Next February2012

February 2012

learn more ➧ GET THE Job

expert advice

INSIDE

Columnist Ron McGowan gives his top tips for 2012 graduates 3

Talent search 2012 intensifies 2 Do your homework before registering at a private career school 4

Ask AN employment Expert

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Send your query to next@biv.com and it could be answered by an expert in a future issue of the Next. Plus, we’ll randomly draw the winner of a $50 dinner gift certificate from all entries received by February 29, 2012.

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Get paid for doing what you love 5

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How to deal with a bad job interview 6 Ten deadly resumé sins 9

Animation making moves Disney’s Club Penguin helping Interior’s fledgling entertainment cluster attract major companies and talent ic “hockey stick growth curve” during the past three years.

BY JENNY WAGLER, BIV

A

fter establishing a software development industry and building links with Silicon Valley, the Okanagan is cultivating a new cluster: animation and gaming.

Anchored by Kelowna animation heavyweight Club Penguin, a virtual-world website bought by Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) in 2007, the Okanagan’s animation cluster has expanded significantly in the last year or so.

“The gaming and animation side in Kelowna has probably doubled in the last year in terms of companies starting in the area,” said Jeff Keen, programs director for Accelerate Okanagan, a government-funded agency to support technology entrepreneurs.

Keen added that new players in town include animation studios RocketSnail Games and Lizard Brain Inc. Set to join them soon is Vancouver-based animation studio Bardel Entertainment. Bardel is planning a Kelowna location that will initially house up to a dozen employees, but will expand to accommodate up to 50 staff within three years.

According to a company statement, Bardel considered several other B.C. cities but chose Kelowna

The rapid growth of Vancouver’s animation industry has forced companies to look for new

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Kelowna’s access to a growing talent pool of animators; regional tax incentives; and the opportunity to provide staff with the option of a small-town lifestyle are helping to mark its emergence as an animation hub

because of its access to a growing talent pool of animators; regional tax incentives; and the opportunity to provide staff with the option of a small-town lifestyle.

Keen said Bardel’s announcement isn’t the first sign that Vancouver animation studios are closely watching Kelowna’s emergence

as an animation hub. He said Vancouver’s Lizard Brain was drawn to Kelowna within the last year by the Okanagan city’s lower costs and deepening talent pool.

Lizard Brain could not be reached for comment by press deadline.

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Vancouver? We are,” Keen said.

“It’s still pretty early days, but ‘Should we be in the Okanagan?’ probably wasn’t on anybody’s radar before, and now I think it is.”

Keen estimated that there are “a few hundred” animators in the Okanagan these days. He said that number has increased in a dramat-

talent pools like the one that’s emerged in the Okanagan Okanagan film commissioner Jon Summerland has also been closely following the rise of the Okanagan’s animation industry.

“We’re now rebranding to be the Okanagan Film and Animation Commission because we deal as much with [animation] as we deal with film.”

Summerland added that the rapid growth of Vancouver’s animation industry has forced animation companies to look for new talent pools like the one that’s emerged in the Okanagan around Club Penguin and been supported by educational programs at Kelowna’s Centre for Arts and Technology.

Okanagan College, which is working to establish a two-year see page 3

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Talent search 2012 intensifies A job boom in B.C.’s shipbuilding, mining and resource sectors coupled with baby boomer retirements means B.C. could soon need more workers than ever

O

Steves Islefo, a trauma surgeon from Iraq, works survival jobs while waiting for his credentials to be recognized here in Canada

same labour pool.”

Meanwhile the mining sector’s labour needs are expected to grow significantly in the coming decade. The Mining Association of BC (MABC) expects some of those jobs will need to be filled by skilled immigrants.

“Mining is definitely going to be a challenge,” said

nomic growth.”

But Peacock said, for now, B.C. holds its own attracting skilled immigrants.

“We historically have gotten far more immigrants here [than elsewhere in Canada],” he said. “We really won’t see huge shortages. The Canada profile is quite different from the B.C. profile.”

In 2010, of 44,183 immigrants who settled in B.C., 6,208 were admitted as skilled workers. Another 10,451 arrived as spouses, children or parents of those workers. Still, the government fears the demand for skilled workers will exceed availability in a few years.

In December, Victoria launched a special task force to examine federal and provincial immigration programs to ensure B.C. is not left short-handed.

Of one million job openings expected in Canada in the next 10 years, one-third will need to be filled by immigrants, Premier Christy Clark said December 8,

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ver the next five years $33 billion will likely pour into northern B.C. as new mines start churning rocks, Rio Tinto Alcan upgrades its Kitimat aluminum smelter, liquefied natural gas terminals are built and the Northwest Transmission Line is strung from Terrace to Bob Quinn Lake.

Meanwhile, Vancouver and Victoria shipyards will Philipp Fuhrmann (left) and Timo Minx of CapTherm Systems tackle $8 billion worth of immigrated from Germany to start a high-tech company in federal contract work dur- Vancouver ing the next couple of decades. But finding engineers, project managers and skilled workers. skilled tradespeople to fill conference board.

“There’s a lot of work go“Pipefitters and enginall of those jobs could pose a challenge, say organizations eers – these are people that ing on in the province and such as the Business Coun- are in high demand, and we the workers we use here cil of BC (BCBC) and Con- can’t produce them quickly have skills that make them valuable,” John Shaw, viceenough.” ference Board of Canada.

Seaspan Marine alone president of program man“There’s a major shortage of the kind of workers the will need 800 to 1,000 more agement at Seaspan in North big corporations need,” said workers to fulfil its portion Vancouver, recently said.

“There’s ... significant Diana MacKay, director of of the national shipbuilding education, health and im- contract, forcing it to com- other industrial work going on that will compete for the with migrationvcc_Trade_Next.pdf programs at1 the 12/29/2011pete 12:04:04 PM northern B.C. for

BCBC chief economist and VP Ken Peacock.

Zoe Younger, MABC’s VP of corporate affairs agreed.

“By the time we’ve identified the skill sets that are required, it’s often four to six years ... before we’re actually cranking out graduates that can fill those positions. So there’s that time in the interim where we’re going to be more dependent on finding other sources of labour.”

But as MacKay points out, Canada will be competing with other countries for those skilled labourers, and it’s not just skilled labourers that will be in demand.

A recent Leger Marketing survey found that 43% of Canadian companies anticipate a shortage of executives in the next five to 10 years.

According to a recent conference board report, Canada will need to increase the 260,000 immigrants it admits per year to 375,000 “in order to stabilize the workforce and ensure eco-

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BY NELSON BENNETT, BIV

February 2012

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3

Experts: Reforms needed to improve accreditation for workers trained abroad when she appointed Richmond-Steveston MLA John Yap to head the task force.

“We simply don’t have enough people, currently, [in B.C.] of working age to ... to fill those jobs,” Clark said.

“This is a competitive world for skilled immigrants,” Yap said. “Australia wants them, the U.S. wants them, other jurisdictions want them. ... We can’t rest on our laurels.”

Immigrants can come to B.C. to work through federal programs for skilled workers or investors or through provincial nominee programs.

Under federal programs, immigrants can settle anywhere they like. Employers prefer the provincial nominee program because it allows skilled workers to be brought to certain regions for specific jobs.

The biggest problem Clark sees with the provincial nominee program: it allows only 3,500 entrants per year. Her government wants to raise that annual intake to at least 5,000.

OVERTRAINED, UNDERPAID Having worked in emergency rooms and field hospitals in Iraq and Cambodia, Steves Islefo has experience with some of the most challenging injuries a trauma surgeon can face: burns, blast wounds and amputations.

Despite his experience, the Iraqi surgeon has been forced to work in construction since immigrating to

Vancouver in July 2010.

“I’m just doing survival jobs – nothing that relates to my experience,” Islefo said.

Meanwhile, Bernado Gazol, who has a BA and experience in architecture, has likewise been unable to find a job in his area of expertise since immigrating to Vancouver from Nicaragua in September 2010.

Their experiences underscore one of the problems B.C. has when it comes to attracting skilled labour: it’s difficult to get foreign credentials recognized in B.C. “I think the pace at which we’re making progress on the credential recognition is slow,” said MacKay. A big gap is B.C.’s capacity to assess new immigrants’ skills, said Kevin Evans, CEO of the Industry Training Authority (ITA).

Currently, admission is based on a multiple choice exam that is “of limited utility” for people with English as a second language, Evans said, when a labour skills competency test might be more practical.

Foreign-trained physicians like Islefo, for example, must take a series of tests and then complete a residency in a Canadian hospital before the Medical Council of Canada will certify them.

But available residency positions are scarce, and Islefo said Canadian medical school graduates tend to get those placements first.

Meanwhile, he can’t work in a Canadian hospital even in a lesser capacity.

MacKay said the board wants to see less emphasis on credential recognition and more on skills testing.

“A much smarter policy direction would be to pump the same kind of resources into competency assessment.

You actually test somebody’s skill as opposed to saying, ‘Do you have a degree from somewhere?’”

German immigrant Philipp Fuhrmann, president/ COO of Coquitlam’s CapTherm Systems, got permanent resident status in Canada because he married a Canadian citizen.

But his partner, Timo Minx, who invented the data centre cooling system CapTherm is developing, had a harder time getting into Canada. He was able to immigrate to B.C. from Germany only after Fuhrmann got him a positive labour market opinion (LMO), which requires an employer to vouch for a skilled worker from another country.

Immigrants who come to Canada under that program can become permanent residents if they stay employed for three consecutive years with the company that sponsored them. Ironically, Fuhrmann said it’s easier to get a positive labour market opinion for low-skilled workers.

“If you want to be a livein caregiver or a dishwasher or work in hospitality, it’s a

Drawing talent: Kelowna cartoon hub from page 1

animation diploma in response to a request from Bardel, will soon add to that talent pipeline.

Besides the growing talent pool, Summerland said companies have started to react to the regional tax credits and lower costs of doing business in Kelowna.

“They’re going, ‘I’ll take advantage of my tax credits, I’ll save money on real estate, I’ll take advantage of this, that and the other – and I can still be in the sunny Okanagan.’”

But while Summerland said he’s eager to draw more animation companies into the region, he added that he first wants to ensure the companies that have recently arrived succeed.

“We would love to take this [success] and run and visit more people like Nerd

Corps [Entertainment] and Atomic [Cartoons] and say, ‘Your competitors are all out there saving money – it’s your turn to come out there,’” Summerland said.

“But I’m waiting until some of this is settled. Lizard Brain and Bardel are so new, we want to make sure that what we’re selling is real, after it’s been tested out.”

Keen added that the Okanagan still has much to do to develop a new animation cluster.

“We’re seeing some really good indicators that the industry has strong potential in the region, but some of the challenges that we’re up against are talent attraction and retention and probably access to capital,” he said.

“Kelowna – or the Okanagan – has always been known as a great place to live. It hasn’t always been

known as a great place to start and grow a company.

So we’re trying to change that.”

But as Kelowna looks to attract new animation companies – including those from Vancouver – DigiBC president Howard Donaldson argued that Kelowna’s gain won’t be Vancouver’s loss.

“The animation industry is still small in Kelowna, but there is a lot of talent there and there are opportunities for animation companies especially with the film tax credits,” he wrote in an email. “[However] this will have no impact on the size or growth of the animation industry in Vancouver. I expect the animation industry to continue to grow in Vancouver.” • jwagler@biv.com

lot easier to get in than if you are a high-end engineer.”

That may, in part, explain why the Philippines is second only to China when it comes to country of origin for immigrants to B.C. The Philippine government has a policy aimed at training nurses and caregivers, who then get jobs in other countries and send remittances

home. MacKay said the program is mutually beneficial because Canada has a shortage of qualified nurses.

The LMO, meanwhile, was set up to help ensure that preference is given to Canadian workers ahead of immigrants. The end result is that Canadian employers may find it easier to recruit nannies than engineers.

“It’s really hard to recruit talent,” Fuhrmann said.

“There’s all these additional obstacles, which you really don’t need when you’re a startup. With Timo, if we wouldn’t have gotten his LMO, then we wouldn’t have founded a company in Canada. We would have been forced to go elsewhere.” • nbennett@biv.com

Startup Visa stimulating influx of tech talent A few Vancouver high-tech incubators and accelerators have hatched several promising startups recently, but they all have one thing in common: none were started by Canadian citizens.

CapTherm Systems, SunnyTrail and Summify were founded by young entrepreneurs from Europe, some of whom are in B.C. on temporary permits.

CapTherm Systems was founded by two young German entrepreneurs, while Summify (which summarizes all your social news feeds) and SunnyTrail (an analytics platform) were both started by entrepreneurs from Romania.

A group of Vancouver techpreneurs, including Boris Wertz, an immigrant and angel investor, has launched a campaign aimed at making it easier for young entrepreneurs to immigrate to Canada to start a business.

The Startup Visa campaign is the Canadian version of a similar campaign started in the U.S. Coming to Canada on an entrepreneur visa requires immigrants to invest $300,000 here. Most young entrepreneurs don’t have that kind of money, said Startup Visa spokesman Eric Brooke.

The campaign is lobbying Ottawa to lower that investment requirement to $150,000, and instead of requiring entrepreneurs to invest that money themselves, they would raise it through Canadian investors.

“If you don’t make money, if you don’t create jobs, you lose your visa,” Brooke said.

In July, Citizenship and Immigration Canada temporarily suspended the entrepreneur program. Brooke hopes that will give the high-tech industry the chance to see the program and its requirements revised.

“We have a lot of interested young technical people who want to start companies here,” he said.

“The visa is about how can we make this faster and easier?”

HOW TO FIND WORK

RON McGOWAN Top tips for 2012 graduates

C

ongratulations; you’ve graduated. Next step: find a job. Here are the top job-search tips for students who will graduate this year.

1. Clean up your online presence. The first thing employers will do is look you up on the Internet. Are you ready for that? They may look at your Facebook page during the interview. Will they see things you don’t want them to see?

2. Look for WORK, not a JOB. Don’t scare off employers by communicating that you’re looking for job – and all of the traditional benefits that go with it. Make it easy for them to hire you by making it clear that you are happy to accept part-time, temporary or contract work.

If you are equipped to work from home, tell them that, too. It may appeal to them.

3. Ditch the resumé.

EVERYBODY is using a resumé. In your initial contact with employers, make yourself stand out in a positive way with more creative tools that are marketing oriented and focused on the employ-

er’s needs. It’s OK to have a resumé to take to the interview. But first you have to get there.

4. Think. Put yourself in the shoes of any employer you plan to contact. Why would they be interested in you? What exactly do you have to offer? Show in your first communication that you know about the company, the type of work they do and the industry they’re in. NEVER send out lots of resumés in a shotgun fashion.

5. Why should we hire you? Assume you’ ll be asked this question during the interview and be ready to answer it. Focus on the key points you made in the material you sent to them – those are what got you the interview.

6. Bite your tongue. Talking too much in the interview is among the biggest mistakes graduates make according to employers and recruiters. The more prepared you are for the interview the less inclined you’ll be to ramble on.

7. Do your homework.

There’s a wealth of information available on the employer’s website. Amazingly, many graduates never take the time to thoroughly analyze this information and prepare themselves to answer questions about it in the interview. It will also help if you can talk about some of the key issues going on in the industry.

8. Create your own job.

Instead of waiting for someone to offer you a job, consider what millions of graduates around the world have been doing for years: operating as a freelancer. Gain an overview of the world of freelancing by visiting websites like www.elance.com, www.odesk.com and www. vworker.com. You may get some business ideas at www. springwise.com. • Ron McGowan is the author of the international bestseller How to Find WORK in the 21st Century, currently in use at over 400 colleges and universities worldwide. www. howtofindwork.ca

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Do your homework before registering at a private career school The Private Career Training Institutions Agency helps protect students in B.C.

I

n 2004 the Province of British Columbia established the Private Career Training Institutions Agency (PCTIA) with a mandate to provide consumer protection for students enrolled in private career training institutions.

There are protections in place for B.C. students enrolling in private career schools, but students need to do their homework first to ensure the school is properly registered and in good standing. Students who pay tuition to a school not registered with the PCTIA do not have their tuition dollars protected.

For this and other reasons, in B.C., any institution offering a career-training program with tuition of $1,000 or more and 40 hours or more in duration is required to register with the PCTIA. The agency maintains a list of all registered institutions, including a fiveyear history of any suspensions, on its website at www. pctia.bc.ca.

To fulfil its mandate of student protection, the PCTIA sets basic education standards for all registered

institutions and establishes standards of quality, which must be met by accredited institutions.

In addition to quality standards, the 51,000-plus students enrolled in programs in PCTIA-registered schools each year have their unearned tuition protected under the Student Training Completion Fund (STCF).

The PCTIA sets basic education standards for all registered institutions and establishes standards of quality, which must be met by accredited schools The STCF is funded by contributions from registered and accredited private career training institutions.

If an institution closes unexpectedly before a student has completed his or her program, or if the PCTIA finds that the student has been misled about a key aspect of the institution or program,

There are protections in place for B.C. students enrolling in private career schools, but students need to do their homework first to ensure the school is properly registered and in good standing

the student can apply for a refund of part or all of the tuition paid.

In the event of a school closure, PCTIA staff members work with students

to assist them in finding a school at which to complete their training, and the STCF refund pays the train-out fee to that school.

An example of how the

PCTIA works with students can be seen in the April 2011 closure of Columbia Academy. Ninety-three students were impacted by this closure. PCTIA staff worked

with students to assist in either making a claim on the fund or transitioning them to another private career institution to complete their training.

Forty-seven of the 93 affected students opted to receive a refund of their unearned tuition; 31 chose to complete their training at other schools. Although 15 students have yet to file claims, all 93 were contacted by the PCTIA to advise them of their options.

Students have up to a year from the date of the closure to file their STCF claims. In total the fund paid out over $387,000 in claims for Columbia Academy students.

Legislation specifically designed to provide consumer protections for students and a regulatory body setting and enforcing education standards in the private career education industry is helping to promote quality in the B.C. post-secondary education sector.

Have questions? Contact the PCTIA at info@pctia. bc.ca or phone 604-5690033. Visit www.pctia.bc.ca for more information. •

What workers want Survey says work/life balance, learning opportunities have greatest impact on job satisfaction

W

ant to know the way to an employee’s heart?

Thirty-eight per cent of professionals interviewed by OfficeTeam identified work/life balance as the top contributor to their job satisfaction. Opportunities to learn and grow came in second, with 20% of the response.

The survey asked workers, “Aside from salary, which one of the following aspects of your job is most tied to your satisfaction?” Their responses: •work/life balance: 38%; •opportunities to learn and grow: 20%; •camaraderie with co-workers: 16%; •a good working relationship with the boss: 10%; •ability to accomplish goals: 9%; and •don’t know: 6%.

“Professional priorities

“Because there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for encouraging job satisfaction, supervisors should get to know their team members individually to better understand what Take a breather: supervisors should remind their workers to take breaks and vacations, and set a good example by doing so themselves

change over time,” said Robert Hosking, executive director of OfficeTeam. “Because there’s no one-size-fitsall formula for encouraging job satisfaction, supervisors should get to know their team

members individually to better understand what motivates and inspires each of them.”

Everyone appreciates the ability to successfully juggle business and personal obliga-

tions, Hosking noted. OfficeTeam offers five tips managers can use to help their teams achieve work/life balance: 1. Be flexible. If it’s practical for your business, offer alternative work arrangements

motivates and inspires each of them” – Robert Hosking, executive director, OfficeTeam

such as modified schedules or job sharing.

2. Reduce their commute.

Give personnel whose jobs can be done remotely the option of working from home one or more days a week.

3. Watch the clock. Avoid contacting staff outside of office hours unless the matter is urgent and cannot wait until the next business day.

4. Take a breather. Remind workers to take breaks and vacations. Set a good example by doing so yourself.

5. Bring in reinforcements. Encourage employees to seek help when they are overwhelmed with projects.

Use temporary professionals, when necessary, to alleviate workloads. • OfficeTeam is a leading staffing service specializing in the temporary placement of highly skilled office and administrative support professionals. www.officeteam.com

February 2012

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Job satisfaction Find out how you can get paid for doing what you love

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Ever heard of the toll booth attendant seen dancing beside his booth while commuters poked along through his gate? When asked what he was doing he replied: “I’m enjoying my job”

BY COLLEEN CLARKE

I

f you find yourself working at a job or in a company that does not have you leaping out of bed every Monday morning, try following these tips from Richard Bolles, the guru of work search and author of What Color is Your Parachute?

1. View your job as temporary. Over 54% of the working population labours for someone else, so longevity at a job is dictated by the company not you.

Never stop networking and updating your resumé.

Certainly live in the moment and be a focused, dedicated employee but always keep your ears and eyes open to opportunities that really turn you on! The average length of employment today is 2.4 to three years, so don’t decorate your workspace too lavishly.

2. View your job as a seminar. To keep your job

alive, you have to stay motivated. Constantly look for chances to increase your expertise and skills and volunteer for difficult or out-ofthe-norm assignments. Sign up for training and look for opportunities to get yourself out of your comfort zone.

Offer to attend conferences and workshops and report back to the department with your learning. Ask questions and then ask more questions. Read trade magazines and business books related

Success by the inch is a cinch, by the yard it’s hard to your profession and industry. When you enter the work world your education is only just beginning.

3. View your job as an adventure. Look at challenges as an adventure, as a solution to be solved not a problem to be overcome. Put hu-

mour in the job you do; look for the lighter side of life.

Make a routine task a stepby-step achievement; reward yourself with each successful step achieved. Success by the inch is a cinch, by the yard it’s hard.

4. Try to find satisfaction in the work itself. Find whatever pleasure you can from just doing your job. It takes a lot of hard work to turn a nine-to-five position into a dream job. You may have heard about the toll booth attendant who was seen dancing beside his booth every morning while commuters poked along through his gate. When asked what he was doing he replied, “I’m enjoying my job.” • Colleen Clarke is a career specialist and corporate trainer.

Visit her website at www.colleenclarke.com. This article was originally published on the Workopolis Blog at www. blog.workopolis.com.

Adults, students and job seekers interested in further learning and upgrading their skills to advance their career prospects use NEXT as a resource and a career guide.

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Business in Vancouver Media Group, publisher of NEXT, offers post-secondary schools, career colleges and service providers a unique advertising vehicle to market full-time and part-time programs. Visit us at www.nextcareerguide.com for more information.

You can help make NEXT the best carer training resource. Send your comments and suggestions to the editor at nglouberman@biv.com.

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Publisher Cheryl Carter Editor Noa Glouberman Sales Manager Kim De Wildt

Graphics & Production Soraya Romão Manager: Reader Sales and Service Deborah Hamilton Accounting/Administration Angela Foster

Members

102 East 4th Avenue, Vancouver B.C., V5T 1G2 Phone: (604) 688-8828 ➧ Fax: (604) 669-2154 E-mail: next@biv.com ➧ www.nextcareerguide.com

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Volunteer VOlunteer The Fraser Health Crisis Line is recruiting volunteers to provide assistance to people in the region who are experiencing emotional distress. No previous experience is needed as extensive training and ongoing support is provided. If you are interested in learning more about this challenging and rewarding opportunity, visit our website at www. options.bc.ca and follow the link for the Crisis Line.

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Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver is a nonprofit community-based children’s charity that has been operating in the Lower Mainland since 1957. We offer a

range of friendship-based mentoring programs for boys and girls and provide volunteer opportunities for men and women.

Time commitments range from one to four hours per week and we ask all our volunteers to make a minimum commitment of one year. To find out more, please visit www. bigbrothersvancouver.com or call 604-876-2447 x 236.

Parent Support Service Society of BC seeks compassionate volunteers to co-facilitate Mandarin, Filipino, and Grandparents Raising Grandchildren circles in Vancouver; Farsi in Port Moody; English circles in Ladner and Langley; Grandparents Raising Grandchildren circles in Surrey and Delta; and

English & Latin American circles in Richmond. We offer intensive initial training and opportunities to attend regional workshops for further skill development. As a facilitator, you will make new discoveries about yourself and others, form social bonds, strengthen your community and find personal achievement.

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How to deal with a bad job interview Tips on how to handle an employment meeting that doesn’t go well

By acting in an unprofessional manner, interviewers will lose the chance at hiring top talent

BY RENEE SYLVESTREWILLIAMS

I

once interviewed for a communications position but spent the time watching as one of the interviewers texted on his phone, played

with his coffee and generally showed no interest in the interview.

Interviews can be tedious to companies trying to find the right fit for their open positions but this gentleman had obviously checked

out for the day. His co-interviewer did try to conduct the interview but it was obvious that the process had been derailed.

When I received a follow-up phone call in a few days asking if I was willing

to come in for a second interview, I turned it down. I explained that the actions of his colleague soured me on the position.

His behaviour told me a lot about him and possibly about the company.

1. Expectations: Companies expect interviewees to be professional and skilled. Interviewees should expect interviewers to be the same. The company is not doing you a favour; it’s looking for top talent to join the business. By acting in an unprofessional manner, interviewers will lose the chance at hiring top talent.

2. Company culture: Imagine being treated unprofessionally during an interview.

If you took the job, can you imagine how you might be treated as an employee? First impressions always count and thanks to social media, a company can’t hide a poor culture anymore.

So how can you deal with a bad interview?

1. Remain professional: He might not have been professional but since his colleague was, I responded to him. Remaining professional meant remaining positive and not showing negative emotion.

2. Stay focused: As much as I wanted to stare as he texted, I knew I was still in the interview. Should this hap-

pen, just remain focused on the task at hand – inter-

Companies expect interviewees to be professional and skilled.

Interviewees should expect interviewers to be the same viewing for the position.

3. Ask questions: By asking questions, I learned more about the company culture and the position.

So what happened? The distracted interviewer was told what I had said and called me to tell me very strongly and defensively that he was, in fact, listening to the interview and he was taking it very seriously.

Needless to say, I didn’t continue with the interviewing process. • This article was originally published at www.blog. workopolis.com.

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Humour key part of culture at work, execs say Putting your funny bone to work can help you fit in at the office

I

Is it good to LOL at work? According to a new survey from Accountemps, a specialized staffing service for temporary accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals, having as good sense of humour at the office could help you better fit in to your company’s corporate culture

s it good to LOL at work?

A new survey from Accountemps – a specialized staffing service for temporary accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals – suggests it could be.

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of chief financial officers (CFOs) interviewed said that an employee’s sense of humour is important when it comes to fitting into the company’s corporate culture.

The survey was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on interviews with more than 270 chief financial offers from a stratified random sample of Canadian companies with 20 or more employees.

Chief financial officers were asked the following question: “How important is an employee’s sense of humour in him or her fitting into your company’s corporate culture?”

Their responses: •very important: 32%; •somewhat important: 41%; and •not at all important: 27%.

“Humour can help pro-

fessionals build rapport with their co-workers and alleviate stress in the office,” said Kathryn Bolt, who is the Canadian president of Accountemps.

“Job candidates shouldn’t perform standup comedy routines during interviews” – Kathryn Bolt, Canadian president, Accountemps

“Employee morale can be negatively affected without some levity in the workplace.”

Bolt added, “Job candidates shouldn’t perform standup comedy routines during interviews, but should demonstrate an easy-going and approachable attitude when speaking with the hiring manager.” • Accountemps has more than 350 offices worldwide and offers online job search services at www.accountemps.com.

7

Briefs

FEBRUARY 1 Simon Fraser University hosts the 2012 Canadian Association of Planning Students conference Feb. 2-4. The event lets students gain greater understanding of issues facing urban, regional and resource planning in Canada.

“It offers a great chance to broaden my horizons and discuss ideas with my future colleagues and it helps me to scope out opportunities for my own career,” said conference organizer Bastian Ziegler, a graduate student at SFU’s School of Resource and Environmental Management.

Disney Cruise Lines announced its return to Vancouver. Included among its 2013 itineraries: 15 sevennight cruises from Vancouver to Alaska starting May 27.

While the inaugural season of Disney’s Alaskan vacations in 2011 saw ships departing from Vancouver, last April the company opted to move most of its Alaska-bound cruises to Seattle for the 2012 season.

At that time local tourism officials estimated each Disney cruise was worth about $2 million to Vancouver’s economy. No word yet why the decision was made to return to Vancouver’s port.

JANUARY 25 The quantity and the quality of jobs are falling

in Canada, according to a report by CIBC Economics.

The Canadian Employment Quality Index by Benjamin Tal indicated the pace of job creation was slower than any other non-recessionary period in the past.

According to Statistics Canada there were 3.3 unemployed Canadians for every job vacancy in the quarter ending September 2011. Canadian businesses had, on average, 248,000 job vacancies in that period, but there were an average of 3.3 unemployed Canadians for each of those jobs (818,400 people). In B.C., there were 4.4 people for every job vacancy.

The impact of a slower job creation pace was exacerbated by a reduction in job quality in the Canadian labor market. The CIBC report noted that while job quality was well above the level seen during the recession, it was down by more than one percentage point over the past year.

By province, the largest drop was observed in Ontario, followed by B.C., with declines in job quality at almost 2%. With both quantity and quality of employment falling in tandem, real disposable income was unchanged in the first three quarters of 2011 – the worst showing in 15 years.

“Looking ahead, the likelihood is that employment quality in the coming few quarters will remain subdued,“ said Tal. •

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Ten deadly resumé sins Wondering why you never hear back after sending your resumé to a potential employer? Maybe it’s not even getting read

BY ELIZABETH BROMSTEIN

E

mployers and HR people are busy and important and they need to get through resumés as efficiently as possible. In many cases, there are hundreds of applicants for a given job, so, this often means immediately ditching those that look like a lost cause.

I asked a few HR people what makes them immediately chuck a resumé. Some have different pet peeves, but here’s what they said.

1. Spelling errors and typos: Almost every recruiter I’ve ever spoken to lists this one first, including Debra Sharpe at staffing agency Creative Niche.

“If there are spelling mistakes on a resumé, the attention to detail is not there, and they’re more than likely to make mistakes in their job as well,” SHE SAID. Kim Price Lloyd, HR manager at PriceMetrix, added: “When I have 75 applicants for an executive assistant position, you can be sure that the ones with the typos go straight into the ‘reject’ pile.”

2. A confusing or unattractive layout: Even in jobs where you don’t think visuals matter; they do.

Sharpe said, “You’ve got 30 seconds to impress somebody. And if you turn somebody off in those 30 seconds, they’re not even going to try to figure you out. They’re too busy. My time is important and I want to get to who they are. What do they bring to the table? What are they going to offer my client?”

3. Putting years and no months: Stefanie Tomei, the

employee acquisitions expert at Workopolis (who tells me she looked at over 19,000 resumés last year) pointed out that this is a big red flag “because if somebody puts down, ‘I worked at so and so company from 2008 to 2009,’ they could have only worked there for two months.”

It looks like a crafty way of covering your ass, in other words.

4. Writing about yourself in the third person: “John is a dynamic sales rep who increased revenues 10% over six months.” This is a particular beef of Tomei’s.

“That’s just weird. I don’t want to read that.”

5. Assuming the hiring manager is male: Tomei says she still gets cover letters that say “Attention Mr. Hiring Manager.” This is surprising but true. She cautioned, “Don’t limit yourself to female or male. If you write, ‘Mr. Hiring Manager,’ I’m not going to call you. That’s an immediate I’m not calling you.”

6. Not enough job description: Tomei said, “Oneline descriptions for each job – that’s bad. You’re not giving me any detail. You’re not giving me what you’ve done. So basically I don’t know what you’ve done. I don’t know if you’re qualified.”

7. Too much job description: On the other hand, if Tomei is put off by too little information, Price Lloyd is put off by too much. “Give me enough information to make me want to TALK to you, but I don’t need a blowby-blow of every single accomplishment or responsibility for the last 10 years,” she said.

Also, she doesn’t want an

endless list of accomplishments. “Accomplishments are interesting, but I really want to know how recent the accomplishments are.

Show me what you’ve done in chronological order.”

8. A stupid email address/hiding your contact information: Price Lloyd said, “Formatting can be a candidate’s best friend or worst enemy. Don’t hide your contact information. Candidates that put it at the bottom of the page for esthetics take the chance of frustrating recruiters/HR people/hiring managers when we can’t find your phone number.

“Also, partygirl2011@ gmail.com or masterofpimps@gmail.com are not great emails to have on your resumé. Same goes for the really cutesy email addresses. Email is free. Get a boring email address for your resumé.”

And here are a couple from me: 9. Not following instructions: I was once hiring for a writing position, for which I received about 400 applications. My instructions were simple: attach or link to three writing samples. I can’t count how many people wrote some variation of “I didn’t attach the samples you asked for because I felt that my personality/resumé/cover letter should speak for itself.” Yes, it spoke and told me you’re an idiot who can’t follow simple directions.

10. Sending your application after the cutoff date: Send your resumé in a timely fashion. By the time the cutoff date rolls around, the recruiter is sick and tired of reading applications for that particular position and has

Instead of too much detail, give just enough information to make the HR person want to talk to you

already narrowed down the pool. If you’re late, explain why and apologize.

That being said, I’m a fan of applying for positions and sending letters of interest when jobs are not being advertised. When someone isn’t going through 200 applications, yours could more easily grab someone’s attention.

Finally, a tip from Price

Lloyd on something to do, rather than to not do: “If a candidate really wants to stand out, they ought to show me that they WANT to work here. There are lots of people looking for jobs, but very few seem to be excited about a specific opportunity.

“I’m less interested in people who are merely looking to punch a clock; I’d rather have those that are

interested in committing to their work, their career and their organization. Many candidates miss the opportunity to leverage the cover letter to show off their softer skills and really demonstrate why they are a great candidate.” • This article was originally published at www.blog. workopolis.com.

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The longest silence

Writing your first resumé How to describe the skills and experiences you didn’t even know you had

When you get no response at all after a job interview

BY COLLEEN CLARK

similar situation, it’s not impolite to follow up after 24 hours. A simple email asking if the required information was received is not rude, it’s simply good business sense.

BY RENEE SYLVESTREWILLIAMS

W

hile email has made life both easier and busier, it seems it has also left us adrift when it comes to communicating, especially when there’s a job interview.

Most email communications about a potential job tend to have a pattern: 1. Applicant applies for job.

2. HR rep/hiring manager contacts applicant.

3. Interview happens.

4. Thanks sent by applicant; response sent by HR rep.

However, sometimes a step gets missed. A friend of mine was recently contacted for a potential position. She sent in a copy of her work with her thanks and heard nothing until she emailed the HR rep asking if he had received her documentation.

Only then did he respond.

This can leave a bad impression on applicants. HR expert Sarah Paul follows a set process when contacting applicants via email.

“Every interested candidate who applies for a job should have a good experience with your company,” Paul said. “Any time you can touch a candidate you have an oppor tunit y to enhance your company’s employment brand.

A SECOND FOLLOW UP While candidates should send a thank you note after every job interview, if you haven’t heard a response from the employer in the time frame allotted (or in what time seems reasonable),

“Any time a candidate is engaged either for a telephone interview or a If you haven’t heard a response from the employer in the time frame allotted (or in what time seems reasonable), it is OK to write in

“Particularly for very senior or technical positions I believe it is good business practice to acknowledge receipt of their resumé with a quick ‘thank you for your interest and you will hear back should we proceed with your candidacy,’” she added.

“At least they can rest easy that it was received, will be looked at and attachments opened OK. This email response may take time, but it is worth the effort in build-

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Paul also says whether you get the position or not, courtesy must be extended to everyone who applied.

“I have even heard of candidates physically coming to the organization, interviewing with the hiring manager or HR and never ever hearing back,” she said.

“If a face-to-face interview has been conducted and the candidate is not successful, he or she should receive a personal phone call to thank them for their time and deliver the news. A phone call takes no time at all and will leave the candidate with a positive impression of the company, even if she wasn’t chosen for the job.

“Any time a candidate is engaged either for a telephone interview or a faceto-face interview, he or she must receive a customized email indicating that they will not be moving further in the process,” Paul continued. “It is just the professional thing to do. Never leave a candidate who you have had contact with hanging. They would much prefer to hear a ‘No’ than no response at all.”

If you find yourself in a

face-to-face interview, he or she must receive a customized email indicating that they will not be moving further in the process” – Sarah Paul, HR expert

it’s OK to write in a second time.

Use this subsequent communication to reiterate your enthusiasm for the position and to highlight your key qualifications. Refer to the interview, making it clear that you were paying attention to the employer’s needs and are ready to meet them.

Thank the employer again for meeting with you and express your eagerness to discuss next steps. If the interview didn’t land you the job, it’s unlikely this second follow up will sway the employer, but it will likely yield a response so you’ll know if there’s a delay on their end or you simply weren’t chosen.

Either way, it’s better to know. • This article was originally published on the Workopolis Blog at www.blog.workopolis.com.

Y

ou may have been babysitting for years, maybe had a paper route, mowed the neighbour’s lawn, sat behind a table at the church bazaar or were class president.

Any of these can mean that you have viable work skills to put on your first resumé.

Every company with job postings wants a resumé. If you haven’t had a job yet that paid you with a paycheque, you may feel intimidated or unable to produce a CV. Don’t fear: you likely have enough experience and skills to write a one-page resumé.

Sit down with someone who knows you well and make a list of all the skills they think you have, including those exhibited around the house, in the community or as part of a school team.

Be very introspective and stretch yourself to identify your personal gifts. If you’ve been babysitting, list all the responsibilities that go along with caring for young children: being attentive, playful, creative, athletic, responsible and preparing meals.

Once you’ve compiled your list, create stories about each skill to validate it. Use a formula called SAR: Situation, Action, Result.

Start with creativity: (Situation) “Regularly babysat kids of varying ages from under one year to age 11. (Action) I’d take the kids on walks to look for nature items that we could use in art projects. The walks gave the kids a chance to run about and be curious. (Result) We then created the art piece, with lots of interaction in a creative environment.”

From this story you extract the Action and the Result and that becomes a point in your resumé: • took children on nature walks identifying interesting objects and answering questions while collecting artifacts for an art project; and •organized craft projects for children of all ages to give them a creative outlet while

having fun and interacting with others.

Let’s say you helped out at the church bazaar selling baked goods. Skills: selling, helping people, one-on-one communication, customer service and product knowledge. The Action Result statements would be: • provided knowledgeable, friendly customer service at a bazaar to assist a variety of people in making a positive buying decision; and • engaged potential buyers in conversation and made them feel comfortable about our product, which resulted in selling every item on the table in record time.

Not all statements have a direct result. Some require more about HOW you did something than what the result was. For example: answered telephones in a busy office in a friendly and knowledgeable manner.

Accomplishments in your first resumé don’t have to be monumental, like saving a company thousands of dollars; they just describe a situation where you used a skill to get a result. They demonstrate your personal accomplishments.

Try not taking yourself for granted as you go through your work life, keep track of your professional achievements and wear them like a badge of honour, no matter how inconsequential you may think they are.

Following your accomplishments, add in your education and any certificates you may have such as in a sport or artistic field. Include any teams or groups you participated in and the community work you did.

Lastly, add in three or four interests, specifically ones that are relevant to the job you are applying for. And be sure to have others proofread and edit your resumé before you send it out. Employers take a very dim view of sloppy writing or typos in a resumé. • Originally published at www. blog.workopolis.com.

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Professional Studies for working healthcare professionals • Advanced Leadership Skills for LPNs • Immunization Skills Workshop • Phlebotomy Course

FREE College Preparatory program and ongoing ESL support.

Hospital Support Specialist Work in hospital and healthcare administration as an Admitting/Registration Clerk, Health Records Clerk, Diagnostic Imaging Clerk, Hospital Switchboard Operator, Medical Secretary and much more. Entry level wages from $18.16 - $21/hr.

You may be eligible for government student loans and funding.

Medical Laboratory Assistant This program has been reviewed and approved by British Columbia Society of Laboratory Science and exceeds their requirements in many areas. The wage range of Stenberg MLA grads working in their field of study is $18.04 - $23.70 per hour.

Medical Office Assistant Consider a rewarding career in healthcare administration or expand your career options as a Hospital Support Specialist (see above).

Nursing Unit Clerk Nursing Unit Clerks, originally known as ward clerks and sometimes referred to as Nursing Unit Coordinators, act as the anchors of patient care departments. The average wage for Stenberg grads is $20.77/hr. plus 12.2% in lieu of benefits.

“The teachers and staff at Stenberg were very supportive throughout my entire program … Working towards completion of this program requires a lot of hard work but because everyone in the class cooperates and encourages each other to succeed, it helped me a lot.”– Amanda P.

604-580-2772 · www.stenbergcollege.com Over 94% of our grads are employed in their field of study within 6 months of graduation.