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LINKS TO RESOURCES AND TOOLS
I regularly monitor the the Net to bring you some excellent Canadian resources. The focus here is on finding the help you need to take control of your career and get the most out of your job. You can pose questions to career experts for free, search for your very own coach, find out about your rights as an employee or assess yourself using online quizzes and inventories. Happy clicking.
Want to pose your question to a qualified advisor online for free? It might not get answered immediately, but you can always read the archives to see the responses to what others have asked.
Workopolis: Ask The Career Advisor. Not just job hunting questions but so many aspects of your worklife are fair game. Check out the huge archives by topic, but only one question per week gets answered officially by each coach to appear on the Workopolis homepage.
CanLearn.ca's Ask A Counsellor. This is the place where you'll find over 4,000 questions answered, and you can pose one yourself - absolutely free - to a qualified career professional. Sponsored by the Canadian government.
Allexperts.com - Experts from more than 2300 categories respond to individual enquires for free.
Employment Expert at Possibilities Project, Toronto's Online Employment Resource Centre. Ask Susan Stone your questions.
Ask Me Help Desk - A community for questions on any topic answered for free by experts. To ask questions or participate in answering them you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to get free answers from experts in any of over 300 topics.
I firmly believe that talking with a qualified career consultant or coach is your best bet to carving the right path for yourself at work, whether you intend to stay put or make a move. Here are some links to help you find one that's right for you. But before you choose an advisor, read this article on how to make an appropriate selection.
Career Professionals Canada. A growing list of career coaches, resume writers and related resources in Canada.ACPI Find An Expert. From the Association of Career Professionals International. Choose someone to speak to locally or internationally.Career Masters Institute. This is a listing of career coaches and resume writers who have been accredited by the Career Masters Institute. Type in "Canada" in the "country" field and the click on "Search".
Find A Mentor or Coach. Peer Resources is an interesting Canadian mentoring group. Here they offer a database of coaches and mentors.
Find a Coach From Anywhere. Visit the International Coach Federation. They offer an independent system to match coaches with clients. Once on their site, click on "Find a Coach". The site is also accessible by phone, by contacting 1-888-236-9262 (toll free). Or check out CoachU and select by geography and type of coaching needed.
Search For a Career Advisor. Use the Contact Point search program or browse through their listings.
Yellow Pages. Of course, you could always try the good old fashioned way. Not the most discriminating method to use, but at least doing it online makes it faster and easier. Once at the main page, type in "career counselling" or "resume" in the field for Category. Then choose your city and province.
NOTE: If money is a significant concern, consider using your employer's EAP (Employee Assistance Program) for some initial counselling -- if available (check your employee manual or intranet site). I've written an article for The Toronto Star on using your free EAP service. Otherwise you could talk to an agency in your region, such as the YMCA, JVS, Human Resources Development Canada, local community agencies or other subsidized provider of career assistance. Your nearby post-secondary school may also offer career coaching to graduates and other people at a reasonable rate.
It hurts greatly when you feel you're being taken advantage of at work. Most of us are too busy or worried about just hanging on to our jobs to even think about what are rights might be. Here are some handy reference points to begin exploring how to fight back.
WorkRights.ca. From the Canadian Labour Congress. Useful information on getting paid, health and safety, human rights, losing a job, making a complaint, taking time off and work hours.
Employment Law Q&A at Workopolis. Love this weekly column by Norman Grosman, Senior Partner, Grosman, Grosman & Gale Employment Lawyers. Read the archives to see if your concern has been addressed by the legal experts. Check toward the bottom of the page for the Norman's excellent stuff.
Employment Law Information. An excellent collection of brief highlights covering various areas of legislation, such as wrongful dismissal, hiring and human rights, employee liability, discrimination, harrassment and more. Brought to you by the lawyers at Grosman, Grosman and Gale.
Employment Law Info. A good source of free information on the Employment Standards Act, sexual harrassment and union issues, from LegalLine.ca.
Federal Labour Legislation. This page from the Ministry of Labour is bursting with Acts and Codes regarding employee rights and employer obligations. The Canada Labour Code, Employment Equity Act, Fair Wages and Hours of Labour Act...not exactly light reading, but there for your reference nonetheless.
Directory Of Labour Organizations. Here are the groups who represent organized labour in the country. You can also find links to resources that are geared toward employee advocacy here.
Find an Employment Lawyer. A small list of law firms who specialize in representing the employee, from yahoo.ca. Also try Legalline.ca, click on "Find A Lawyer", for "Area of Law" choose "Employment Law", then select the desired location. Better yet, get a 1/2 hour free with an employment lawyer by calling the Upper Canada Law Society's
Lawyer Referral Line at 1-900-565-4577. Ontarion residents only. A $6 charge will apply. Check to see if your province has a similar arrangement.
Worker's Forum. Interesting concept. Here's a place you can discuss your work issues with other Canadians. From WorkRights.ca.
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Assess YourselfWant to take a personality quiz? Or see what your preferred work style is? There are so many tests online that the mind spins. Here are some of the better ones as a start. Just remember to check the results with a qualified career consultant before running off and joining the circus!
Personality
Kiersey Temperament Sorter. This is the personality quiz used most often. It's based on Jungian types and the results are fascinating.
Personality Review. A paper and pencil exercise from the Universityof Waterloo's online career manual that is quite revealing.
Interests, Motivations and Values
MAPP. Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential claims to reveal the real you: your natural motivations, interests and talents for work. The basic report is free.
Values Sampler. Sort through a list of common values and rate your sense of what's important to you at work and in life. From Seneca College. While you're there, try out the Social Responsibility and World View exercise as well.
Career Self-Awareness And Work Style
Career Quizzes from Monster.ca. A series of tests to see just how on top of your own career you really are. If it's any consolation, I failed a few myself.
Monster.ca Work Style Quizzes. What's your work style? Calculate your work reputation points. Are you cut out for teamwork? Could you be a workaholic? Find out right here.
Full Career Assessment. If you really want a thorough review, this is an excellent place to begin the U Waterloo online career manual is renowned world wide
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