Blogspot
Am I wasting my degree? Should I go back to school? How do I know if I’m in the right field? Will taking time off now hurt me later?
Blogspot features articles on all the questions you need answers to right now. Guest bloggers—including students, new hires and career counsellors—share their thoughts and experiences about post-secondary education, entering the workforce, finding the “right” job and getting a career on track
Send blog submissions to: blog@careeroptionsmagazine.com
How to Avoid Death by Class Presentation
February 1, 2012
My first experience with public speaking was through a (voluntary) school program that coached us on the basics of speech-giving, and sent us out to various functions around…
The Perils of Tinkering with Social Services
January 30, 2012
With a single speech at an economic summit in Switzerland this week, the Prime Minister has whipped up a media storm across Canada. Addressing global leaders at the…
From Paper Calendars to iTunes U
January 25, 2012
Career Options Blog: January 25, 2012 When I first entered university in 2003, my dad was fond of reminding me of what his academic experience was like back in…
Sprichst du [insert language here]?
January 24, 2012
Have you ever wanted to learn another language? Perhaps you want to woo a potential mate in their own tongue. Perhaps you’ve tried in the past and just…
Messing with the Web
January 23, 2012
Much of the world awoke to a very modern predicament this past week: the Internet had gone on a day-long strike. That is, major websites such as Wikipedia…
Youth Unemployment Is Everybody’s Problem
January 18, 2012
Four hundred thousand of anything is a lot. For context, it’s the approximate number of apps that exist for an Android smartphone. And it’s about the size of…
20 Years Down: That’s Just Weird
January 17, 2012
You’ll have to excuse me this week. On my commute to school yesterday morning I realized that, a very short week from now, I will no longer be…
(Français) Bénévolat : Bon pour les autres, EXCELLENT pour vous!
January 17, 2012
Bénévolat : Bon pour les autres, EXCELLENT pour vous! date[KY1] Vous pensez peut-être que le bénévolat est juste l’une de ces activités auxquelles on vous pousse, ou on vous…
Writing: The Process vs. The Paper
January 12, 2012
If you’ve ever committed yourself to any kind of regular writing, you’ll know that inspiration—a creative force that is for the most part out of your control entirely—ebbs…
The Return to Normal
January 10, 2012
As of yesterday, the majority of my Canadian cohort returned to university classes. I was fortunate enough to begin last Wednesday. Yes, fortunate. It was an odd feeling actually…
To Change or Not: The Next Twelve Months
January 3, 2012
We are entering the twelfth year of the new millennium, and the usual spate of predictions and tea-leaf readings is piling up. 2011 has been a tumultuous year…
Twitter-piphanies
December 21, 2011
When I first started using Twitter, I was decidedly underwhelmed. I had no idea what all the fuss was about, and I wasn’t in any hurry to find…
The Day Canada Failed
December 19, 2011
This week, as the Durban 2011 Climate Summit wound down, Canada announced that it was withdrawing from the Kyoto Accord. To say this act elicited some critique at…
You’re Not Perfect: Don’t Over-prepare for Job Interviews
December 14, 2011
Congratulations − you’ve got a job interview. All that hard work you put into crafting the perfect, attention-grabbing resumé and cover letter paid off, and an employer actually…
On Human Rights Day 2011
December 12, 2011
Human Rights Day falls annually on December 10 in commemoration of the 1948 signing of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration—often said to be…
The Great Renewal in Ottawa
December 6, 2011
These are days of great potential in Canadian politics. For the past decade, if not longer, there have been consistent complaints of decline in Canada’s leadership. Democracy and democratic…
The Venn Diagram That Might Put Me Out of Business
November 30, 2011
I mentioned in last week’s entry that I would discuss the job interview process today as part of a series of entries on our recruitment of a new…
That First Job
November 28, 2011
There are few milestones as momentous in life as completing your education. Years of work, thousands of dollars, and too many late nights poring over textbooks all come…
Recruiting My Replacement: Part 1 – The Shortlist
November 23, 2011
As a career advisor, I see a lot of resumes. Despite the fact that we have a very diverse student body at Simon Fraser University, with a wide…
Where Have All My Friends Gone? The November Crunch
November 22, 2011
November seems to be when all the year’s blockbuster video games/entertainment are released. It’s funny that this time of year also seems to coincide with a great deal…
Building a Better Canada through Compromise
November 21, 2011
Canada has always been a shaky proposition: a vast, northern nation composed of many people with many different backgrounds and beliefs, who must work together to keep the…
The Off-Campus Sherpa: My Life as an Undergrad
November 15, 2011
Living off-campus is not easy. It means early hours to catch buses, long commutes, killing time on campus for even longer, and don’t even get me going on…
Liberal-Democrats: Maybe It’s Not Crazy Talk
November 14, 2011
Canadian politics have a strange pattern of running fairly steady for a certain amount of time before a sudden, unexpected shakeup. For nearly a century, the Liberal Party…
Slaying Small Talk
November 10, 2011
As I’ve said before in my blogs, I really dislike small talk—and, unless I’m a terrible judge of character, most people share my dislike. There’s just something soul-sucking…
The Pillows, They Beckon
November 8, 2011
Remember when you were a kid and all you wanted to do was stay up late? When you’d say anything just to stay up for five more minutes,…
The World at 7 Billion
November 7, 2011
There are 7 billion humans on this planet. Well, close enough, anyway—there’s no way to know exactly when the 7 billionth person came into being. People are born…
Men and Their Moustaches
November 2, 2011
Movember is here. With it, simultaneous cries of joy and lament (from guys and their partners, respectively) echo across Canada, and a legion of men begin cultivating the…
Overwhelming Economics
October 31, 2011
The constant media coverage of the worldwide economic crisis has become nearly overwhelming. All the on-air babbling of economists and politicians about job rates, stock indices, credit defaults…
Busting Three Myths about University Success
October 26, 2011
I write this post today not just as someone who advises university students regarding career choices for a living, but also as someone who has earned two degrees…
Demystifying the Fall Reading Week
October 25, 2011
I ended this past weekend by going for coffee with a friend who’s been away at school. She goes to Trent University and is fortunate enough to be…
Bullying Is Only Part of the Problem
October 24, 2011
Jamie Hubley’s tragic death this week seems to have struck a deep, emotional chord across Canada and even abroad. As an openly gay teenager in suburban Ottawa, he…
The M&Ms in Your Trail Mix
October 19, 2011
I’m not even sure why I keep buying them, but I always seem to have a giant bag of trail mix on hand in my office for when…
Finding Motivation in a Freezer: The Mid-term Slump
October 18, 2011
As I sit in the library clicking through random web pages and reading various blog posts, I realize that I’ve been sitting here for nearly 2 hours and…
The Government’s Got a Jobs Problem
October 17, 2011
Nobody likes being unemployed. It’s one of life’s harder circumstances to face, and not just because of the pressure that a stack of mounting bills and everyday expenses…
Three Thanks
October 13, 2011
It’s customary at this time of year for Canadians to express their feelings of gratitude for the people and things in their life they feel thankful for. About…
The New Power on Wall Street
October 11, 2011
The world’s media have been increasingly focused on a nascent socio-political movement in the past few weeks. Since the middle of September, groups of protesters from various walks…
Tortoise Beats the Hare Every Time
October 5, 2011
Did you happen to look around on Monday morning and notice that the world was just a few steps behind in its normal routine? Did you see more…
The Winds Are Shifting
October 4, 2011
The signs are slow in coming and at times hazy, yet a movement in the realm of Canadian politics seems to be growing and taking shape. From the…
Why Networking Doesn’t Work
September 28, 2011
Try suggesting to someone that they go out and “do some networking,” and see what kind of response you get. For a lot of people, myself included, networking is…
Your CCR (and Why Joining the Aeronautics Society Might Be a Poor Choice)
September 27, 2011
Alright, we still have a few days left of September (I know, I know. I don’t want it to end either.) and that means there’s still plenty of…
Tackling a Problem that Doesn’t Exist
September 26, 2011
It is a curious thing, really, that despite campaigning heavily on jobs and economic issues, the first business our new Conservative federal government has chosen to table in…
A Long September
September 21, 2011
And there’s reason to believe Maybe this year will be better than the last I can remember the last thing that you said as you were leaving “Oh, the days go…
A New Stance: The Difference Between University and College
September 20, 2011
In my post last week, I mentioned some differences I noticed in my university experience as compared to my college experience. But I spoke too soon: I had…
The Young (Unemployed) and the Restless
September 20, 2011
It’s an election year in Canada, and there’s one word dominating the national and provincial political discourse: jobs. Every major political party, from the governing federal Conservatives to…
Responsibility and the art of making healthy choices
September 15, 2011
Alright, so truth-telling time. I did try to eat healthy last year, and in second semester, I joined the school gym and started going regularly. But the healthy…
Why Volunteering is More Important to You than your Job
September 14, 2011
If you’re familiar with the professional social networking site LinkedIn, you’ve probably heard that members can now add a “Volunteer Experience & Causes” field to their profile. This…
Yes! Yes! Yes, we do! We’ve got spirit, how ’bout you?
September 13, 2011
For those of you who’ve followed my blogposts, you probably know that this past week marked my return to a post-secondary institution (Carleton University) as well as my…
New Ideas for Immigration
September 12, 2011
Immigration is always a delicate subject in Canada. Every government and politician must carefully weigh competing interests, needs, and public opinions. While most Canadians agree that our relatively…
It’s Back to School Season
September 9, 2011
It feels good to finally be back in Toronto. I arrived in town on Thursday and spent the weekend getting settled in to my new apartment. The location…
Five Ways to Get Involved at School and in Your Career
September 7, 2011
I’ve gone on at length in the past about how taking meaningful actions of any kind is really the best thing you can do for your career. People—especially…