February 29, 2016 Leave a Comment

Calculate Your Salary

One of the more challenging aspects of applying for a job is responding to an employer’s request for salary expectations. This is a difficult question because no matter what salary you ask for, you might be at a disadvantage: if the salary you quote is too high, the employer might choose a more affordable candidate over you; however, if it’s too low, you might be undervaluing yourself, which can be perceived as a weakness.

So what should a job seeker do?

There are a number of considerations for job seekers when deciding what salary to ask for:

1. Calculate how much do you personally need to survive:

Calculate the minimum that you can live on. Make sure to include all the necessary factors. Figure out how flexible you could be (is it worth moving to a cheaper home, if it means more choices or opportunities?) and then calculate a reasonable number that, while not ideal, would be manageable. Calculate how much this is per hour, month and year.

2. Consider your last salary:

Using the hourly calculator, figure out how much you last salary was per hour/month/year. Remind yourself the nature of your previous benefits package. These could be useful points of reference when negotiating your salary.

3. Calculate the going salary rate in your field:

The going rate for a specific job is a difficult calculation, because there are many variables to consider, including:

The average salary in your profession
Your experience and skill level
Where you fit into the salary range in your profession: entry-level, average or senior
How salaries compare in your city to other locations

Calculating salary rates isn’t easy. You will find some sources online that will help, but be careful not to rely on them completely, because salary ranges can be wide and somewhat unpredictable.

Good sources for salary ranges include:

Reports from recruitment agencies such as Robert Half Canada’s Salary Guides
Salary sites, such as Payscale: Salary Data & Career Research Centre (Canada)
Canadian government sources, such as The Job Bank: Explore Careers by Wages and Statistics Canada’s Wages, Salaries and other Earnings reports

Probably the most useful source of salary data is from current jobs. Check in with people you know (ask them the salary range in their company), and job postings (sign up for job alerts with sites such as Indeed.ca for jobs in your field — many jobs will include salary expectations).

February 8, 2016 Leave a Comment

Tips for students looking for summer work

It’s only February, and even the groundhog doesn’t seem to think that summer is coming any time soon. So who’s thinking about summer jobs?

Employers are. Google “Summer jobs” and you will find a list of jobs and programs in your community with opportunities for youth and post-secondary students. You might even be surprised to find that some of those opportunities’ deadlines have already passed and been taken by a quick early bird.

Don’t worry, though. It isn’t too late. There are still plenty good opportunities out there to find something meaningful.

Why look for summer work?

Besides the obvious reasons for working (i.e. bringing in some much needed cash), a summer job might have some unexpected benefits which are even more beneficial than money in the long term, which may include:

Add some new experience to your resume
Network and meet new people, some of whom might want to hire you permanently or hire you again next summer
Make a good impression and gain a reference
Learn some new skills that you can take to your next job or help develop new business ideas.

First: make sure your resume is up-to-date and looking good.

Have a resume ready before you start looking for work. Don’t wait until there’s a job to apply for — you don’t want to rush this process.

Here are a few basic principles for writing a good resume:

Make it no longer than 2 pages
Use a simple, sans sarif font (Arial, Calibri, Helvetica)
Write it in 1st person, but without pronouns (No “I” or “my”)
Include:
- Your name and contact info
- A Summary/Profile which includes your skills
- Work history, with dates, job titles, company names, locations
- Details of some of your key accomplishments in each job
Don’t include:
- An objective
- Your personal info such as age or citizenship
- Your references (those can be presented at the interview)
Make sure to spell check carefully
Prepare a simple, short and well written cover letter, to accompany each resume, written specifically for each job.

Here are detailed instructions and samples for student resumes from some of my favourite sites:

Second: get online, search for and bookmark relevant job sites for leads.

There are lots of good resources online for work leads. Start off with a Google search and bookmark the sites that seem to lead to good opportunities. Check out some of the sites dedicated to summer or student jobs:

Third: seek out government programs.

All levels of government, including federal, provincial and municipal, have programs to help students look for and find work. These positions fill quickly, so don’t delay:

Fourth: look and ask around — tap into your networks.

Speak to family, friends, teachers and other community members about your job needs. Tell them about your availability and skills. Have your resume available to share.

Look around, there are often opportunities right nearby:

Local stores and services might be looking for help — walk in and ask if they’re hiring students. Offer your resume and tell them them that you live nearby, within easy access. Think of your bank, doctor’s office, local mall or supermarket
Check out websites for the local parks and recreation departments, as well as for summer festivals and events
Think about local summer camps, private and public, day camps and overnights. Think of your particular skill set — is there a local tennis, chess or art club that you could work for?

Bottom line.

Act fast: get your resume ready, go online and ask around. Good student opportunities are out there for those who act quickly.

January 18, 2016 Leave a Comment

Thoughts on the impact of Syrian refugee resettlement on the local job market

As Syrian refugees started arriving in Canada in significant numbers in late December last year, a reader of this blog posed an interesting question about the impact of the influx on the Toronto job market. Anyone who is on social media might have noticed, as I have recently, that these concerns are coming up often in response to news articles about refugees. Sometimes the questions or comments are genuine and curious, and other times they are expressed in angry and even racist tones. Putting aside the irrational fears and anger that cannot be allayed no matter what, concerns that such newcomers might increase competition for jobs and resources are reasonable issues to consider. However, based on my experience working with refugees and my research, I have concluded that this is a largely unsubstantiated concern.

Right now, given the complexity of the issue, there is so much that we really do not know well yet and will probably not be able to project accurately, for a while:

We don’t know exactly how many refugees are arriving in each region of the country and how it may impact each region differently
We don’t know where they will settle – in which cities and towns in each region
We don’t know the skills, education and professions the refugees will be bringing
We are unsure about their English language skills and how much ESL schooling they might need

What do we know?

We do know that the refugees will be settling widely across Canada, with only a couple of thousand anticipated in Toronto. So, with an existing 225,000 Torontonians currently unemployed, the addition of what are probably less than one percent should not have too jarring an impact on competition for local jobs.

We also know that immigrants (keeping in mind that despite arriving as refugees, people will be leaving the airport with their Permanent Residency in hand) tend to do well, with most finding work. The data does show, however, that unemployment levels are a little higher for newcomers in their first five years. Anecdotally, my experience with helping immigrants find work has been that they are often more willing to take lower paid jobs, in an attempt to gain any kind of local experience.

We also know that Syrians are often well-educated, but most will need language training before they are able to compete in the job market, so any impact on the market will not be immediate.

Finally, and probably most impactful, the Federal, Provincial and Municipal governments are investing significant funds in services for this population. So, it is likely that there will be new jobs created. These might be in translation, ESL teaching, settlement, public health, housing and any other non-profit services in which various government levels and bodies are investing (those services can be found on the city of Toronto new website dedicated to help link Syrian newcomers to services). For example, enterprising job seekers who speak Arabic (especially Syrian dialects), and search for jobs online in which the language is required, might find interesting opportunities.

Overall, my sense of this is that the arrival of refugees will most likely bring net gains to the economy. Of course, we have to wait and see. There are sure to be challenges, but my and others’ sense is that this will not impact negatively on local competition for jobs.

December 28, 2015 4 Comments

Canadian Employers’ Hiring Projections for early 2016

With 2015 being a rough and unpredictable year for Canadian job seekers and employers, it is reassuring to hear Michelle Dunnill, Manpower Area Manager for Toronto, Mississauga and Markham, in the most recent Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, describe the prospects for hiring in the first quarter in 2016:

“We are seeing some positive signs for Canadian job seekers, with overall employment in the country surpassing 18 million for the first time”

Manpower, who produce quarterly report on employers’ hiring intentions, sounded cautiously optimistic when looking ahead to the first quarter of 2016 in Canada.

Based on a survey of 1,900 employers across the country, the agency report that:

9 percent of employers plan to increase hiring
81 percent planning to keep staffing levels the same
3 percent were unsure
7 percent were planning to cut back on staff

In terms of sectors, the agency found the following:

The strongest hiring prospects were from employers in the Transportation & Public Utilities, with Net Employment Outlook of 15 per cent
Manufacturing – Durables anticipate a Net Employment Outlook of 12 percent, above last quarter’s predictions
Construction jobs were viewed positively, also expecting a Net Employment Outlook of 12 percent.
Wholesale & Retail Trade employers projected a Net Employment Outlook of 11 percent
Public Administration employers report upbeat hiring plans for the next quarter, reporting a similar Net Employment Outlook, at 11 per cent.
Services jobs were expected to remain favourable, with a Net Employment Outlook of 10 percent
Employers in Finance, Insurance & Real Estate reported a Net Employment Outlook of seven percent, which is lower than the last quarter
Manufacturing – Non Durables reported a Net Employment Outlook of four per cent, which is similar the previous quarter and represents a decrease of a percentage point over last year’s reported outlook
Employers in the Education sector were less optimistic, expecting only limited hiring opportunities of a Net Employment Outlook of three per cent, which is a percentage point decrease from last quarter, as well as a decrease of 4 percentage points from the same quarter last year.
The Mining sector projected a lower hiring pace for the first quarter of 2016, with a Net Employment Outlook of 9 percent – 6 percentage point decrease compared to last quarter, and a considerable drop of 15 percentage points from the outlook reported for the same time last year.

In terms of provincial hiring expectations, the breakdown was as follows:

Atlantic Canada was most optimistic, with a Net Employment Outlook of 10 per cent.
Ontario employers anticipated a mild hiring climate, reporting 8 percent
Western Canada projected 7 percent, and
Quebec projected 5 percent.

Finally, divided by company sizes:

Employers in medium-sized companies projected the most positive hiring prospects for this quarter, with an outlook of 14 percent
Large-sized employers (250+ employees) also anticipate a positive hiring climate with an outlook of 13 percent
Small organizations report an “ambiguous” Outlook of 4 percent, and
Employers in “microsized” organizations (19 employees) project an outlook of only 3 percent for the upcoming quarter.

[This data, titled The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is updated on a quarterly basis]

December 7, 2015 Leave a Comment

Reflections on the Montreal Massacre — thoughts about women and careers in science

Commemorations of the Montreal Massacre which happened 26 years ago yesterday, got me thinking about women in science careers.

While we stop every year to reflect on the tragic murders of the 14 female students, we often forget to mention that they were targeted deliberately for being engineering students:

One of the students, Nathalie Provost, said, “Look, we are just women studying engineering, not necessarily feminists ready to march on the streets to shout we are against men, just students intent on leading a normal life.” Lépine responded that “You’re women, you’re going to be engineers. You’re all a bunch of feminists. I hate feminists.”

26 years later, while there has been progress, women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) careers still face threats and discrimination. Many don’t stay in the field. And, while pay has improved (and is still better than in most fields) there are still unexplained penalties faced by women in these fields.

In addition, not all STEM careers are equal. In December 2014, Statistics Canada published a report that noted that within STEM careers, women tend to choose the fields which are less lucrative, noting that,

…among women who choose to pursue a degree in STEM, most do so in biology or science programs, resulting in even fewer women in engineering, computer science and mathematics programs. These choices have consequences, as fields of study such as engineering and computer science lead, on average, to better outcomes in the labour market in terms of employment, job match and earnings.”

STEM career futures

Careers in STEM fields are in high demand, as the world faces the challenges of climate change and a burgeoning world population. Biotalent Canada, which describes itself as “the HR partner of Canada’s bio-economy” indicates that a third of companies report skill shortages among staff.

Critical skills: 93.1% of companies expect interpersonal skills to be very important in the near future, closely followed by 91.7% business development skills and 89.1% management/leadership skills.”

Vacant positions: The highest percentage of unfilled positions at the supervisory/professional and non-professional levels are in manufacturing, quality control/assurance, distribution, and research and development.”

In an informative post on the topic of growth in STEM careers, Eco Canada recommends that, to get into the field, students should:

Prepare: research where the skills shortages are happening — which industries and in which occupations.
Look for hands-on experience: consider which schools offer access to the best employers via internships and apprenticeships. Eco Canada offer an International Environmental Youth Corps (IEYC) program, which claims to help most students full-time jobs in their field.after completing their internship.
Develop transferable workforce skills: “business savvy” with “good communication skills, critical thinking abilities and customer service skills—in other words, well-rounded candidates with lots to offer besides hard technical skills”.

What can be done for women in STEM?

Seems to me that best tribute to those who were murdered at École Polytechnique on December 6th, 1989 — whose only crime was being female STEM students — is to encourage more women to enter these fields and to help set up the conditions necessary for their success.

One such worthy effort is SCWIST, the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology, which describes itself as a “non-profit association that promotes, encourages and empowers women and girls in science, engineering and technology.” The organization offers mentorship, volunteering opportunities and supports to newcomer scientists and youth, as well as a job board.

STEM Education Awareness is a Canadian website that aims to educate the public about STEM education, with a particular interest in under-represented groups such as girls and women.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada has declared the priority of promoting careers for women in the natural sciences and engineering. It has funded Chairs for women in science and engineering, and offers scholarships and fellowships.

Women who are in the midst of making a career decision — whether they are in high school, university, looking for their first job, or even reconsidering career decisions in mid-life — would do well to consider jobs and careers in STEM fields. There are supports out there to help them find and keep such jobs, and an imperative to defiantly prove those who dare challenge women’s right and ability to excel in STEM careers that they are wrong.