Employers Want YOU
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DiversityCanada.com’s Employers Want YOU Get the job you want faster with your ultimate career handbook Plus contact info for over 400 Employment Equity employers who encourage applications from Visible Minorities * Aboriginal Peoples * People with Disabilities * Women - DiversityCanada.com’s DiversityCanada.com’s Employers Want YOU 2006 EDITOR CELIA SANKAR Employers Want YOU 2006 CHIEF WRITER DEBORAH AARTS RESEARCHERS: JEAN HOBBS KRISTIN FUDGE Front WHITNEY BELANGER 4 Editor’s Letter SALES DIRECTOR COLIN BOEHNER 6 What Canadians are doing NORTHERN ONTARIO SALES: Embracing diversity as strength REID FOSTER The Job Hunt STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHER JEFF HUI 8 Assessing and planning IMAGE CONSULTANT ANNE SOWDEN 9 Where could my perfect job be? MODELS: 11 No connections? No problem AMANDA REID ERIN HERBERT Resumes and Cover Letters GLYNDON BONNICK 12 Crafting the perfect resume 13 Should you self-identify? PRODUCTION OSPREY/NORTHERN MAGAZINES 14 Sample resumes ART DIRECTOR IGNATIUS FAY 15 Sample cover letters GRAPHIC ARTIST CHRIS CYR Interviewing PUBLISHER DIVERSITYCANADA FOUNDATION 16 What the career experts say 18 What to do after the interview DIVERSITYCANADA FOUNDATION BOARD 19 What the employers say Mr. Zhu Wei — President and Secretary 20 Dressing for success Mr. Jiu Ming — Vice President At work Ms. Mia Hui — Treasurer 22 Handling first day jitters Mr. Ray Kindiak — Director 23 What employers are looking for Mrs. Coral Dinunzio — Director 24 Be a class act on the job Mr. Eric Martin — Director Finding your rhythm and balance 25 Leave ’em smiling Copyright 2006 by the DiversityCanada Foundation. All rights reserved. DiversityCanada.com’s Employers Want YOU career handbook and directory is published Entrepreneurship annually. Reproduction without permission of the 26 Blazing your own trail publisher is prohibited. For article reprints, Helping youth help themselves e-prints or permissions, please call 416-853-5510 ext 1 or email [email protected]. Features 28 Thinking Up DiversityCanada.com’s Employers Want YOU is published by the DiversityCanada Foundation, Colombian immigrant Derly Valencia’s tale of woes Suite 300, ELNOS Telecommunications Center, and triumph in the job market 31 Nova Scotia Walk, Elliot Lake, Ontario, 30 Dare to dream Canada P5A 1Y9. Tara Weber’s first person account of overcoming obstacles Phone: (705) 848-6194 (Northern Ontario) (416) 853-5510 (Toronto Local) Directory & Worksheets Fax: (705) 848-6194 ext 5 31 Employers who want you Web: http://DiversityCanada.org 32 Employment Equity Directory http://DiversityCanada.com http://NorthONJobs.com 42 Personal Career Planner Last Word 46 Obstacles are no match for a winning smile The DiversityCanada Foundation thanks ELNOS and Maplejobs Inc. for their generous support, which made this publication possible. Visit www.DiversityCanada.com EDITOR’S LETTER Be part of Canada’s changes by Celia Sankar iversity is in my blood — literally. embarked on a more DBorn of a mother whose ancestors came from extensive book tour. Africa and of a father whose ancestors came from India, The picture that I feel privileged to be so personally acquainted with the emerged, in the end, issue. Through my parents’ 45 years (and counting) of was encouraging. togetherness, I have witnessed that different cultures I feel proud as a can come together harmoniously and that life is, in fact, Canadian to say much richer, more interesting and more beautiful because of the is being done, by mixture. official authorities, by It was not only at home that diversity was an integral corporate Canada and part of my life. by traditionally under- I grew up in Trinidad, an island of under two million represented groups and souls, who can trace their origins back to almost every individuals to bring corner of the planet. “Here every creed and race finds about a more inclusive an equal place,” each citizen affirms in singing Trinidad’s society. national anthem. And although my homeland is not And this is as it perfect, it has achieved a remarkable level of integration should be. It takes and harmony, which so impressed South African anti- a concerted effort apartheid fighter Archbishop Desmond Tutu that he by all of us to bring into being a world where diversity dubbed us a “rainbow country”. is embraced and people of every background live in Even with that background, when I came to Canada, harmony. diversity was nowhere on my agenda. But as fate would The DiversityCanada Foundation was born to play a have it, it was a subject I could not ignore. part in making that vision a reality. Canada had held out a promise as a land where I could Our discussions with Canadians on both sides of the advance my writing career. It lived up to that promise, and equation pointed to the formula for success in diversity enabled me to set out on a cross-country book promotion at work. Jobseekers must not only be qualified, but also tour. As I travelled across this vast, rich and beautiful land, need to be equipped with specific skills required for job- I had the opportunity to speak with literally thousands of search and on-the-job success. Employers need to not people, many of them immigrants. Along the way, I also only state they support diversity, but to actively invite met people with disabilities and members of Aboriginal traditionally under-represented groups to join their team communities. and implement policies to make them feel welcome. The picture that emerged from their stories was rather This handbook is one of the resources we offer to bring disturbing. together diverse job seekers and employers who value For many, life in Canada was marked by dashed hopes, diversity. Another important resource is our website, daily humiliation and, in some cases, near destitution. which you can visit at http://DiversityCanada.com. There, It’s one thing to be aware on a purely intellectual level you will find more career development tips, multimedia that fellow Canadians who come from certain backgrounds and interactive tools, information on companies seeking face tremendous hardships. It’s quite another to actually to diversify, and most crucially for jobseekers, actual job listen to their frustration at a system that seems indifferent offers. to their potential, that seems to say they are not worthy. Canada is changing, opportunities are opening up and Although I belong to the demographic, I had been one it is those who adapt today who will reap the greatest of the fortunate ones. But why had it been so for me? rewards. Count yourself among them. And what could be done — and more specifically, what could I do — to help those who are just as deserving of the opportunity to make their contribution to society? Inspirational author Celia Sankar is the founder and It was a question I set out to explore the next year as I executive director of the DiversityCanada Foundation. 4 Employers Want YOU 2006 Visit www.DiversityCanada.com CONTRIBUTORS Chris Cyr has Anne Sowden Runway and worked in graphic is a certified studio model arts for many professional Erin Herbert is years. Passionate member of the a trained dancer about the use Association of and aspiring of computers to Image Consultants actress. She lists create art, he is International, interior decorating enrolled in the one of only ten and horseback highly acclaimed in Canada, and is riding among her School of Animation Arts and Design at president of the Toronto Chapter of the hobbies. Sheridan College. association. Web: hereslookingatyou.ca Photographer Jeff Amanda Reid, Glyndon Bonnick Hui is a co-founder who has a BA in models as a and the creative criminology from hobby, but director of Fizheye the University of anything dealing Creative Inc., Toronto, is new with fitness is his a Toronto new to modeling. Her passion. He has media solutions credits include been a dragon company. He was background model boat racer for inspired seven appearances on seven years and years ago to follow in the footsteps of the television show Instant Star, and on goes to the gym on average four times his father, a well-known photographer channels Much 5 and CMT. Amanda is a week. He is studying kinesiology at in the advertising industry. a certified make-up artist and did the York University and is considering a Web: fizheye.com make-up for our photo shoot. career as a personal trainer. Primus Canada supports organizations around the world with requirements for international voice and data networks, as well as consumers who want to keep in touch with friends and family. Primus Canada is a national telecommunications service provider with a strong backbone of network, owned facilities, and operations support for customers in Canada. Combining the latest technology & responsive customer support, Primus provides superior savings & quality To businesses and consumers who need to be connected to the world beyond Canada. Come Build your Career with us. Positive and progressive describes the Primus Canada team. Our team members are comprised of a wide range of dedicated professionals who all have one thing in common – devotion to this highly exciting and dynamic industry. Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity in the workplace and are committed to Employment Equity. Visit: www.primus.ca go for more ™ Visit www.DiversityCanada.com Employers Want YOU 2006 5 THE BUZZ Embracing diversity Scanning the as strength Canadian job scene Montreal students volunteer to boost multiculturalism hen McGill student By The Numbers: WEva Vanek saw a need to support diversity 6.6: Canadian unemployment rate in November, 2005; the lowest the figure has in her community, she been in three decades. didn’t wait for someone else to do something 18.2: Percentage, in 2001, of the Canadian about it.