Career Development
What You'll Learn
In addition to the technical content within the Skills for Hire Atlantic program, thanks to our friends at EnPoint you will have access to the following professional career development supports. Have a look at the Summer 2023 cohort schedule here.
Career Kickstarter – Building your Career (and Plan) in Atlantic Canada
Participants are guided through a series of steps to help them articulate their career target and create a strategy to work towards realizing that target, complete with goals, timelines, and resources needed to achieve those goals. They will gain a better understanding of their career goals (or how to gain a clearer understanding) and an appreciation for how to leverage their networks, uncover “hidden” opportunities, and appropriately position themselves for their ideal opportunities post-graduation. Participants will be provided a worksheet to complete that outlines their plan.
Resumes, Cover Letters, and Understanding the Application Process
Participants will learn how to structure and style their resume to stand out from other candidates. It is recommended participants bring/have their resume (electronic or hard copy) “in hand” while we go through the session so that they can identify where they need to make additions and/or edits. Best practices and tips will be shared on how to:
- Nail the summary section
- Showcase personality (no templates here!)
- Connect interests to the industry/industries of choice
- Show-off capabilities
- Demonstrate consistency
- Align with their “pitch”
Participants will learn how to structure their cover letter as well as gain an understanding of the different forms a “cover letter” can take so that they can effectively use this tool in any job search process. Examples will be shared of successful and not so successful cover letters and introductory emails so that participants can apply learnings to their own job search.
Strategic Networking 101- Building Relationships that Matter
Participants will leave the session with:
- an increased awareness of how critical networking is to their career,
- a better sense of their networking style
- best practices to maximize effects of networking
- tips and tricks for how to overcome common networking obstacles.
“After participating in EnPoint’s Career Kickstarter workshop(s) I realized that I’d never really thought about my career as intentionally as that. They made it easy to reflect on what I love to do, want to do more of, and help me build a road map of how to get there.”
- EnPoint Participant
Interviewing for Success in Today’s World of Work
Participants will learn about typical interviewing processes and how to effectively prepare for each step from phone screens to group interviews. We’ll talk about tips and tricks on how to prepare, reduce nerves, answer questions fully and in a way that sets candidates up for success, follow-up, demonstrate interest in an opportunity or company, and navigate the “salary question”.
Making LinkedIn work for You
Participants will assess what online profiles they need and learn why they are important to their job search. They’ll learn how to structure and style their LinkedIn profile and other online profiles to stand out from other candidates. They are encouraged to make edits to their profiles as we walk through the following best practices and tips:
- Showcasing personality
- Connecting interests to the industry/industries of choice
- Showing-off capabilities
- Demonstrating consistency,
- Aligning with their “pitch”
- Maximizing the reach and impact of online tools
EnPoint Career Strategist, One-on-One Support
By participating in this program you have access to a team of Career Strategists who have experience helping 100s of participants like you find career success.
These one-on-one meetings compliment content from workshops and allow you to incorporate topics into your personal plan with your needs in mind. They will help you focus on your biggest opportunities, remove individual obstacles and support you in creating an effective, meaningful and realistic strategy to advance and/or start your career in the tech sector in the region.
Meetings are used to provide personalized support on the following topics, based on your needs:
- Career exploration
- Job search strategy questions and exploration
- Resumes, cover letters, applications, and/or expressions of interest
- Effective online branding, including LinkedIn
- Networking strategy, building relevant industry relationships,
- Interview preparation, mock interviewing
- Other questions related to career readiness
"EnPoint supplied me with the knowledge and confidence I needed to interact with potential employers and in networking situations. They did a great job of giving real life examples and skills needed in networking situations. I am now fully confident in my abilities to interact with people in networking situations and my resume has never looked better!"
- EnPoint Participant
