Reflections on a Job Fair

This week we hosted a career and job fair. About 700 people came, and we had close to 40 employers and educators.

Some job seekers went to every table, and talked to as many people as possible. They took the chance to learn more about the companies in the area, and to meet the people who will be involved in hiring decisions for those companies.

It is my hope that some of them will feel less nervous in future interviews, and perhaps will be able to see the people on the other side of the table as just that - people. People who have to find the right person to help them make their business survive. Hiring decisions can sometimes make or break a business, can have just as much impact on an employer's life as on the employee's life. Not every hire of course, but yes, there are some times when it is critical.

Some job seekers were only looking for one type of work, and if there wasn't an employer in their field, they left early in frustration, saying it was a waste of time. Yet all those employers took time from their regular work day to be there to meet the public. There were more than a dozen employment counsellors in the lobby and work tables available to help with resumes, interview practice etc., or back in the resource room to help in the computer lab. So much opportunity to get help or talk to people who might know someone who needed their skills.

So for today:

"No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have all of tomorrow. Success depends upon using it wisely by planning and setting priorities. The fact is, time is worth more than money, and by killing time we are killing our own chances for success."
~Denis Waitley

Enjoy!
Keltie Creed

Remembering Helen

Although I am late by a couple of days, I had planned to post something in memory of my mother earlier this week. It would have been her 81st birthday. There isn't a day that I don't think of her and I feel very lucky both to have had her as a role model, and to have had all her support and love.

I choose a very simple epitaph for her - "open heart, open mind". She loved deeply, gave freely and was a voracious reader. After learning that she had MS, she fulfilled a life long dream of going to college and became a Social Worker. She continued to help others both professionally and in her personal life. There are so many quotes to choose from for her, but for the moment, here is one that fits:

"While we have the gift of life, it seems to me that the only tragedy is to allow part of us to die-whether it is our spirit, our creativity, or our uniqueness."
~Gilda Radner

Missing her,
Keltie Creed

When You Fall

I have been working with some colleagues on a workshop for people who are just starting their job search. We were looking for a stimulous, and I came across a video clip about a young man without limbs who is a motivational speaker. He dramatically demonstrated that if the effort to get back up is far more important than the fact that you fell.

There are a number of variations on the quote below from Confucius:

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall”.

Take a look at the clip from Nick Vujicic.
http://www.charliephillips.net/Video/Theater3/NickVujicic/tabid/866/Default.aspx


I bought one of his DVDs so that we can show short clips to stimulate discussion.

Enjoy!
Keltie Creed

Double meaning

"Whenever you fall, pick something up."

~Oswald Avery

The first thought that comes to me with this quote is how my partner was feeling depressed after major surgery and a need to change careers. To cheer herself up, she donated 50 bears to the Sick Children's Hospital. She did something for someone else.

The other interpretation is to learn something. From the fall it self, or about something unrelated just because you have a new perspective and perhaps the time.

Enjoy!
Keltie Creed

Attitude continued

"If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can't, you're right."
~ Henry Ford

This could be interpreted as accurate self - assessment, as realism, or as the power of attitude. There is some truth in all aspects. Part of the job of a counsellor is to ensure that the client has a realistic goal, but it is also important to en-courage them to stretch, to go beyond the comfort zone. We have to kindle their attitude, not dampen it.

Enjoy!
Keltie Creed

Attitude - barrier or boost?

"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. "
~Winston Churchill

I think that this has been most evident to me while working with people with disabilities. Their attitudes spanned the full continuum from "I can do anything if given the chance and time to figure out the best way for me to do this" to "No one will let me do this so I won't try". Most people are midway between the two, but the ones who had confidence and willingness to try were the most successful. They also taught me the most!

I also have a button that reads "Attitudes are the real barriers." Attitudes of job seekers, of employers, of counsellors, of society and governments.

So I try to do a periodic attitude audit, and encourage others to do the same.

Enjoy!
Keltie Creed

In memory

It was 14 years ago today that my mother-in-law Marie Lemire died of cancer. So in her memory I will share one of my favourite quotes that I use for Bottles of Hope.

"When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful. "

~Barbara Bloom

Also included is a photo of some of the Bottles of Hope that my partner and I and members of the Vancouver Island Polymer Clay Guild made for the Relay for Life in 2008.