Calling all Career Practitioners in Toronto and the GTA – come one, come all!

• Are you interested in networking with members of Career Professionals of Canada?
• Want to learn more about our professional membership and Certification programs?
• Would you like the opportunity to meet other local members face-to-face?

Then join us on Tuesday, November 22nd between 6 and 8 PM to connect with our Toronto area Ambassador, Kellan Beck.

Non-members and PROFESSIONAL members alike are invited to take part in our very first “Community Meet-up” hosted in downtown Toronto (location to be determined dependent upon registrations received).

Come on down to the city to introduce yourself, ask questions, and enjoy the opportunity to build new connections.

• This is a free event for all participants.
• Refreshments may be purchased from the resident vendor(s).

More details will be shared as they become available here: Community Meet-Up – CPC Toronto Area Open House

We look forward to connecting with you then!

Did you know that the CPC website offers links to both CPC and Canadian Career Industry events? As well, you can view both pages in the ‘List’ format or a monthly ‘Calendar View’ by clicking on the calendar icon in the upper right-hand corner.

In the Canadian Career Industry calendar, we invite you to share your event with our membership and visitors. Whatever the business occasion – Trade Show, Celebration, Workshop, Conference, or Seminar – you are welcome to showcase it in that section.

In the CPC Calendar, you can easily follow links and stay up-to-date on such topics as:

• Certification courses
• Tele-seminars
• Tele-networking sessions
• Course registration reminders and deadlines
• CPC operational notices, including office closures etc.

If you have something special that you would like to share, please use the following form to submit your information with all relevant details and available links:

http://www.careerprocanada.org/submit-an-event/

We look forward to connecting with you!

Whether working full-time for an organization or developing your own business, volunteering is an excellent strategy for sharing your knowledge, expanding your reach, and making an impact in the career professionals’ industry.  At CPC, we offer a wide range of positions that include:

• Certification Assessors (Must be CRS, CIS, CCS certified.)
• CPC News & Views Contributors
• CPC Ambassadors
• CPC Blog Posters

“My volunteer activity with CPC has done more to benefit me
than the organization itself…”
~ Lynda Margaret, Added Value Resumes – Read more.

A volunteer position with CPC requires a limited time commitment each month and is entirely dependent upon your schedule and availability. For more volunteer information please visit the member area online or contact us.

“…Being a member of CPC is a step in the right direction, but volunteering in some capacity will give you and your business a higher level of visibility and credibility.”
~ Daisy Wright, The Wright Career Solution – Read more.

It is my pleasure to announce our 2011 Awards of Excellence recipients. We had a record number of submissions this year and the competition was tight – proving once again that our membership comprises some of the very best of the best in the industry. Congratulations to all!

I’d also like to offer special thanks to our adjudication panel who were presented with the difficult challenge of selecting the recipients from the stellar nominations – this was not
an easy task!

We will announce when samples from this year’s winning submissions will be available for all Professional Members to view on the site. Here are this year’s Award of Excellence Recipients. Please do send them your congratulations:

2011 0utstanding Canadian Career Leader

• Maureen McCann

2011 Executive Director’s Award
Outstanding Volunteer Contributor to the Organization

• Cathy Milton
• Lita Pitruzzello
• Michael Thompson

2011 Outstanding Canadian Online Profile Developer

• Maureen McCann

2011 Outstanding Canadian Resume Contributor
Best New Graduate Resume Category

• Lisa Cartaginese

2011 Outstanding Canadian Resume Contributor
Best Career Change Resume Category

• Maureen McCann

2011 Outstanding Canadian Resume Contributor
Best Technical Resume Category

• Lisa Cartaginese

2011 Outstanding Canadian Resume Contributor
Best Executive Resume Category

• Adrienne Tom

2011 Outstanding Canadian Resume Contributor
Best Creative Resume Category

• Maureen McCann

Congratulations and thanks again to everyone who participated – it has been another fantastic year!

Melanie Schlotter
CPC Marketing and Communications

This past August, our PROFESSIONAL Member Tele-Networking series took on an entirely new format. The new series features questions that are discussed in a round-table fashion, and the whole experience is fueled and directed by you.

The result?

We are so pleased to share that we are now enjoying some of the most active and most sought after calls in CPC’s history.  Special thanks go to Maureen McCann, our Social Networking Moderator, and to Sharon Graham for driving this new development. I would also like to make special mention of all of our members for getting involved as well – this series wouldn’t be the success it is without your participation.

Want to know what the fuss is about?

Join us for our next call, How to Work with and Motivate Difficult Clients, on October 5th, 2011 at 1 PM EDT. (Note: Must be a PROFESSIONAL Member and logged in to register.) Member Tele-Networking is available to PROFESSIONAL Members at no cost, though long distance charges may apply.

Thanks again to everyone for making this new series a success!

Melanie Schlotter
CPC Marketing and Communications.

I am so proud of our strong community here at CPC. As a member-driven organization, we depend on your input, resources, and ideas to propel CPC. With your commitment, we are becoming the best place to connect and share ideas with colleagues in the employment and career industry.

This month, I’d like to make special mention of the volunteers who’ve taken on the new Ambassador roles with CPC. Our ambassadors are here to help connect CPC to our members on the local level. Please, take a moment to welcome our first Ambassadors:

• Kellan Beck, (Toronto Region)
• Maureen McCann, ProMotion Career Solutions (Ottawa Region)
• Wayne Pagani, W.P Consulting & Associates (Ottawa Region)
• Lita Pitruzzello, (Eastern Region)
• Michael Thompson, Pacific Community Resources Society (Western Region)

To connect with your regional Ambassador, please follow this link to submit your request:

http://www.careerprocanada.org/talk-to-a-cpc-member/

Or, if you are interested in becoming an Ambassador in your region, you may learn more about the program here:

http://www.careerprocanada.ca/AmbassadorProgram

Welcome Ambassadors, and thank you again for your ongoing dedication to this organization,

Melanie Schlotter
CPC Marketing and Communications.

A guest blog by Laura James, Head of Content at Inside Jobs—a career exploration website.

Informational interviews are awesome networking tools – but they can be hard to get, time consuming, and they can be awkward…its not comfortable to reach out to strangers. Social media is changing that. In the business world, like in many other areas, social media is breaking down barriers and changing social dynamics to permit more casual relationships with people you don’t know.

Seize this change – use it to your advantage by intertwining your client’s job search with their general career exploration— it will help advance both their immediate job search and their long-term happiness. Here’s how to get started:

1. Job search today needs to be focused. When your client finds a field they, have them dig deep. For while it’s good to have an open mind, not focusing on a particular area keeps job search at the surface level of many industries. This means that you’re looking at only the most visible opportunities, and your client is competing with the maximum amount of other job seekers.
2. Clarity of career focus takes some introspective work. Help your client determine their career goals: What are their valued skills? What do they like doing? What possibilities does a field offer them, and do their future options look attractive? Putting in legwork upfront to figure out career preferences helps solidify focus in a given field, stops second-guessing the search, and gives your client talking points to discuss with future employers. Career Exploration websites like Inside Jobs are good starting points to figure out what opportunities exist out there for your clients.
3. With career focus in mind, look to explore it further through informational interviews. This is where job search and career exploration meet together in a lovely marriage. Informational interviews offer incredible insight into fields, while doubling as invaluable networking opportunities. They allow job seekers to chat with people already in the jobs they want, simultaneously feeling out whether they will like that job and connecting them with people who can introduce them to potential employers.
4. Get online! Have your client put their research to work and start reaching out to people in their desired fields. Be it through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or other social media sites, there are waves of people actively engaging in online conversations – your client doesn’t need to schedule coffee dates with vague acquaintances – they just need to join in the conversations.
5. Participation is key. Your client is focused, driven, has goals and is looking for help to attain them – but they shouldn’t play a “damsel in distress.” Instead, encourage them to chat with people to attain new perspectives on their career path. They should actively participate in the conversations to determine if their “interviewees” can help them learn how to attain their goals. This is how traditional informational interviews work, but enacting this process through social media is a more efficient, casual, and less connection-driven process.

Networking through informational interviews is a great job search technique and you need to take responsibility and shoulder the process if you’re going to be successful. With the continuing development of social media, job seekers can now gain the same benefits of informational interviews with more convenience and less intimidation. With a little bit legwork and determination, your client can locate the field they want and find the backdoors in—the ones that most other job seekers are currently missing.

- Guest blog by Laura James, Head of Content at Inside Jobs—a career exploration website.

When all is said and done, the real citadel of strength of any community is in the hearts and minds and desires of those who dwell there.
~ Everett Dirksen

CPC is proud to acknowledge the following individuals for being such an important part of this community.

New PROFESSIONAL Members:

• Barbara Marcell
• Linda Smith
• Lisa Murray

Renewing PROFESSIONAL Members:

• Angelika Trinkwon
• Diane Lee
• Karen McGregor
• Pamela Martin
• Stephanie Clark

Newly Certified PROFESSIONAL Members:

• Anna Novak, CRS