could create games that were nothing more than thin veils for kickass chat rooms. ...

People thought we were crazy. None of us had any experience developing games. But we did it and that change turned out to be really spot-on in terms of a good business.

We became profitable quickly and surpassed a lot of games makers. Overall, we make global social games, but this is all built over a real-time chat communication layer.”

Arasaki clarified that in an online game, there can be many people playing at the same time, but remain strangers. But when you give them the means to communicate, you create an environment that encourages

It’s been amazing the kinds of connections people form just because they play this game and have this common bond to share with each other. You see these really amazing moments of humanity.” com in Seattle. “It was a great company.

But there was this little voice in the back my head saying, ‘Are you sure you really want to be doing this?’ At the end of a year-and-ahalf at Amazon, that little voice turned into this really giant roar.”

After leaving Amazon, that roar led him and his two partners, Wilkins Chung and Eric Diep (University of Waterloo grads), to build A Thinking Ape. But success didn’t come immediately. It took a while to find their niche. “We actually started out life as a chat company,” says Arasaki. “But it wasn’t long before we knew that was the wrong business. Our data was telling us that there was this core group of people who were almost fanatics in terms of how devoted they were to their favourite games on the iPhone, and they wanted a place to chat about it.

But there was no outlet for this community.

“We came up with this hypothesis that we

JOBPOSTINGS.CA | OCTOBER 2012

new friendships. You create an environment that turns into a strong community.

“And that’s where we excel,” added Arasaki.

“We’re really good at the art of building really strong gaming communities, [but it’s also] a science. ... The games are the excuse for people to get to know each other. ... It’s been pretty amazing the kinds of connections people form just because they play this game and have this common bond to share with each other. You see these really amazing moments of humanity.”

But the life of an entrepreneur isn’t always an easy one, nor is it a clear one. It takes many tries before you succeed.

“When people consider between joining a start-up or a big company, you could take that nine-to-five job, but then you have to realize there’s actually a cost to it. You may get paid a lot from your cushy job or get ben-

efits out of it, but [in the end] you’re getting paid to accept a lower growth rate in terms of your skills. You’re not learning as much.

And eventually you won’t be excited about all the new tools. You’re not keeping up with the state-of-the-art. You won’t continuously be refining yourself, because you’re not being challenged! And all of a sudden you look up and notice that you’re not at the top of your field. I think that’s really dangerous, because a lot of young people and new grads massively underestimate their own power and the compounding nature of their intelligence.

“When you’re placed in a highly stressful, highly challenging environment, and you’re relatively inexperienced, you’re in a position to learn faster than you ever will or ever have before. And that has an exponential curve to how much you learn and grow as a professional, and as a person.”

Successful projects start with

serious know-how.

And a warm smile.

Because working here is about more than helping customers choose the

right product. It’s about making a difference in our customers’ lives and their homes. We call it “unleashing your inner orange” and

it’s my ability to tap into my inner potential to

help them create a space worth calling home.

The first thing I do when I greet a customer

is smile. It lets them know I’m there to help, and that I’m confident in my ability to make

a difference in their projects—no matter how large or small, I know that my customers

value my product knowledge and that drives me to go above and beyond to help them

complete their projects. Through extensive training, tuition reimbursement and more, The Home Depot gives me the support I need to build a promising future.

– Jordan, Home Depot Associate

A variety of part-time and seasonal opportunities are available for college and university students.

We are committed to diversity as an equal opportunity employer.

Apply online at homedepotjobs.ca/9595.

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