University: not the only game in town
I know this is going to come as a shock, but if you’re starting to explore post-secondary options right now, it bears repeating: University is not the only option you have after high school. That’s right, I said it. It’s out there, in black and white. There’s a prevailing assumption that a university degree is […]
In-person research through COVID-style campus visits
Continuing on the October theme of how to effectively explore PSE, let’s take a look at campus visits. Should you take the time to visit the schools that you’re applying to? ABSOLUTELY YES. You’re about to drop a lot of money and you’ll be spending a lot of time there, so I would highly recommend […]
How WIL you explore PSE?
Here in Ontario, as the furnaces light up and the leaves fall down, our colleges and universities are opening up their application cycles for the 2021-2022 school year. Over the next month, these posts will highlight key questions to ask and elements to examine while you explore your options for post-secondary education. Today’s topic: work […]
Setting goals in a really weird year
When it comes to our kids, we often forget how much responsibility they really can take on. I mean…we’re their parents, so that’s not surprising. I can remember, quite clearly, when my daughter couldn’t even roll onto her side from her back. She started out needing so much of my help, and it just became […]
How to not suck at writing a first resume
What if you are on the hunt for a part-time job and you’ve never worked before? Plenty of places have already started putting up “seasonal hiring” signs, so the jobs are out there if you want one. The challenge, of course, is that you may feel like you don’t have much, if any, experience to […]
Think of the end
We are right around the corner from the start of the new school year. (I mean, it’ll be the weirdest school year start in decades, but it’s coming in a couple of weeks nonetheless.) September typically brings a sense of new beginnings, and so I wanted to share something about endings as a counter-balance. Some […]
Job searching: not for the faint of heart
Job searching is not fun. I mean, I work in career development. It’s my job to help other people find jobs, and I don’t think it’s fun. It’s tough to put yourself out there day after day, to keep trying as you send applications out into the void and hear nothing back. And then to […]
Avoid this terrible career advice.
I have to admit, I used to be a big fan of the idea of of “do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” I said it to hundreds of students, I included it in presentations for job interviews and I sincerely believed it was true. For some people, it […]
Plot twist: no one is coming
I’ve been working my way through Dr. Nathaniel Branden’s The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem. It’s a well-known tome among therapists and counsellors, but down-to-earth enough for the average person. I highly recommended if you feel your own self-esteem shaking in its boots. One tiny section in particular caught my eye, because I so often find […]
Self-worth and your job
How much do you tie your definition of self to your job? This week, my professional association published a blog post about the implications of being labelled “non-essential.” Of course, millions of people got first-hand experience in recent months, as businesses closed in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. On one hand, the […]