Community Employment Resource Centre

What’s inside?

Ø Calling all ‘Callings’!

Ø Planning Your Career

Ø Quote of the Month

Ø Winners

Ø Upcoming Information Sessions

Ø Visibility is More Important than Ability

Ø New Resources at CERC

Your ‘Calling’ vs Your Career

Picture the painter Claude Monet lying in bed at six o’clock in the morning, November 1908. A bell rings. He groans, buries his head under the pillow, reaches out one arm, and hurls the alarm clock against the wall. Ten minutes later he drags his reluctant body out of bed. “Another bloody day at the easel,” he grumbles to his wife. “Water lilies, water lilies, more bloody water lilies. I never want to see another water lily in my life.” “Quit your moaning,” replies Mrs. Monet. “In another two months we’ll have paid off the new living-room suite, and then we can start saving for that two-week vacation.” Monet shuffles despondently off to the bathroom.

Doesn’t quite ring true does it? That’s because painting wasn’t Monet’s job. It wasn’t his career. It was his calling.

The fundamental difference between a career and a calling lies not in the nature

of the work, but in the motivation with which it is done. A calling is, firstly, something you do to express a passion flowing from you. A career is, firstly, something you do to derive external rewards-money, security, social status, etc.

If you are among most of us who do not know what our calling is, try exploring. Exploration is a cycle. You reflect on your experiences to learn more about yourself; you bring about changes to create new experiences; you expose yourself to new experiences, you reflect further; and so on. Over time you may discover that you have not one calling, but many. Each of these will unfold at a different stage of your journey as your self unfolds.

It is difficult to find and follow your calling. You have to leave behind the safe and familiar world of convention and make your own way, overcoming your own fears and doubts. Here is a five-step plan:

Ø Work out what you are good at

Ø Take account of what for you is enjoyable and meaningful

Ø Out of the things you are good at, select one that will bring solid financial and social rewards

Ø Keep at it. Move onward

Ø Whenever a little voice inside you has the guts to ask, “Is this really what I want to do”, ignore it at all costs.

Of course, all of this doesn’t happen over night. Take your time; work at your career while you explore your calling. Just knowing you are pursuing something greater will motivate you. Listen to your self. It is pointing the way towards your calling and a happier, richer life.

Taken from The Money is the Gravy, by John Clark (see CERC library).

Planning Your Career

In the routine things you do everyday, you unconsciously plan. When you drive to work or school, you unconsciously plan your route. You get to your destination because you are following a route you know well. Contrary to this, a career is not a routine or minor occurrence in life. It is a journey that requires planning to reach the goals you set for yourself.

This does not mean the destination you set for yourself is cast in stone. It is flexible and open to change. But career planning will have an impact on the quality of your career. Planning will determine the level of satisfaction you experience; it will determine how well you handle change and whether you are prepared for the promotion and advancement opportunities that come your way.

Job satisfaction is a crucial aspect of maintaining a positive attitude about your career. Planning allows you the opportunity to make wise career choices, which will affect the quality of your career and contribute positively to your job satisfaction.

So, take some time to think about where you are now, where you want to be in the next couple of years, and plan the steps to get to there from here. This will give you some smaller goals to work on which will help you arrive at your ultimate destination.

Taken from Career Planning & Networking, Professional Development Series of South-Western Thompson Learning.

Quote of the Month

”If you’ve got visibility, you’ve got greater hire-ability.”

~author unknown

And The Winners Are…

The winners for our wellness packages are:

Reginald McCall (Cobourg)

Lorrie Ludlow (Port Hope)

Free Information Sessions

· Computer Basics

May 5th

¨ Know Your Resources:

May 12th

¨ Automated Resumes:

May 19th

¨ Choices:

May 26th

Time: 2:00–3:30 pm at

Port Hope CERC

CERC is also offering a free information session called Dreaming Of A New Career. This interactive session will be offered from 9:30am – 12:00pm on April 27th, 2004 at the Optimist Club in Bewdley. Free child care will be provided for this session only. You must register to reserve your seat.

To register for any of these sessions call 905-885-2372. Limited space is available.

Visibility is More Important than Ability

What does this all mean? It means that despite your training, skills, education and experience, if you are not being seen in the right way by the right people, you will lose the opportunity to prove you are qualified: Unfair, but true.

How does this apply to job search? Get your resume out there. You can do this in a variety of ways:

· Make a list of people you know who are somehow connected to the job you are seeking

· Call and ask if you can meet with them to discuss if they know of anyone you can talk to to assist you in your job search (you do not need to tell them that they are one of the people you have identified). People like to help and are usually eager to pass along knowledge they may have

· Leave your resume with them for future reference

· Continue networking with people that you think of or that are suggested to you - you never know who might hear of a job opportunity and when

· Tell people you otherwise speak to in casual conversation that you are looking for a career change. Ask them to let you know if they hear of any opportunities

· Remember that if someone hasn’t heard of you, they cannot offer you a job opportunity

Many people feel intimidated by the idea of asking someone for a meeting. Remember that many people like the feeling of helping others, and that they too may gain something out of the meeting if they happen to be looking for someone with your skills.

The right job may be out there, but it probably won’t come to you. Job seekers today have to put themselves out there more than in past years. The labour market is extremely competitive, and any personal edge you can give yourself works to your advantage.

Don’t forget that your resume is your primary tool for making yourself visible. If you are not confident in your resume’s ability to do so, have one of the CERC staff review it with you. CERC provides many helpful handouts to assist you in perfecting your resume as a job search tool.

New Resources at CERC

CERC has some new resources this spring to help you with your job search. Firstly, there are new binders for organizing all of our great hand-outs:

· General resumes

· Student resumes

· Interviews

· Cover letters and Thank-You Letters

· References and Work Value

· Job Search

· Skills and Abilities.

Secondly, there are some great new books in our library:

· 100 Top Internet Job Sites, by Kristina M. Ackley

· The Money is the Gravy, by John Clark

· What next? The Complete Guide to Taking Control of your Working Life, by Barbara Moses

· Hired! The Job-Hunting/Career-Planning Guide, by Harris, Henle and Stableton

· Hardest Times: The Trauma of Long-Term Unemployment, by Thomas J. Cottle.

There are also free job search information packages on various topics including Waitstaff, Shipper/Receiver, Dog Groomer, Construction Worker, etc. Use these to give you a head start on your search including resume samples, interview tips and sample job advertisements. Finally, you will find Employability Skills packages to help you understand what basic skills employers are looking for. Ask your CERC staff member for assistance in finding the packages that will be helpful for you.