Community Employment Resource Centre

WELCOME!

The Community Employment Resource Centre (CERC) is pleased to introduce its first monthly newsletter. The purpose of this newsletter is to keep you informed about what’s happening in the world of Job Searching.

What’s Inside:

In this issue you will find the following sections:

- What’s Hot in the Job Market

- Upcoming Events

- Tips for Successful Job Searching

What’s Hot in the Job Market

Apprenticeships

Did you know that there will be a shortage of skilled trade workers? Are you interested in apprenticeship and trade programs?

Do you know where to start? The following upcoming event can help!

FREE Apprenticeship Information Open House

Where:

Port Hope CERC

33 Walton Street

Tel: 905-885-2372

When:

February 19, 2003

Time:

9:30am – 11:30am

Come and listen to professionals discuss their trade. There will be presenters from the Emergency Services – Police, Fire and Paramedic - and a representative from the Life Long Learning Centre in Cobourg.

Please call early to reserve a seat!

Tips for Successful Job Searching

This Month’s Tip:

Painting the Perfect Picture on the Telephone

Before making that first nerve-racking telephone call, you must be prepared to achieve one of these three goals (in order of priority)

· I will arrange a meeting

· I will arrange a time to talk further on the phone

· I will ask for a lead on a promising job opening elsewhere

Always keep these goals in mind.

To make the initial phone call a success, all you need to do is paint a convincing word picture of yourself. With this in mind, you should not expect to hold anyone’s attention for an extended period, so the picture you create needs to be brief yet thorough. Most of all, it should be specifically vague …

Specific enough to arouse interest, to make the company representative prick up his/her ears and yet vague enough to encourage questions, to make him/her pursue you. The aim is to paint a representation of your skills in broad brush strokes with examples of the moneymaking, money-saving, or timesaving accomplishments all companies like to hear about.

A representation made over the phone must possess four characteristics to be successful. These can be best remembered by an old acronym from the advertising world: AIDA

A – you must get the company representative’s attention

I – you must capture the company representative’s interest

D – you must create desire to know more about you

A – you must encourage the company representative to take action

With AIDA you get noticed. The interest you generate will be displayed by the questions that are being asked: How much are you making? Do you have a degree? How much experience do you have? By giving the appropriate answers to these or other questions, you will change interest into a desire to know more - desire to know more will turn into an interview!

Please contact your nearest CERC office for a complete handout of Painting the Perfect Picture on the Telephone.

CERC OFFICE INFORMATION

CERC Cobourg

The Fleming Building

1005 Elgin Street

Suite 103A

Cobourg, ON K9A 5J4

Tel: (905) 372-9372

Fax: (905) 372-5247

CERC Port Hope

33 Walton Street

Port Hope, ON L1A 1M8

Tel: (905) 885-2372

Fax: (905) 885-5706

E-mail: cerc@cercnorthumberland.com

Website:

www.cercnorthumberland.com

Office Hours:

Monday 9 – 6pm *

Tuesday 9 – 5pm

Wednesday 9 – 5pm

Thursday 9 – 5pm

Friday 9 – 4pm

* Every third Monday of the month, the Port Hope CERC office closes at 4:30pm to allow for staff development

The Community Employment Resource Centre is funded by Human Resources Development Canada