Community Employment Resource Centre
What’s inside:
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Networking
know-how
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How to cope
with changes
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REAL GAME
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More websites
of interest
DID YOU HEAR….?
The Life Long Learning Centre is offering an Eight Week
House Framing Program FREE.
That’s right, it’s FREE!
Starting date: June 30th.
For more details, ask our staff.
What’s a network?
A group of people connected to you through family, friendship, work,
education and community.
Why do I need a network?
Have you ever heard the expression: “It’s not what you know, but who you
know?” Your skills, abilities and
knowledge are keys to landing a job, but they may not help get your foot
in the
door. Most jobs are in the hidden job market – positions that
employers hope to fill through personal contact.
Employers
don’t advertise jobs, because they will have to sift through resumes, interview
people and then hire strangers. They would much rather hire someone who has
come to them through a contact.
OTHER SITES:
Durham Region Newspapers Online – http://durhamnews.net
Each person in your network has unique knowledge, experience and
contacts that might help you. Not only that, the people in your network have
networks of their own. By tapping into one person’s know-how, you may also be
tapping into the know-how of many other people.
Who should be in my network?
Chances are, you already have a network. At its centre are the people
closest to you – your family and friends.
Your network can also include
your acquaintances – everyone you know socially. The minute you ask an
acquaintance if he/she has heard about a job opening, you are making that
person part of your network.
Here are some people to consider:
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Neighbours and family friends
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Employers and co-workers
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Club members
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Parents of children’s friends
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People seen frequently: cashiers,
pharmacists, store clerks, hairstylists, librarians, bus passengers.
Good networkers are people who share in the lives of others by giving
and receiving information, advice, support and commitment.
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Talk to people regularly to see how they’re
doing.
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Assist people if they have problems.
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Learn how to ask, listen and respond well
during conversation.
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Contact people in your network if you hear
or see something that would interest them.
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Put yourself in situations where you can
meet new people.
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Tell people exactly the type of job you are
looking for and your qualifications for that job.
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If the people you speak to do not have the
information you need, ask them to refer you to others who might.
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Try to interview people who are doing work
you might like to do; for advice, ideas and leads.
Increase the time you spend networking, it’s worth it!
HOW TO COPE WITH CHANGES
Perseverance with
confidence.
Our
willingness to persevere has a great deal to do with whether we motivate
ourselves by thinking of what needs to be done as a necessity or as a
possibility. How do you feel, for example, when you believe you have to do something, must do something, need to do something or should
do something? In other words, when something seems like it is a necessity? Check the following choices:
If I think
I have to do something, do I feel:
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Resistant or determined?
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Guilty or tenacious?
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Desperate or driven?
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Pressured or challenged?
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Overwhelmed or motivated?
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Obligated, regretful, or pleased?
There
are no right or wrong answers to these questions.
Notice,
for example, how you feel when you tell yourself that you must do something, as opposed to when you tell yourself you can do it. What happens to your emotions
when it becomes a choice instead of a requirement? In other words, do you
respond better to possibilities or necessities?
Possibility
thinking is often called having a “can-do” attitude. Feelings associated with
this attitude include
optimism,
caution, curiosity, confidence, disappointment
and
hope. But, now, notice how differently you feel if you think something is impossible as opposed to possible. What happens when someone
tells you that you can’t do something, or if you shift your focus from what you
can or could do to what you can’t
do?
Most of
us would feel helpless, despairing, disappointed, discouraged, or inadequate.
So
shifting your thinking from “I can’t do that” to “ How could I do that?” can be a quick
way from feeling pessimistic to feeling optimistic, from feeling hopeless to
feeling motivated.
For more
detailed information about the 6
essential stages of change, look for the book: ”Changing Directions, without
losing your way”, located in our resource library.
“The Real Game”
- Workshop -
An
exploratory journey through the world of work and change.
The goal is to provide an experiential
resource for individuals to make informed, realistic career and life decisions,
that will result in work and/or enhanced employability.
Dates: Friday,
June 20th,
June 27th, July 4th.
Time: 10:00 am – 3:30 pm
ADMISSION IS FREE *.
Ask the CERC staff for
details.
*
Limited space available.
The only constant thing in life is change.
CHECK OUT THESE WEBSITES: