Click to share this pageMark Swartz, MBA., M.Ed.
Mark is a leading Canadian career consultant, author and speaker who has been published and online since 1997. Currently he serves as the National Career Expert on Monster.ca, which is part of the world's leading career site network. He writes extensively on job search, employee concerns and employer issues. Previously he was the National Career Advisor on the homepage of Workopolis.ca for four and a half years.
Mark's advice on all things career has been available to millions over the past decade, including his previous Globe And Mail-related columns, and his Toronto Star career column. He is also the author of the best-seller "Get Wired, You're Hired: Canada's online job hunt guide. Mark doesn't shy away from writing about controversial topics. Here are just a few he has tackled in a probing, helpful manner:
- How to blow the whistle at work
- Ways to look Younger at interview time (for "mature" workers)
- Can your employer spy on you?
- Leveraging your current job to become more marketable
The above topics, along with close to 300 of Mark's articles in all, can be found on this site, in addition to the thousands of others from across the country.
Mark's Experience in a Nutshell
In his early work years, Mark held jobs in the field of corporate marketing and strategic planning. He was employed by such companies and Citicorp and Kodak. Shortly after being downsized back in 1993, Mark secured sessional work as a sessoinal professor in business communications at Ryerson University. It was at that point he began working on his Masters in Education part-time, to gain experience and credentials in Adult Education and Counselling. During this period Mark was a self-employed Senior Associate with one of the world's leading career/HR consulting firms, Drake Beam Morin.
His Education
Why He Does What He Does
Having worked in (or with) corporate Canada for the better part of two decades, Mark has been increasingly shocked by how many good people suffer because of how unhappy orover-stressed they are at work. It has become a struggle for many people to simply do their job well and get paid decently for their efforts. Whether you have a full or part-time job, are self-employed, are graduating soon or are in career transition, the pressures have risen slowly but steadily for the past two decades or so. In a job this stress can be seen when you have your ideas ignored, when feeling coerced to always go along with what the boss thinks, when becoming overworked and losing life-balance, and when putting on masks to get along. Top this off with having little control over getting downsized.
| Career Coach |  |
As for the self-employed, trying to compete and staying at the top of your game requires a great deal of your time and energy. Seems there is always someone willing to undercut your pricing or offer something that makes your offering look wanting. Every so often, in all of this whirl, you have a burning career-related question that no one seems to be able to answer adequately for you.
That's the reasoning behind this site: Mark's goal is to bring quick, relevant, FREE information to those with career-related concerns. And to provide the option for more intensive coaching for people who want personalized, in-depth advice.
"After being downsized twice, married at the time with my wife pregnant on both occasions, it became clear that my loyalty to a specific employer was misplaced. I want to help give people a chance to get what they deserve from their worklife. Creating community in this area is important to me too."
Marks Areas Of Expertise
As a Career Consultant with my own private practice since 2002, I have had the pleasure of meeting people from many different backgrounds who are trying bravely to increase their sense of security, derive more satisfaction from work, and bring as much of their true self to work as possible. My areas of specialy are therefore teaching people how to: take charge of their worklife; leverage their existing employment to improve their own marketability, make a strategic job change (if need be), or shift careers altogether, in order to better connect with their core values. On the personal front, I have two terrific children; a daughter and son - who are growing closer to independence. In my leisure time I love to read contemporary novels, head out for a refreshing jog, or talk passionately about the importance of preserving our freedom of expression.
