End of the Year Farewells... and Exam Hours

End of the Year: So Long and Farewell!

Exam Hours April 9^th – April 22^nd

·         Monday – Friday 9:00am – 4:30pm

Just a friendly reminder that printed copies are required for all document reviews. Thank you! :)

 

 The time has come once again where we say farewell to some of our CA’s who have made this year so unforgettable. We have had an amazing time working together.

Read on to learn a little bit about the experiences our CA’s had working for Career Services!

Becky White

Lead Career Assistant

Tourism and Environment

I do not know where I would be without this job. I say that almost daily! I have worked here for three years and every year I am lucky enough to work with the most wonderful people in the most unique environment. I would like to thank everyone who has been a part of my Career Services experience over the past three years, especially all of the CA’s who have moved on before me and have helped to show me the way! Thank you for teaching me, accepting me, and telling me that my love obsession with cats is totally normal. A special thank you to Kara for teaching me so much about life in the professional world… and life in general. In the ice show we didn’t say goodbye, we said see you down the road… so… see you down the road!

Wajeeh Alvi

Career Assistant

Computer Science

Being a part of the Career Services team has been a great experience for me. It has always been a passion of mine to help others and this role has helped me do so with respect to career development. Being at the forefront of providing help to students and alumni is very rewarding and even more so when they come back with their success stories. I can say that this job has, by far, been the most impactful job that I've done. I also had the amazing opportunity to work with such wonderful people who've helped me grow as a person and our time together is the thing I'll miss the most. I want to thank Kara Renaud for bringing me on board her team and equipping me with the skills which I'll be able to apply in more than just the workplace.

I wish everyone at Career Services good luck in their endeavors and to meet challenges head on. All the best!

Simon Drum

Graduate Career Assistant

Simon is MA Candidate for Applied Health Sciences at Brock University, specializing in sport psychology. As a Graduate Career Assistant at the Brock Career Resource Centre, Simon assisted Brock students and alumni with career information and resources to support students and alumni with their career planning and job search goals. As an international graduate student from Australia, Simon particularly worked with assisting graduate and  international students prepare for the next stage of their career, whether that be in Canada  or internationally.

Simon not only enjoyed the experience he gained from the position to assist in his career plans as a sport psychology consultant, he also enjoyed working with such a great team who all just simply enjoy helping people.

Monika Parsons

Graduate Career Assistant

MA Child and Youth

 It has been a wonderful year at Career Services.  I have had an opportunity to work with some incredibly talented and inspirational people.  Thank you to the wonderful CS team who work tirelessly at providing the best service to students which they deliver with enthusiasm and genuine care.  I have grown tremendously in my ability to understand undergraduate and graduate student needs and how to best support our Brock community with achieving their career oriented goals.

I am very proud to have had a chance to meet some fantastic students who, I am certain will make significant impact in the world.  Although it may be seem like it's the end, it's actually only the beginning. Good luck in all your future endeavors.

Related Careers: The Same but Different

It is easy to get stuck in the mindset that there are only a few careers out there to chose from. 

Aside from being a teacher, fireman/firewoman, doctor, lawyer, what is there? LOTS! Ok so maybe those examples are a little elementary, but I hope you can understand the point I am trying to make.

In ALL fields there are well known jobs, and jobs that may have unfamiliar titles. Part of the job search process involves identifying jobs in our fields, but how can we do that if we don't know what they are called? Related careers exist in all fields, and can offer you a job that can potentially meet your needs without being stuck in the " I have to be a XYZ"!
For example:
 Teaching.

Aside from being an elementary/secondary teacher, what else can you do?

There are instructor positions, one on one tutor positions, positions where you are in a teaching role, but you may not be in a classical classroom setting. These jobs may have different names, and the names of the positions may change depending on where  you work.

So how do I find these jobs?

These jobs can be found by simply keeping an open mind. When browsing job postings, don't zone in on well known job titles. See what comes up, and click on unknown titles to learn more.

Easier than that, sign in to career zone and go to CareerCruising. On CC you can search positions but you can also type in a position and on the left hand side there is a RELATED CAREERS button that will provide you with a list of jobs that are the same but different.

 When I say the same but different,  I mean that it can satisfy your inner needs. Your reason for wanting to be in that job or field but may have a different setting, goal, or you may be working with different people.

Be open to all job titles, and don't be afraid to learn more about them. Google is your best friend!

 If you would like to chat more about related careers, or what related careers may be in your field, come on in to Career Services and chat with any of our friendly Career Assistants. We would love to help you!

Becky White
4th year Tourism and Environment

On-Campus Jobs for Next Fall - Start Looking Now!

The time to look for next falls on-campus jobs is now! A common mistake we see at the Career Resource Centre is that students will come into our centre in September looking for on-campus jobs for the school year. However, these jobs actually hire for those positions in the Winter semester prior! Therefore it is important to start looking now - some jobs have already been posted, and some jobs have already been hired for. If you want to work on-campus during the 2015-2016 school year, now is the time to apply!

Job postings will begin to flood the job-search websites below for on-campus jobs:
- careerzone.brocku.ca
- busu.net
- brocku.ca/dining-services/employment
- experiencebu.brocku.ca
- brocku.ca/student-life-community-experience

Here are some places to apply that will be posting on these websites!
- Campus Book Store
- Footnotes
- Career Services
- Health Services
- International Services
- Student Development Centre
- Brock Press
- Campus Security
- Computer Commons
- James A. Gibson Library
- IT Services
- BUSU Office
- Youth Univeristy
- Isaac's
- Guernsey Market
- Starbucks
- Union Station
- Walker Cafeteria

... and so much more.

Remember, Career Services can help you every step of the way. We can review your resume and cover letter, help you apply to jobs on CareerZone, and even help you with your interview skills! By taking advantage of our services and taking our advice you increase your chances of getting a job.

Good luck applying to on-campus jobs!

Anthony Mancuso
3rd Year Honours Bachelor of Sport Management
Senior Career Assistant

Organizing your Job Search Research

Job searching can be a difficult task for people. Usually the person is under some pressure to find a position which can cause them to become anxious and stressed.

The most important thing to remember is that there is something in the market for everyone. Today, we see a lot of graduates graduating with degrees that have a variety of transferable skills (for example, skills you've obtained from overcoming obstacles throughout your university study). By completing almost any degree that doesn't specifically lead you to a career path (ie. Nursing, Teacher's College, etc.) you will be obtaining these skills. These are what will assist you in finding your career path and will most likely be the most used skills on the job.

Since you will have all these skills coming out of university, you will need to know how you use them. Everyone has had a different learning experience and knowing your own will help you determine your desired career. We call this Self Assessment, assessing your personality, values, and preferred working environments. Check out our post of Self Assessments and how you can complete this step by clicking here.

Once you have assessed yourself you should have a good idea of where you would work well and what you would like to be doing. Beginning your research is next!

Your research on jobs should begin with knowing exactly what the job entails (Is it in an office environment? Are you working with a team/group of people? What hours would you be working? What are the challenges people face in this occupation?). All these things can be answered through online research, visiting your Career Centre, or reaching out to those in that occupation using the Information Interview approach.

It would be helpful to keep all the research you've found important to this point in a binder or folder so you are always able to refer to it. Especially when you have looked at a few types of careers, you can keep them separate from each other by using dividers. It may be very likely that you are interested in occupations that are close in nature, but you still want to keep them separate so when the opportunity comes along you know where to go to get your researched information.

Another tip you could explore further is making customized resumes and cover letters to fit the different positions you are interested in so when you see a posting you will be ready to review their qualifications to make sure you emphasize them and then apply!

For more tips on organizing your job search check out these quick tips from TalentEgg here!
Good luck searching and remember our Career Resource Centre at Brock University is always here to help you out!

Alysha-Lynn Kooter
Senior Career Assistant
3rd Year Concurrent Education: Visual Arts 

Is Your Career in Demand?

In today's ever-changing labour market, it is important to stay updated on what jobs are in demand and what jobs are more competitive. Staying updated, while it sounds daunting, is actually very easy and can be done from these two resources:

Job Bank Canada:
This website, updated weekly with labour market news per Canada as a whole, province and territories, and even municipalities, gives ratings for professions in regions across Canada. Want to know where Pilots are in demand... maybe thinking about moving to Calgary? The extensive search criteria allows you to peek inside the labour market for that job in that area.


This resource also does a complete overhaul at the beginning of each year for all of their statistics. This means that in January 2015 we will have a completely new batch of information to draw from! Stay updated, Career Services will be using this resource to develop our labour market and trends binders in the coming months.


Glassdoor.ca:
Glassdoor is unique in that it allows not only a look at if jobs are in demand, but the culture of those jobs and companies. Employees who have worked there review the job, location specific most of the time, and can help identify if that profession or that company is something you want to do or work for.

If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you will also get a quick listing of trending jobs and salaries. The best part is it is all Canadian! Glassdoor.ca is a fun and informative website to use when analyzing the labour market. They also have a mobile app, so you can search your careers demand on the go!



It is important to know where the jobs are in your profession, and to understand where the jobs will be in the future  and where your industry is headed. These two resources are only the tip of the iceberg but provide a bountiful amount of information that is relatively easy to access.


Anthony Mancuso
Senior Career Assistant
3rd Year Honours Bachelor of Sport Management

Career Cruising Matchmaker - Take with a Grain of Salt

Career-Cruising is a great self-assessment tool that provides a list of  potential career options for you based on your responses. It is a great way to look at a wide range of career choices if you are confused with what to do after you graduate, or if you are just curious! The Primary assessment available is the career-assessment, where you answer a minimum of 39 questions about work preferences and the service matches you with careers that line-up with your preferences.

You can access Career-Cruising through CareerZone under the Online Resource Centre tab, and then by clicking on self-assessment.

Here's the thing... some of these matches may be way out there. For example, I am studying Sport Management, and my top 5 matches after answering the first round of questions are as follows:

39 Questions Answered:
1. Parking Enforcement Officer
2. Martial-Arts Instructor
3. Volunteer Manager
4. Waste-Management Technician
5. Military Officer

Huh. It seems I am destined to be a Parking Enforcement Officer or a Martial Arts Instructor, not exactly what I had in mind. After answering 39 questions it is hard to tell what kind of careers might be right for you, or find one that might suit your fancy. You have the opportunity to take additional questions after the minimum 39, and I strongly recommend it. My top 5 matches after completing 116 questions are as follows:

116 Questions Answered:
1. Sport Agent
2. Martial Arts Instructor
3. Volunteer Manager
4. Human Resources Specialist
5. Venture Capitalist

Though my apparent calling to be a Martial Arts Instructor remained, after completing more questions and the skills assessment on Career-Cruising I began to see more interesting, related career paths such as a Sport Agent or a Human Resources Specialist. You begin to notice trends, with clusters of employment beginning to show. It's through these trends that Career-Cruising becomes useful as you might find a related path or similar career from one of your matches. At the very least, it gets you thinking about a plethora of different options.

On Career-Cruising, either through selecting one of your matches or simply searching a career, you can research some useful information on that career including:

- Job Descriptions
- Working Conditions
- Related Careers
- Education Required
- Sample Career Path
- Salary
- Information Interviews


So, if I choose to act on my calling to be a Martial Arts Instructor, I can research a plethora of information on that career, what to do to get there, and what to expect when I am there as well as any related careers that may further catch my eye.

All in all, take your results with a grain of salt! Your career is not set in stone by the degree you pursue or by the results in your self-assessment. Like any self-assessment, Career-Cruising is a tool, and if used correctly and in the right context, it can do a lot of good.


Have a great reading week! Our Resource Centre is closed on Monday, but operates regular hours for the rest of the week. Drop by to come and have your resume reviewed by yours truly or another Career Assistant!

(I love working here!)

Anthony Mancuso
Senior Career Assistant
3rd Year Sport Management

How students can utilize CareerZone!

If you are looking for tools to use to help you find a job, explore careers, prepare for an interview, attend career events, or build up your career documents, then CareerZone is the one-stop shop for you!

CareerZone is Brock's Career Services portal that includes everything you need  for career success. There are lots of categories to check out like "Career Services Events", "Workshops", and "Job Postings". On the "Job Postings" section you can find both on and off campus job postings! This is a great resource for students looking for some work during the school year. It also has postings for those who have graduated and are looking for work within their field! Use the "advanced search" option to find your best results!

Another great category on CareerZone is the "Online Resource Centre". By using the "Online Resource Centre" section you can find templates, samples, and guidelines to help you develop your career documents like your resume, curriculum vitae, cover letter, portfolio, or letter of intent.  You can count on these resources to be correct and up to date with the current trends in employment!

The "Online Resource Centre" section can also be used to help you with a variety of other career related things. The different categories to check out in this section are:

• Career and Job Search
• Career Assessments
• Cover Letters, Resumes,
• CVs, Letters of Intent
• Portfolios
• Interviews
• Further Education
• Going Abroad
• Government Job Search
• Volunteering
• Internships
• Career Magazines
• Resources for Students with Disabilities
• Resources for International Students
• Resources for Teacher Candidates 

If you are looking for information about any of these topics then definitely use this online resource to your advantage! Check out careerzone.brocku.ca today :) 

Alysha-Lynn Kooter, Senior Career Assistant, 3rd year Visual Arts and Concurrent Education 

How to Contact Us!

To help start off the 2014-2015 school year, we at Career Services felt that showing students the many different ways to contact us and use our resources would be beneficial! Everyone likes options, have you ever felt like there just weren't enough options? Fortunately for you, Career Services offers a variety of ways to contact us, for any situation! Stuck in your room with the flu, but really want your resume reviewed? Thought of a question to ask about your degree options, but you’re not at Brock at the time? Had a moment of inspiration where you thought about law school, but you don’t really know much about it? Maybe you thought of an exciting career and you want to know how to get there! Whatever it may be, feel free to come to Career Services for all advice and help on career-related matters.

Here are the ways you can use our services:

Career Email: career@brocku.ca. You can email us at any time for document reviews (attach your documents!), as well as any other questions that you may have relating to Career Services. We can respond within 24 hours during office hours, so if you can't make it to the resource centre just send us an email!

Blog comments: Right here! We are always monitoring our blog, and if you have any questions about the material we post here, or anything else for that matter, feel free to post in the comments down below and we will get right back to you!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jack.mcisaac. We're on Facebook! We are always posting useful information on upcoming events that are filled with Volunteer and Job opportunities, so "Like" our mascot JackMcIsaac on Facebook and stay in the loop!

Twitter: Follow us on Twitter! @JackMcIsaac is always tweeting and re-tweeting job opportunities and events. Jack is following an incredible amount of employers and job boards, and our twitter account is a great way to stay updated.

Chat: http://brocku.ca/career-services Did you know that we have a Chat function? There is a small box located at the bottom right of the screen where there is a chat function built into our page. You can click on that and ask any question that you may have for us! While we are online a Senior Career Assistant can respond to your question quickly. If we are not online, you can still talk to us through the chat, just leave us an email to respond to your question with and the career email will get back to you!

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Drop-in: Then there's the good old-fashion Resource Centre, located in the Learning Commons here at Brock. During our office hours, 9-4:30 Monday - Friday, you can drop in and use our services completely free! Come in for resume and cover letter reviews, job search strategies, job postings, degree exploration, self-assessments, career planning, anything related to careers is our function and we are always happy to help!

That's a lot of options. Feel free to use them all! No matter the situation, Career Services is just a moment away, ready to help.

Anthony Mancuso, Senior Career Assistant, 3rd Year Sport Management Student