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Career Coaching Tips

Learn how your career coach can help you

Check out our latest video to learn how a career coach at Directions for Immigrants can help you achieve your goals.

Career development professionals advise, coach, provide information and support people who are looking for work and needing help with their careers.

Basically, career coaches help job seekers in the same way that soccer coaches help players improve their skills.

How to start good conversations

Have you asked yourself how to have productive conversations when you meet someone at a networking event? Besides being a good listener and asking relevant questions, there are other tips you can consider to leave the room satisfied with the connections you made.

1. Don't focus on what you'll say next.

2. Ask relevant questions.

3. Research about the person or company.

Read more at the Forbes magazine. Click here.

6 Jobs for People Who Love to Travel

Does the thought of spending every day in an office, stuck in a cubicle make you recoil in fear? Maybe you sit in your cubicle day in and day out dreaming of packing your bags and flying to a faraway country?

Believe it or many Canadians get paid to travel as part of their jobs. To help make your daydreams reality, we’ve put together a list of the top travel related jobs that are hiring right now so get ready to pack your bags and explore!

Read the full article on Workopolis

Client News

Congratulations Diarmuid!

He is an internationally educated professional from Ireland who became permanent resident in 2016 and landed a job as an employment counsellor with a Calgary based health clinic.

"I attended two valuable workshops at Directions for Immigrants, How to Information Interview and Power of Positive Attitude. Also my career coach Marina shared practical knowledge on job applications and employment events. As a job seeker the key is to get practical information and resources to help you secure a position. This was available to me at Directions for Immigrants," says Diarmuid.

FE exam preparation

FE exam prep at no cost for internationally educated engineers. March 4 – June 24. Sat mornings & Wed evenings. Call today 403-770-5155.

- 110 hours

- 30 sessions

- 29 quizzes

- 287 questions

- 1 mock exam

http://directionsforimmigrants.ca/DirectionsforImmigrants-StudyGroups.htm#sg_20

General News

Go Beyond the Small Talk

Joan's tips on how to start good conversations

How do you like this weather? What do you do for a living? These are typical small talk questions people ask at professional networking events, but do they really help you get to know the person? Not really, says Joan Matsusaki, career coach at Directions for Immigrants.

Read the full article on our Spring 2017 Newsletter.

http://directionsforimmigrants.ca/uploads/newsletter/Newsletter%20Spring%202017.pdf

Networking Session

During our networking session held on Friday February 3rd our internationally educated professionals practiced what to say when they meet someone new at a networking event.

Patrick and Marina, career coaches at Directions, shared some tips to help our clients perfect their elevator speech. Keep up the good work!

Call us to register for our upcoming Networking Sessions.

403-770-5155

Practice the art of meeting new people

For the Winter 2017 edition of the newsletter we are featuring:

Practice the art of meeting new people. Patrick's top tips for successful networking.

Physiotherapy as an occupation.

The December Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada Evaluating Exam (PEBC EE) study group.

Career coaching tip.

Learn more on our Winter 2017 Newsletter.

Clear Communication for Health Professionals

Another fabulous group of internationally educated health professionals completed the 1-week Clear Communication for Health Professionals job success group. Good job everyone!

The next one runs March 13th to 17th. Call us to register 403-770-5155.

Click here to learn about the group description, the topics that are covered and who is it for.

Job search resources

What is a good elevator speech?

An elevator speech is a clear, brief message or “commercial” about you. It communicates who you are, what you're looking for and how you can benefit a company or organization. It's typically about 30 seconds, the time it takes people to ride from the top to the bottom of a building in an elevator.

This is a good definition taken from the University of California Small Farm Program.

15 Body Language Blunders Successful People Never Make

TalentSmart has tested more than a million people and found that the upper echelons of top performance are filled with people who are high in emotional intelligence (90% of top performers, to be exact). These people know the power that unspoken signals have in communication and they monitor their own body language accordingly.

Click here to read this article from the Forbes Magazine.

Calgary Public Library suggests books to battle the downturn

As Calgary goes through a recession, there's a whole lot of people with a whole lot of time on their hands

Knock 'em Dead: The ultimate job search guide, 2015 by Martin John Yate
What color is your parachute? A practical manual for job-hunters and career-changers by Richard N. Bolles
Strategize to Win: The new way to start out, step up, or start over in your career by Carla A. Harris
Who moved my cheese? : An amazing way to deal with change in your work and in your life by Spencer Johnson.

Read the CBC News article to learn more.

2017