Education Development & Career Entrance 
Strategies For Students of All Ages

by Robert Kirwan, O.C.T., B.A.(Math), M.A.(Education)
Professional Learning Coach & Director of
The Learning Clinic Education Centre

The Key To Your Future Could Be Right Before Your Eyes! YOUR CAREER PLANNER  is one of a series of online publications that are being made available through The Learning Clinic Education Centre.  Without a doubt, putting together Your Career Planner as an educational resource  is perhaps one of the most satisfying things I have done in my life-long career as a professional educator. As a member of the Ontario College of Teachers, I belong to an association of over 250,000 people who are committed to the highest of ethical and moral responsibilities to the young people of this province. Your Career Planner is my personal mission...to provide an online publication that you can turn to when you need guidance and advice, or just time for quiet reflection with respect to your own or a loved one's education or career development.

If you fall into one of the categories below, this publication has been designed specifically for you:

• current students in elementary and secondary school;

• current students in post-secondary education institutions;

• recent graduates of secondary and post-secondary institutions;

• people who would like to change careers - regardless of your age;

• people who are not happy with the career they are in right now;

• people who are unemployed;

• people who are underemployed;

• retirees looking for a new career;

• people who did not complete high school;

• anyone else interested in a better future!

Your Career Planner contains many elements that you will find extremely valuable when the time comes to make those serious choices about your post-secondary education and subsequent career paths. With over 70% of all jobs available today requiring some sort of post-secondary training, it is imperative that everyone have a clear plan of action which will allow them to achieve their personal career goals.

I certainly hope you find the information contained in this publication will be useful and thought provoking. You won't find all of the answers in Your Career Planner. As a matter of fact, I actually hope you leave Your Career Planner with more questions than when you arrived. As long as you are searching for answers and asking yourself questions, I know you will succeed in your chosen career.

I also welcome parents who wish to take the time to look through this publication. You will soon discover an underlying philosophy in just about everything you read here. It is my firm belief that we are all students of life and that we can all benefit from a career plan, no matter what stage of life in which we may find ourselves. Even people in their mid-sixties are getting qualified and trained to begin new and exciting careers. The advice you find in this publication can be useful for everyone.

Good luck!
 

PREFACE

There are three main questions that this publication should help you answer.
  

WHAT KIND OF CAREER IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

CHOOSING THE RIGHT CAREER is one of the hardest challenges a young person will ever face. After all, how can you decide what you want to do with the rest of your life when you are still in high school? And yet, it is extremely important that you establish your career goals and targets as soon as possible so that you can make take the proper steps to get started in your chosen career.

WHAT KIND OF EDUCATION DO YOU REQUIRE TO GET INTO YOUR CHOSEN CAREER?

CHOOSING THE RIGHT SCHOOL is a matter of doing all of the proper research in advance so that your final choice will have the best chance of getting you started in your chosen career. Once you decide on a career goal, you will be in a better position to select your school.

ONCE YOU HAVE YOUR EDUCATION AND TRAINING, HOW WILL YOU GET STARTED IN YOUR CHOSEN CAREER?

Once you have made a decision about the career goals and you have chosen the post-secondary school which will train and qualify you for that career, the most important thing left for you to do is develop THE RIGHT PLAN so that you have the best chance of getting started in your career after you graduate. Many people focus entirely on the first two tasks, thereby coming up with a great career goal and enrolling in a wonderful school. Once they graduate they soon discover that if they haven't been following a carefully crafted plan which includes the right networking, volunteering and communication strategies, they are left out in the cold with a diploma and nowhere to go.

This entire publication is devoted to helping you answer the three questions. If you don't already know the answers, then I hope you have a better understanding of your own unique answers by the time you finish reading.

As you are going through YOUR CAREER PLANNER, I want you to keep in mind that the questions must be answered in order. In other words, you must determine the kind of career that is best for you in order to determine the kind of education that is right for you.

It is the third question, however, that excites me the most as a Professional Education & Career Coach. Coming up with the RIGHT PLAN is what it is all about. This is where the game begins for me. And interestingly enough, you must start working on the answer the minute you decide on a career goal.

Before we get into YOUR CAREER PLANNER, I want to point out briefly, four trends that I think must be taken into consideration when developing an "entrance strategy" for any career today. These trends are just coming of age and will be huge in the decades that follow.

MAJOR INFLUENCES ON EDUCATION & CAREER DEVELOPMENT

My examination of recent trends in the education sector has provided me with significant evidence that the four major influences in education and career development over the next decade and beyond will be:

• Employment Agencies  
  

• Private Career Colleges  
  

• Distance Education  

Let me explain why I feel this way.

EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES

First of all, employment agencies will take on much more of a role in career development in the future simply because of the fact that upwards of 80% of all job openings are no longer advertised to the general public. It is a well-known fact that most job openings have now become part of this “hidden job market”. 

Employers have discovered that if is far more cost-effective to hire employment agencies to find suitable candidates to fill vacancies in their workplaces. They no longer want to spend hundreds of man-hours sifting through hundreds of job applications and resumes to narrow down the candidates to about a dozen or so for interviews. Then they have to make arrangements to listen to the interviews and make a guess as to who will fill the positions.

Employment agencies take care of the work for you. Whenever you need to fill a vacancy, you contact one or more of the over 600 employment agencies in the Province of Ontario and tell them what you are looking for in a candidate. The agency then sends you several people to interview. These people are on the agency data base and have all had their resumes checked for authenticity. Once the interviews are finished and you select the person for the job, you pay a fee to the agency and you have your vacancy filled. You don't need to tie up your staff with resumes and interviews. You don't need to spend hundreds or thousands on advertising to find people who are interested in your position. Furthermore, if the person you hire doesn't turn out, the agency guarantee will mean that you can hire one of the other candidates you interviewed at no additional cost to your company.

Employment agencies are in the business of matching the needs of employers with people who are looking for employment. Agencies can fill the needs of a company on a short-term temporary basis, or on a long-term contract. Agencies are also in the recruitment business which means that they will search for the best candidates for permanent positions. In the fast-paced world in which we live today, it makes perfect sense for companies to use the services of an employment agency for their recruitment needs. This is "outsourcing" that pays for itself many times over.

The implications for job-seekers, is that unless you are registered with a number of different employment agencies, you are going to be missing out on 80% of the job openings that come up. This is why I recommend that young people register with an employment agency as they leave high school. Get your name on the registry early and keep updating your information so that when you graduate with your diploma or degree, the agencies will be looking to find that first entry level position in your chosen career. It doesn't cost anything to register and it is the company that hires you that pays the fee to the agency.

Employment agencies are also very useful for people who are looking for another career or to move to another community in the same career. By registering with a number of agencies, you will have a chance to be considered for vacancies that come up that may be of interest to you. It is just like having your "own agent" searching out the best companies willing to pay for your services. Many people have been able to move up the ladder within their own career field by having agencies find new positions in different companies and then making the switch. In most cases, you wouldn't even have found out the opportunity existed if you were to try looking on your own.

Many people who are retiring today are also looking for new positions that might utilize the skills they have developed over the years. Employment agencies make sense for them as well. Registering with an employment agency means that your name will come up if a company is looking for someone with your experience to fill one of their vacant positions.

More will be said about employment agencies later, but for now, I think you see how these companies will continue to be utilized by people of all ages who are seeking employment in the future.

DISTANCE EDUCATION

Distance education is becoming increasingly necessary as students at the secondary and post-secondary levels discover that they need credits in subjects that are much more easily obtained through correspondence rather than through the local university or college institutions. 

Distance education courses allow a student to “fill in the gaps” with respect to courses that must be obtained as prerequisites for post-secondary programs. These courses are easy to register in and have flexible start times. 

Distance Education is almost like attending a “virtual” private career college in that you can take a course when you need it, accommodating your current work or school schedule while you are taking the courses.  

PRIVATE CAREER COLLEGES

Of the four most influential trends that will shape the next decade in the field of education and career development, there is overwhelming evidence to suggest that nothing will have more of an impact than private career colleges. This is because the structure of private career colleges is conducive to the needs of students of all ages today, including adults and retirees. It is also because the traditional public institutions, namely universities and community colleges, are unwilling or unable to facilitate changes in time to adjust to the needs of the new generation of students. Public schools are still run as they always have been and have not adapted to the changing demands of today’s students. The fact that private career colleges can adapt to changes much faster will allow them to become more attractive to students than will be the traditional systems.  

We will provide much more in-depth coverage of private career colleges in the rest of the publication, but for now consider some of the main attractions of private career colleges:

1. Short length of time to complete programs: Many students graduate from secondary school with an intense desire to get right into their chosen career field. These students do not want to spend another three or four years going to school to get a diploma with up to 50% of all courses taken actually unrelated to their concentration or specialty. They like the fact you can get a diploma from a private career college in less than a year. They also like the fact that you don’t waste any time taking subjects that are not going to help you in your career. Since career life-spans have contracted significantly in the past couple of decades, with many people expecting to change careers every seven or fewer years, students will not want to spend three years getting qualified for a seven year career. Private career colleges are an attractive alternative, but at the present time very few secondary school graduates are aware that this option even exists.
    
2. Flexibility in scheduling classes: Students who attend private career colleges like the fact that you can attend class in the morning or afternoon, and often during the evenings in some cases. This gives students plenty of time to take on part-time jobs in order to support themselves while going to school. They also like the fact that they come to school, attend their classes, and then go home. There is no time wasted waiting in between classes. School is run like a business and students like this approach. It is much different from traditional publicly funded institutions.
    
3. Less expensive than traditional colleges and/or universities: Once they compare the overall cost of attending school, they find that private career colleges are much less expensive than traditional post-secondary institutions. They see that the cost of tuition is pretty well the same, but they actually save a great deal of money for living expenses because they only need one year to get their diploma instead of three. As well, they begin earning a full salary up to two full years before their peers who go the traditional route and attend a community college.
    
4. Instruction is more efficient with focus on what you need to learn: Students appreciate the fact that private career colleges have eliminated the frills that are not needed as part of the program. What you are taught in your course is relevant to your upcoming career. There is very little to distract you and you don’t find yourself wasting valuable time studying and doing assignments for elective courses that will mean nothing in terms of preparing you for your career. They also like the fact that you take one subject at a time, therefore you can focus your attention on one course instead of up to five or six at a time. This “immersion” approach is much more effective and students find that they learn and retain concepts much faster and better.
    
5. Diploma is recognized by all employers: Students are also becoming more aware of the fact that diplomas from registered private career colleges are recognized by the Ministries. Therefore, they are questioning why they should spend three years at a community college when they can get the same diploma in one year at a private career college. The more that private career colleges like CTS can raise their community profile and image, the more likely students will accept that it is the diploma that counts, not the school. Students today are very much time conscious. They cherish their time and do not want to waste it. Once they find out that they can save two years of study, and thereby having two more years of earning income by attending a private career college, there is virtually no question as to what they prefer.

TRADITIONAL SOURCE OF STUDENTS FOR PRIVATE CAREER COLLEGES

There are over 600 licensed/registered private career colleges operating in the Province of Ontario with a total annual enrolment of over 30,000 students. Traditionally, these private career colleges served students mainly from the following groups:

1. Unemployed or injured adults seeking re-training for new employment opportunities
2. Disabled adults seeking qualifications for employment
3. Older adults seeking re-entry to the workplace
4. Adults on welfare or social assistance who are trying to qualify for meaningful employment
5. HRDC and Social Service funded clients

During the past decade or so, the average age of students attending private career colleges has been dropping rapidly due mainly to the fact that in addition to the traditional sources of students, private career colleges are beginning to draw students from several other areas, notably:

1. Older adults who wish to change careers, but who do not want to spend three years at a community college;
2. University and College students who have dropped out of their original program after 1 or 2 years;
3. Young adults who went directly to work after high school and who now want to get into a meaningful career;
4. Graduates right out of secondary school who want to get their diploma in one year instead of three;
5. University graduates who are seeking a specific diploma to qualify for an entry level position in a company.

It has become evident that there are new market segments turning to private career colleges as a means to satisfy their career goals and objectives. These are quite different markets than private career colleges have been accustomed to, and some changes are going to have to be made in how the organizations operate in the future with respect to recruitment and marketing. Change is inevitable and the private career colleges which are going to survive in the future must take steps to prepare themselves for the demands of a whole new cohort of students.  

MAJOR OBSTACLES FACING PRIVATE CAREER COLLEGES

Despite the fact that there are so many private career colleges in the Province of Ontario, very few people in the major demographic market segments described above know much about these institutions. And there is no evidence to suggest that this situation is going to change much unless private career colleges completely revise their recruitment, marketing, and public relations policies. I do not intend to address all of the barriers and obstacles that are preventing the growth and expansion of private career colleges, however, I will include what I feel are some of the major ones.

1. Lack of awareness among new target market demographic groups:
   Few people know about Private Career Colleges, therefore most of the potential students in the target market groups described above will not even consider this an option when selecting which school to attend in order to obtain their career qualifications. Very little information is presented at high school about private career colleges, mainly because the classroom teachers, all products of university, know very little about private career colleges. What little they do know is from the “old days” when private career colleges were considered institutions for “older adults” who couldn’t handle the pressures of a “normal” community college. There is so much misinformation in the community and the schools about private career colleges that potential students are not even considering attending a private career college until they are desperate and referred by someone from social services. The general public perception is that private career colleges are only a “last ditch” option if you can’t get into any other institution. That is why such a high percentage of students at private career colleges are being funded by social services. They are being “forced” to attend a private career college because it is a quick way to get people off of the social service roles. This in itself has tarnished the image of private career colleges which many feel are for people who are on welfare or unemployed. I once taught a marketing module to a business class at a local private career college and during our first session while we were going through introductions, one of the students said, “Welcome to the class of losers.”
     
2. Lack of credibility as a post-secondary training option among secondary school students:
   Most secondary school students have been convinced that a 3-year community college program is better than a 52 week private career college program because the community college program is seen as producing a more “rounded” student. As a result, many potential students are never given a chance to find out how the program at a PCC contains about the same amount of instruction time as a community college or that the programs also contain the same required core curriculum that one will receive in a community college. Students have been lead to believe that the shorter length of program means less quality of instruction when in actual fact, the additional length of a program at a community college is only because of the “extra curriculum subjects” that are included as fillers to make the program last longer. The core material is the same, otherwise, the Ministry would not recognize the diplomas issued by private career colleges. This message must be delivered in order to improve the credibility of private career colleges. In my own case, for example, it took me three years to get a math degree from Laurentian. During that time I took only five math courses. All of the others were electives that were not necessarily even related to math. I could have completed my degree in one year, taking one course at a time, one after the other. This is how a private career college operates.
    
3. Competition with public sector colleges and universities that have ties to public sector secondary schools:
   The public sector feeds the public sector, hence, publicly funded high schools promote publicly funded community colleges and universities. There is nothing unusual about this, but it certainly places private career colleges at a disadvantage. The community colleges and universities also get preferred status when it comes to presentations and recruitment sessions. Private career colleges, on the other hand, are depicted as business enterprises that are interested only in making profit, and not as interested as public institutions in the quality of education. This couldn’t be any further from the truth; however, that is the perception among the public school system and in particular among the public school teachers. Private career college representatives must therefore work much harder at getting into the schools for presentations and recruitment sessions. When I represented a private career college as a secondary school liaison I found I was accepted by the teachers because I was ‘one of them’ in that I taught for 28 years and was still a member of the Ontario College of Teachers. I passed the credibility test with the secondary schools so they allowed me to make my presentations.
     
4. Unregistered PCC’s generate a lot of bad publicity:
   Each year there are far too many horror stories about students who have been treated poorly by unlicensed private career colleges. The general public does not know the difference between registered and unregistered private career colleges, so they tend to paint all private career colleges with the same brush. The classroom teachers and guidance counselors in secondary schools do not know much about the local private career colleges, so they tend to recommend the publicly funded universities and community colleges that they have full knowledge of from years of experience. There are not as many spectacular stories in the media about community colleges and universities being charged with fraud or operating illegally. You will seldom find teachers or counselors recommending a private career college for this very reason. They would rather avoid any chance of giving students bad advice so they stick to the public sector institutions instead. It is very much a choice between the “devil you know or the devil you don’t know”. Teachers will always recommend the “devil they know”.

It is my opinion that once private career colleges can address some of the above challenges you will see a tremendous boom in enrolment in this type of educational institutions. They just make so much sense.
 

I now invite you to read and reflect upon the content that follows. YOUR CAREER PLANNER is a framework for the future that you can count on to help you achieve your goals and objectives for as long as you live.
 

THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION EVERY STUDENT MUST CONSIDER....

What kind of career do you want to enter after you are finished your formal education?

THIS IS THE STARTING POINT

It's Time To Prepare For The Trip Of Your Life! It's Time To Get On The Bus!

And yet, I come across so many people who are going through life in precisely the same manner. Especially students who are going through secondary and post-secondary school with absolutely no idea of where they want to go.

As a professional career planner, I want to make it perfectly clear that when it comes to career planning, you are the DRIVER OF YOUR OWN BUS. I can help you create a road map, and I can help you develop a plan, but when all is said and done, you are the driver and you are responsible for the condition of your vehicle.

Many students I speak to during their graduating year, whether that be from secondary school or from post-secondary school, admit that they have very little idea of what they want after graduation. They have been driving themselves all over the place going nowhere because they do not know where they are going. Some are so confused that they delay going into any form of post-secondary institution, choosing instead to take on a meaningless job at minimum wage in order to take time to decide. Five years later, many still find themselves in these dead-end jobs with no clear vision or personal goals. 

In order to prevent this from happening, it is critical that you get "IN TOUCH" with yourself as soon as possible. The advice that I am giving you in this web site is appropriate no matter where you are in your current life journey. Even if you have been out of school for ten, twenty or thirty years, there is still time to get in touch with your true feelings and begin the journey towards a satisfying career that is just right for you!

This section is the most important parts of the publication. It is where you are going to decide where it is that you want to go. Without this step, you will find yourself driving your bus all over the map, wasting a lot of time and energy, as well as a lot of money driving to an unknown destination. You wouldn't dare do this when you are going on a vacation, so please do not do this when you are training for a career - your whole life depends on the decisions you are about to make right now!

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A BIG GOAL IN MIND

Just before we get on with the rest of what I have to say, I want to share a story from a book I once read written by Eileen Shapiro and Howard Stevenson. The name of the book was “Make Your Own Luck”. 

What amazed me most about this book was the way the authors were able to explain how easy it is for us to gain control of our life simply by becoming more focused on the “big goals” instead of all of the smaller ones. We can dramatically improve our odds of achieving our desired results and therefore go from depending on dumb luck to actually taking more control over our own destinies.

This message really hit home in one of the early chapters when the authors were relating an experience they had one day while conducting a job interview for the position of manager of one of their companies. A man named Dean Kamen was one of the candidates for the position and he was asked a number of questions during the course of the interview. One of the questions was, “Imagine you are stranded on a deserted island. If you could choose one person to be stranded with you, who would it be?”

The authors expected Mr. Kamen to give one of the typical answers that people usually give to this question, such as, “your spouse, a great philosopher, an athlete, a famous religious figure, a sexy movie star, a story teller or a close friend or family member.” 

What would your answer be?

Mr. Kamen surprised the authors with his answer. 

He thought for a moment and then said, “The world’s best boat builder.”

Mr. Kamen realized that his ‘big goal” was to get off the island. He could have selected a companion who would make life much easier for himself while he was stranded on the island waiting to be saved. Instead, he selected a companion who would be able to help him get off the island and thus control his own destiny.
  
Needless to say, Mr. Kamen got the job.
  
I want you to remember this little story as you read the remainder YOUR CAREER PLANNER. 

The message for all of us is that as long as we keep our big goals in mind and take actions that will help us move towards those big goals, we will increase the odds of achieving our desired outcomes. 

This means that as long as you have a clear understanding of the "type of career" you would like when you get out of school; as long as you know which career would allow you to use your natural talents and which would be in line with what you love to do, then you will have something to aim at and will be able to make sure that all of your decisions will move you in the right direction. 

You are going to meet a lot of "boat builders" along the way. These are people who are going to help you get "off your island" and on your way to your destination. Let these "boat builders" help you. Listen closely to them. Make wise and informed choices that are constantly moving you towards your "big goal" and you will eventually find success.

Now, let's get on with the rest of YOUR CAREER PLANNER. 

Enjoy the trip!

What is your "passion in life". 
What is it that "turns you on"? 
What are you "really good at"?

Yes, you do excel at something! Everyone does!

Everyone is gifted in something......

Identify your gift - your passion for life - and you will have found your career!

BEFORE WE GO ANY FURTHER, I want you to make up a "Top 10" list of your own.

I want you to take a sheet of paper and write down a personal inventory of the things in life for which you have a special passion or interest. What are the things you love to do and are pretty good at as well? 

I am not asking you to rank each item in any specific order. All I want you to do is write them down as they come to you on a sheet of paper that looks like the following:

Take a good look at the list.

What you have in front of you should be the things that you enjoy most. 

These are the things that you love doing and are already good at. 

The career in which you will find the most success and satisfaction with will involve at least one of the things on your list. 

I cannot emphasize this point enough!

If you try to pursue a career that is not within that "personal passion circle", you will have a hard time remaining in that career for very long, or at best, you will simply go to work for the money and not receive the kind of satisfaction that a career should bring.

First of all, make sure you have the full list of ten filled out.

Don't go any further until you have completed the list above for your personal passion list. Everyone can find ten things that they are either good at or really like a lot. These are your positive character traits and abilities. 

Now take another sheet of paper and set it up similar to the example below. 

Take a few minutes to complete this next exercise. 

Write down a list of the careers that you are most interested in right now. It doesn't matter whether or not you come up with the proper name for the specific occupation. Just describe the career if you do not know what it is called. The important thing is for you to come up with a list of ten careers that you feel would be your first choices if you had the opportunity to select any career you desire. That's right! What are the careers you would like to put yourself into right now if you could?

Remember, some of the careers on your list will be very broad while others will be very specific. It is simply important that you come up with a list of ten careers that you feel you would like at this particular time of your life. 

Above all, make sure that the occupations you have on your list are those in which you would actually be interested. Don't just put down careers that sound good. Make sure that you feel you would love to be in those careers if you could.

For example, a person who loves hockey and is a very talented player, may want a career in hockey. This doesn't just mean that he has to be a professional hockey player. He can be a coach; own a retail store; be a sports writer; be a physical therapist; a trainer; and a host of other related occupations. He will still be living his dream of having a "hockey" career.

Don’t plan your education, hoping that you will find a career afterwards or you may be cooking up a recipe for disaster.

See if you get the message from the following story.

Do what you do best and success will find you.

If you continuously follow the occupations within your career cluster as you are going through the appropriate education path; 

If you are willing to adapt to changes within those careers;

Then you are heading for a very successful, rewarding and happy life.

Then, you must do your research to make a list of all of the institutions that offer the diploma programs that you require.

Once you have a complete listing of all of the schools which offer your program, then comes the task of choosing the school you wish to attend. For high school students who establish their career goals by Grade 10 or 11, there is plenty of time to do proper research. In fact, I would suggest that once you narrow your choices down to three or four, you spend time during vacations to visit each campus and have a good look around. Talk to current students to get their feedback on the institution. After all, you may be spending up to four or more years going to school there, to say nothing about spending tens of thousands of dollars to obtain your diploma or degree. It would be nice take a tour of the facility and get a first hand look at the campus before you send in your application.

The selection of  a post-secondary school is a very personal thing. The final decision will depend on a number of factors, not the least of which will be financial.

In any event, the selection of which school to attend will likely be the easiest part of the career planning process. Do your research; visit the campus; talk to current students; take a good look at your financial situation; and you should narrow your choices down to three possible options. It is always advisable to have three options in case your first or second preferred choices are not available.

At the end of this stage, you will have your career goals in place and you will have a good idea of the college or university where you would like to receive your training and education.

YOUR 
PERSONAL
ENTRANCE
STRATEGY

STEP #1

• As you are doing research into various career options that appear to be of interest to you and which fall within your career cluster choices, you will come across names of certain companies that are leaders in their field. 
      
• These are the companies that will offer you the most opportunity once you decide to pursue a particular career.
      
• Select five (5) different companies with which you would like to begin your career. It is better if those companies are close to your home town, but that is not necessary.

STEP #2

• Prepare a file folder for each of the companies on your list and also begin to store a folder of information and links on your computer for each of the companies.
    
• Find out everything you can about each company. Store information in the appropriate file folder.
     
• When you are gathering information, use the internet; send for brochures by mail; visit the company in person to speak to secretarial staff and get a visual perspective about the company. In other words, leave no stone unturned and be complete in your research.

STEP #3

• Carefully follow the progress of each company and make note of any accomplishments and achievements. You can track the company by reading newspapers, industry periodicals, company reports on their web site, etc.
      
• It is always a good idea to keep track of how these companies are performing and be aware of the directions they seem to be heading with respect to expansion and development. 
      
• By keeping an on-going diary of the progress of each company, you will also be able to demonstrate that you have been keeping up with the trends of that industry. 
     
• When you are ready to apply for a job with some of these companies, the ability to discuss events and accomplishments that took place over the previous several years will definitely be something that will impress your prospective employers.

STEP #4

• Send regular correspondence to key people in management positions within the company. The higher the better. 
    
• It is a good idea to send this correspondence in the form of written letters. People tend to keep letters in files whereas they will often delete emails.
      
• Always find a purpose for each letter. I cannot stress this enough. Always find a purpose for each letter. For example, you can ask specific questions about the company or the industry; offer congratulations on achievements and accomplishments; demonstrate your interest in a career with their company in the future; ask for advice; etc. Look for reasons to send a letter and make sure that you keep this correspondence up regularly (at least once every three or four months).

STEP #5

• Once you have developed a relationship with one of the key people in the company, arrange to visit and meet with this person for the express purpose of finding out more about the company. Often people in positions of responsibility will be extremely busy, but if you allow them to select the day and time of the visit, most will agree to meet with you, or will designate someone else to meet with you instead. Always graciously accept to meet the subordinate if that is the best you can do.
    
• Be very open with the person and indicate that you are interested in a career with the company and would like to get some advice on what to do in order to prepare for such a career. 
     
• Show genuine interest and your contact person will usually bend over backwards to help you out.

STEP #6

• Find out what charitable organizations and/or causes are supported by the company. Every company has one or more major charities that they support, so this should not be difficult.
      
• Ask if you could volunteer to help out with one of their charitable events. Make every attempt to become involved in activities which will include representatives of the company.
      
• Try to become directly involved in a similar volunteer manner at least once or twice a year with each of your target companies. 
      
• Make sure the people in the company get to know you and get to know that you are interested in working for them when you graduate. Take every opportunity to shake hands and introduce yourself to people from the company when you are volunteering. Keep personal business cards with you so that you can give one to people you meet.
    
• Always send some kind of follow-up letter to your key contact person and perhaps to the Chief Executive Officer. Thank them for allowing you to become involved and make sure you tell them how much you enjoyed the experience. Indicate your willingness to help out in the future in any way the person deems useful.

STEP #7

• After a couple of years, ask your contact person(s) if they might be able to help you get a summer or part-time job with the company. 
    
• Make sure they understand that you want to gain some experience which will help you make the transition into a career once you have finished with your schooling.

STEP #8

• Make sure you let your contact people know when you will be available for work. 
       
• Begin sending them letters to this regard a full year and a half ahead of your graduation. 
      
• Let them know the kind of position in the company in which you would like to start out, even if there are no vacancies when you send the letter. 
      
• Send your application letter to the highest ranking person in the company that you know and ask them if they would mind forwarding your application to the proper person.
     
• Make sure you find a way to mention something in the cover letter that would help your contact person remember you from previous contacts.

STEP #9

• Every two or three months, try to find some reason to update your resume. This can be a new experience that you have gained through a volunteer initiative; final marks in school programs; new work experience; change of address; etc.
    
• Send a new cover letter outlining the addition to the same contact person you have been dealing with and attach an updated resume.
    
• Always include some personal information or initiate a personal exchange with the person to whom you are contacting. This person should look forward to receiving your letters and may even respond.

THE FIVE PILLARS OF LIFE

TRANSFERABLE SKILLS

PERSONAL MANAGEMENT SKILLS

TEAMWORK SKILLS

NETWORKING

ESTABLISHING YOUR NETWORK

RECORDING INFORMATION ABOUT PEOPLE ON YOUR NETWORK LIST FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

VOLUNTEERING

THE HIDDEN JOB MARKET

YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE

A SATISFYING CAREER

WHEN YOUR DREAMS DO NOT COME TRUE

AN UNSATISFACTORY 
OUTCOME

• Situation #1 You may have graduated from University with a degree or from Community College with a diploma, but have trouble finding meaningful employment in your field.
    
• Situation #2 You may have graduated from University with a general B.A. degree and now you want to obtain a college diploma in a specific area in order to start in your chosen career.
    
• Situation #3 You may have begun a particular degree or diploma program at a College or University and discovered that you wish either to change programs or to drop out of school all together.
    
• Situation #4 You may decide to take the first two years of a general university degree and then switch to a college or apprenticeship program.
    
• Situation #5 You may decide that you want to go to work immediately after you graduate from Grade 12.
    
• Situation #6 You may decide that you want to work at a part-time job while going to school to earn your diploma.
    
• Situation #7 You may be working in a career for seven or eight years and decide that is has changed so much you no longer like what you are doing.

SHIFTING OF PREFERRED PATHS

THE FIRE ESCAPE ROUTE PRINCIPLE

CHOICES

HOW DO YOU MAKE GOOD CHOICES?

To do this, we will use an example that many of us experience on a regular basis. It will demonstrate how our minds are already programmed with the decision-making process. All we have to do now is apply this skill to the very important choices we have to make with respect to career & education planning.

Suppose you open your cupboard and see the following three boxes of cereal. You now have to make an important decision. You decided that you wanted cereal, now you must decide which cereal to eat this morning.

Your decision will be based on a number of important factors.

PAST EXPERIENCE

	First of all, it will depend on your past experience.
	Did you try it before?
	Did you like it?

• It will also be based on how many other options you have.
    

• Is there only one kind of cereal in the cupboard?
    

• If so, you have an easy decision to make.
    

• If there are several kinds of cereal in the cupboard, your choice will be much more difficult.
    

• In this case, there are three different cereals in the cupboard, so you have to make a decision.

• You may like all of the options. If not, you can eliminate those that you do not like.
    

• Finally, it will boil down to what your personal preference is at the time and make your decision.

What you do after high school is a much more important decision than what kind of cereal you had this morning, but the way you make the choice is exactly the same. The more information you have before you make your choice, the better. That goes for every aspect of your life. That is why we say that life is a lot like eating cereal.
  
MULTITUDE OF OPTIONS FOR STUDENTS TODAY

It is exactly as the "cereal" example would suggest - the more options you have, the harder it is going to be to make a choice - but choices must be made eventually.