Put your Training to Work in Powell River

Dream Job Ahead

It’s back to school time in Powell River and not just for the kids.  With Fall just around the corner, it’s also a time when we grown-ups may be dreaming of sharpening our pencils and minds too. But what to do? What’s new? At Career Link we’ve been reviewing local opportunities for learning and seeing how these can work themselves into new career directions. Here’s a sampling of some courses and related  job postings to get your motors running.

Traffic Control Persons/Flaggers are in demand. Take the course at home: http://www.viu.ca/ccs/courses/firstaidandsafety.asp#worksafe 

Serious about WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System) training? The WHMIS 101 course meets your company or personal education needs and meets the legal requirements of WCB/WHMIS legislation. http://www.pr.viu.ca/onthejob/WHMIS.asp

 Lots of job postings for Cooks in town: http://prpeak.com/classifieds/employment/

 Get your FOODSAFE online, in person through Donna (the next session is September 25, 2011 8:15 AM- 4:00 PM at Seventh Day Adventist Church: 4880 Manson Ave. Powell River, BC Contact 604.487.0647 or 604.487.9127)  or Vancouver Island University has a Food Safety for Food handlers (equivalent to FOODSAFE 1) course.

VIU Powell River called to say spaces and student loan funding still available in several Trades programs:

•  Culinary Arts (Level 1 Apprenticeships) has 7 seats still available: http://www.viu.ca/culinary/index.asp
• Carpentry (Foundation program) has 5 seats open: http://pr.viu.ca/carpentry/index.asp 
• Auto-mechanics (Foundation) has 5 seats open: http://pr.viu.ca/automotive/index.asp
• Hairdressing (Apprenticeship) has 2 seats open: http://pr.viu.ca/hairdressing/index.asp

Current First Aid certification is always valued by Employers, St.John Ambulance released their new 2011/2012 calendar.

Want to work as a lifeguard or in Aquatics? The Rec Complex has you covered, call 604.485.2891. 

According to the annual Robert Half global financial employment monitor, 67% of respondents said it is either very or somewhat challenging to find skilled accounting and finance professionals for certain jobs. Train for this industry at VIU starting with a bookkeeping course http://www.pr.viu.ca/bookkeeping/index.asp and then take the Simply Accounting for Windows course there too. Two local finance sector jobs:  http://www.powellriver.ca/siteengine/activepage.asp?PageID=52 and http://jobview.monster.com/Coordinator-Financial-Services-Powell-River-Sea-to-Sky-Sunshine-Coast-Job-Powell-River-BC-CA-100016021.aspx

Aquaculture Technicians are in demand at our local hatcheries and shellfish leases. So far in 2011, we’ve had 7 aquaculture job postings (compared to 2010 with 1 job posted by this time). Excel Career College offers the Aquaculture Technician Program and reports that to date, 100% of their  graduates are working in the industry.  The program’s details and upcoming Open House September 15th in Port Alberni can be found toll-free at 1.888.280.2451 or www.excelcareercollege.com

Speaking of outdoor work, there’s a 3 hour course to learn about the fun, easy and profitable venture of picking salal and mushrooms at the Rec Complex October 23rd, call 604.485.2891 to register.

Already a full-time student? Tourism Powell River seeks a Saturday Tourist Information Counsellor for the winter leading to full time work come May, 2012.  More job details here http://www.careerlinkbc.com/posting.php?id=3234 

Ready to explore what education or training plan could benefit your career path? Meet with a Career Link Counsellor and see where the road of education could take you. Book an appointment online  http://www.careerlinkbc.com/appt.html or call 604.485.7958.

Step by Step: Exploring Distance Education

By Susan Biagi

Learning without borders

It wasn’t so long ago that “correspondence” courses were advertised on matchbooks, or in the last few pages of comic books.

The industry has certainly come a long way since then. Today’s student has a wealth of high-quality, distance-education courses on offer. These are also known as “online courses,” since most are delivered via the Internet.

Distance-education offers many benefits to the student, the first of which is cost. Although tuition is not significantly lower than that of classroom-based courses, distance-education offers significant savings in cost of living. Students who study from home avoid the high cost of living in residence, or moving from one city to another.

Another benefit of distance-education courses is that they’re not limited to BC. The cost is comparable whether the course is delivered from Kamloops or from St. John’s, Newfoundland. Clearly, this provides students with a wider range of choices than would otherwise be available to them. The key is making sure, in advance, that potential employers recognize the course as valid training for their workplace.

One question that students may ask is, “Are distance education courses any less valid than those delivered on campus?” The answer is “no.” What counts is the quality of the institution issuing the diploma. A diploma from the BC Institute of Technology (BCIT) carries the same weight whether the training is delivered in the classroom or online.

How does one choose a distance-education course? Most colleges and universities deliver both “credit” and “non-credit” courses. Credit courses generally result in a certificate, diploma, or degree. Non-credit courses, also known as continuing-education courses, do not provide certification of any kind. They can, however, provide the student with skills that are highly valued in the workplace.

Students considering distance-education courses can now choose from a host of high-quality institutions. An early innovator in the field—the Open Learning Agency—is now a division of Thompson River University, delivering everything from individual courses to degrees. For more information, consult its website at www.tru.ca.

An easy way to access the offerings of individual institutions is to consult Career Link’s education page at www.careerlinkbc.com/education.html. On the right-hand-side of the page is a list of all publicly funded colleges and universities in BC. After choosing a specific institution’s website, simply type “distance education” into the keyword search box. For non-credit courses, type “continuing education.”

Expect to spend quite a lot of time exploring the options. Incredibly, even training as a

pharmacy technician or embalmer can be delivered online! Students enrolled in courses that require hands-on learning begin by studying theory over the Internet, then follow up with a practicum delivered at the workplace of local employers.

Students considering distance-education can also choose from a wider variety of instructional techniques than those available in the past. Thanks to changing technology, online courses are now highly interactive, offering audio, video, chat rooms, and even instructor-led courses delivered in real time.

While checking each institution’s website is an effective way to sift through courses, it can be slow and labourious. To help speed the process along, Career Link’s education page contains a number of links designed to help a student search a number of institutions at once. These links are all located under the “Distance Education” heading. Clicking on “Find a Distance Education Program or School,” for example, provides access to Schoolfinder.com. From there, in the box beside “Find a Program,” students can simply type in their field of interest. Typing “health care” will result in a number of offerings.

Those who require help exploring distance-education options are invited to book some one-on-one time with a Career Link employment consultant, or attend a workshop. Call us at 604.485.7958. It’s easy and it’s free!

July’s LMI Snapshot: Youth Employment

It's become a bit tougher for youth to break through that glass ceiling to employment

According to the latest statistics*, the youth (15-24 years) labour market in B.C continues to experience challenges since the economic downturn. See it as a call for increased creativity in pursuing potential employers and perhaps as a call for self-employment and further education.

The Professional, Scientific and Technical Services sector and Accommodation/Food and Beverage sectors were the only areas where employment increased over the last month. It’s worth noting that the Vancouver Island/Coastal area was the only B.C. region that showed increased unemployment (8.0%) compared to July last year (5.9%). 

The Accommodation/Food and Beverage sectors showed an increase of 8,100 jobs and actually fared well compared to the last couple of years (July 2010 showed an increase in 4,000 jobs while July 2009 showed a loss of 6,700 jobs in this sector, probably as a direct result of the economic downturn). It’s not known how the unusually cool/wet weather may have prevented an even rosier recovery in the employment  picture for this sector.

B.C. Youth Employment Statistics

• The number of unemployed youth (aged 15 to 24) in B.C. increased by 3,800 from the last month, bringing youth unemployment up to 51,500
• The unemployment rate for B.C. youth increased by 0.9 pct points to 13.8% from the last month
• The 2010 youth unemployment rate in B.C. was 13.8% (or 51,800 unemployed youth), up 0.5 percentage points from 13.3% in 2009, and up 5.3 percentage points from 8.5% in 2008. Aboriginal off-reserve youth also continued to experience difficulty in 2010, with the unemployment rate at 21.4%, a moderate decrease from 24.8% in 2009, but still significantly higher than the rate of 12.5% in 2008. 
• The unemployment rate for the prime working age group increased only by 2.9 percentage points between 2008 and 2010, increasing the gap in unemployment rate between youth and prime age workers to 7.0 percentage points by 2010

 *Note: All labour force statistics are from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey. Data is seasonally adjusted, unless otherwise indicated. Read the full July 2011 B.C. Labour Market snapshot. Click here.

Powell River’s Economy – Ahead of the Curve

Coastal Chronciles: Click here to download the pdf

The Summer 2011 issue of the magazine Coastal Chronicles is here fresh from the printers, and provides local perspectives on the unique economies and business trends in Powell River and four coastal regions on Vancouver Island. 

Led by a team from Career Link, each region’s local employment services agency has provided an update on where things stand today and what is on the horizon.  The new issue features local employers, along with great labour market information (LMI).

So what’s the scoop for the ‘Pearl on the Sunshine Coast’? Reinvention and innovation. Featured in the 2011 issue’s Powell River section (pages 14-16) are items on the Catalyst mill, which has recently been hiring “to sustain and renew” their workforce levels as people retire, and to feed the demand for their specialty papers.

Another section on Silke’s Organic Market describes how co-owner Volker Pfeifer has provided greater shopping convenience at their new location that offers more parking,  in addition to fresher produce that he transports from local producers and from the Okanagan.

Vancouver Island University’s Powell River Campus has also increased its Trades Programs, while working with students while they are still in high school, where they may receive post-secondary credits. On the ESL front, Camber College has continued to grow and expand its online presence, despite the economic slow-down, and despite the changes in immigration laws that now require Mexican students to carry a visa.

There’s much more information packed into the 20-page guide that describes the employment picture in BC’s coastal communities of Courtenay-Comox, Campbell River, Parksville area, and Port Alberni. Download the entire guide  (5.56 MB) as an Adobe Acrobat file.

Powell River’s June Jobs Report – Opening Doors

Information Opens Doors

It’s time to report on Powell River’s June Labour Market. There is good news out there and we’d like to share with you where we saw the open doors to employment this month.  If you found work recently, let us know! Share your comments on this post.    

In June 2011, BC’s unemployment rate dropped a further 0.3 percentage points to 7.3% in June.  In our region (Vancouver Island & Coast) the unemployment rate inched downward by 0.4 percentage points this month, resulting in the current unemployment rate of 7.7%. This rate tells us that employers can afford to be choosy and specific in their requirements, and that job seekers need to make every effort to stand out in the crowd as the best candidate for the job. You don’t need to tackle it all on your own though— at Career Link, both our job-seeker and employer services are free and are offered in a variety of formats to choose from.

And now for the Career Link numbers:

• Powell River employers have posted 277 free job postings with us this year
• This is up by 72 postings from this time last year
• Kudos to 72 clients who attained employment in June!
• In fact, at press time, we are now at 360 employed clients this year, which is 59 more employed clients than at this time last year

Could this be evidence of a recovery? We can take a closer look at that question…

Certainly in the Forestry Sector we are seeing an increase in coastal logging, and therefore hiring. The average wage for skilled jobs in this sector is $30.00 per hour. As long as our cool, wet summer weather holds, they shouldn’t be slowing down for fire season for a while yet.

Thankfully, more of our construction labourers are finding work. This Spring the Kelowna-based Maple Reinders, hired a number of local labourers and they are building a concrete reservoir and UV treatment facility as part of Powell River’s upgrade of its drinking water system. The City of Powell River is hoping to add to their casual relief public works labourer pool and School District 47 just advertised seeking on-call casual Trades/Maintenance Workers. Preference given to applicants with a Red Seal Journeyman Carpenter or Electrician ticket.

If you are still at the stage where you need to add to your construction work experience, at this time of year we regularly have a number of casual jobs where local individuals are seeking handy persons for projects around their houses such as floor laying, deck building and general construction site assistance. The pay is not as great, but on the flip side the work is short-term so you can keep looking for better work, the jobs add to your resume and you may get a reference or job lead while on the job. 

In the healthcare and social services fields we noted an upswing in the number of job postings for relief work because summer is the time of year where full-time caregivers take their holidays to refresh their batteries. As a group home manager at Cherry Doors Ltd. explained to us, they expect to see an upswing again around the busy holiday season and furthermore getting yourself on an employer’s relief worker call list is a great way to get your foot in the door. 

A solid Office Administrator is an integral part of many businesses.  Two local employers Drake Medox Health Services and the Powell River Optometry Clinic are currently searching for that position.

In other news, our First Credit Union recently hired a couple additional staff members, and two major banks are still looking for casual customer service representatives. We keep seeing jobs pop up in our restaurants and hotels, which is good news if you haven’t secured a summer job yet.  And for the savvy person who is thinking ahead to the Fall,  we just posted a job for the Powell River Curling Club seeking a Bar Manager for their six month season.

For those looking for a part-time but longer term contract, a project they can start from the ground up, The Powell River Diversity Initiative is seeking both a Project Coordinator and Assistant to create and lead an educational event called “Diversity Day Camp” scheduled for 2012.

And there is news afloat that our Aquaculture industry continues to grow, as land clearing has started in order to build a new hatchery at a mariculture license in Okeover.

Our eagle eyes are tweeting every single job we hear about – you can can follow us on Twitter @careerlinkbc. Remember, you don’t need to tweet about your own life to follow our job news.  

To be informed about Powell River’s unique labour market either to hire or find employment, Career Link would be pleased to work with you! You can drop by our offices on Marine Ave, give us a call at 604.485.7958 or email us at yourteam@careerlinkbc.com and we can help you get started. We also encourage you to subscribe to this blog.

 

Step by Step: Calling All Grads!

Hats off to the future

-By Susan Biagi
So many choices, so little time! With graduation looming, many students feel pressured to make a career choice. “Do I go to university? Get a job? Enroll in trades training? Volunteer overseas?”

We at Career Link can help:
1. Go to university? With costs the way they are, this is not a decision that should be made lightly. At the University of Victoria, students pay $15,500 a year on average, once living expenses are factored in. At today’s prices, a four-year degree represents an overall investment of $62,000. Some degrees are a wise investment: a Bachelor of Nursing is almost certain to result in a well-paid job. Other degrees, such as a Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Anthropology, may not pay for themselves in quite the same way. Researching the options in advance will prevent headaches down the road.
For grads who balk at university, there are a host of college programs to choose from, ranging from one to three years. Wise grads choose a program that helps them enter the workforce as quickly as possible. Later, if they choose, graduates of these programs can pick up additional courses, thereby “laddering”  their diploma into a university degree. 
A third option is to enroll in post-secondary programs delivered over the Internet. Such programs can offer significant cost-of-living savings, by allowing students to study from home. For more information on these and other training options, check out the Career Link education and training webpage at http://www.careerlinkbc.com/education.html
A word of caution: Carefully research the institution before embarking on a post-secondary program. Private institutions especially can vary widely in quality.
2. Get a job? Entering the workforce immediately after graduation helps new grads “try on” a career while gaining valuable skills. While formal, on-the-job training is not as common as it once was, there are still some industries that help ambitious young people rise through the ranks. Banking is a notable example.
A word of caution: Failure to use this time wisely can leave grads trapped in a low-paid, dead-end job. Focus on a) identifying jobs with prospects for advancement, or b) investigating post-secondary training, while putting some money aside for tuition.
3. Trades training?  The current shortage of skilled tradespeople provides today’s grads with a host of exciting opportunities. In BC, there are two routes a new grad can take to acquire trades certification:
a) Enter the workforce directly by finding an employer willing to comply with all the requirements set out by the Industry Training Authority (ITA), or
b) Enroll in an entry-level trades training program at a recognized college. While this is a more expensive option than direct entry into the workforce, it is a good alternative in an economy where few employers are willing to train apprentices.

4. Volunteer? There are several options for youth seeking to develop their skills in a challenging environment:
a) Katimavik offers youth aged 17 to 21 the opportunity to participate in volunteer projects across Canada. The organization covers the cost of travel, housing, food, and basic necessities. A small contribution is required from participants.
b) Canada World Youth (CWY) provides youth aged 15 to 29 with the opportunity to live in other countries while developing their leadership skills. Participants are required to fundraise $2,800 (with help from CWY) to cover costs.
c) International Youth Programs: Canadian citizens between the ages of 18 and 35 can obtain a one-year working visa in a number of countries. To initiate the process, go to  www.international.gc.ca and click on the “Youth and Education” tab.
Grads struggling with their next step are invited to call 604-485-7958 to book an appointment with one of Career Link’s job coaches. Try it. It’s easy and it’s free!

Powell River Job Market Snapshot

It’s time to share some labour market news from Career Link for the month of May in beautiful, sunny Powell River.

From our view point on Marine Avenue, we see the prawn boats out daily, the finishing touches underway on our Waterfront Revitalization Projects and step back when full logging trucks come barreling down the street.

Career Link’s website and social media channels posted, tweeted and shared 105 Powell River job opportunities - maybe that’s why our website traffic was our highest ever at 9004 visitors in May? 

Our employment counsellors happily report that 65 Career Link clients found jobs in May, bringing our total for the year up to 305 employed clients – perhaps that number alone is reason for some readers to make an appointment with an employment counsellor too.

While it felt a bit quieter in the restaurant and retail sector after that flurry of job postings in the early Spring, the month of May had her own story to tell.

Here’s a job market snapshot as we captured it:

• Powell River’s hotels are seeking housekeepers and reservation attendants.
• We noted financial services businesses seeking Customer Service Representatives (a.k.a. Tellers) and Managers.  Those jobs are usually posted on individual company websites because they want people to apply using their on-line feature.
• A number of new jobs in the education sector popped up ranging from ESL teachers at Camber College, Preschool Teachers and Educational Assistants at the Powell River Christian School to Instructors needed for the Fall at VIU.
• The Social Services field has opportunities for program assistants, coordinators and even employment counsellors. 
• The landscaping industry is very busy with one landscaper telling us if you’ve got a mower there are lawns to cut.
• An aquaculture operator just hired 6 new staff and is hoping to hire one more person; ideally a recent grad from an Aquaculture Technician Program.
• Local labourers and contractors are working on Haslam Street at the City’s Drinking Water System Upgrade project. Career Link had a job posting for a Self-Erecting Tower Crane Operator as part of that project.
•  Lots of employers took advantage of the government’s Canada Summer Jobs 2011 funding incentive to hire full-time students. Employers including Beach Gardens Marina, Family Place, Tourism Powell River and the Forestry Museum  got word last week their requests were approved and they could go ahead and post their student jobs.
• We continue to have a number of local individuals posting casual jobs seeking child care providers, gardeners and housecleaning.

So what’s next? We are keeping our eyes and ears open for potential work at:

• The new Westview Elementary School building site operated by Yellowridge Construction. The Board for School District 47  tells us a job fair seeking labourers will happen soon and we may know more about this by the end of June.
• Invasive plant management work coming to the Powell River region under the province’s Take Action plan. We are waiting to hear final funding amounts.
• We were pleased to hear of plans to build a new complex care facility (replacing Olive Devaud) with construction hopefully starting in February, 2012.

Do you want information on Powell River jobs and employers? Maybe we have a contact name to help you make that first contact or you want to expand your job search list of potential employers;  Career Link would be pleased to help! Just call us at 604.485.7958 or drop by 4511 Marine Avenue Monday to Friday 8:30 am to 4:30 pm and we will work with you.

Summer Jobs and You(th)!

Summer Jobs for Youth

If you are a young person between the ages of 13 and 30 and looking for work in Powell River we suggest you add a visit to the Service Canada Centre for Youth (SCCY) to your job search to-do list. Why? Because the SCCY is where job seekers and employers get connected!

And who’s helping make the connection? Carmen Anderson, Powell River’s Youth Service Officer, she’s working on both sides of the employment fence: helping job seekers and local employers by providing a number of free services.

And you don’t have to be a student to use their services. If you are 13 to 30 years old, drop by the SCCY and see what’s in store just for you.  

Interested in Casual Labour? Drop in and ask Carmen to get you on the Casual Labour Pool list right away! You may also want to check out Service Canada’s special Employment for Youth and Students page for links to the many programs and Canada-wide student employment opportunities, or click here to see the Powell River-specific Student and Youth employment listings.

Carmen can help you:

• Get your name on the list for the Casual Labour Pool!
• Get a SIN card
• Start or polish up your resume
• Guide you to job postings (full time, part time, casual/odd jobs)
• Link to volunteer opportunities – an excellent way to add experience to your resume
• Share your resume with local employers wanting to hire young people

Now is the time of year when employers find out if their requests to the government for funding the hiring of students/youth were approved, which is why you may have noticed a couple more job postings lately especially for your age group. Often, you’ve got to act pronto and get your application in as the deadlines and job start dates can be pretty tight. 

Already have a summer job? Awesome! What about education plans? Is travel on your bucket list? The SCCY can also point you in the direction of government services to apply for student loans/grants and programs that provide traveling work experiences across Canada.  Learn more, take advantage.  Like we say at Career Link: “Try it. It’s easy and it’s free!”

Invasive Plant Management

Japanese Knotweed

While often mistaken for wildflowers, invasive plants —any invasive alien plant species that has the potential to pose undesirable or detrimental impacts on humans, animals or ecosystems— are spreading through our natural ecosystems, urban landscapes, and agricultural lands at an alarming rate.
But what defines an invasive plant? The Invasive Plant Council of BC defines the term “invasive plant” as any alien plant species that has the potential to pose undesirable or detrimental impacts on humans, animals or ecosystems. Invasive plants have the capacity to establish quickly and easily on both disturbed and un-disturbed sites, and can cause widespread negative economic, social, and environmental impacts.

In 2000 (updated in 2004), the World Conservation Union collaboratively published a booklet identifying 100 of the World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species, four of which currently exist in British Columbia: gorse, Japanese knotweed, leafy spurge and purple loose strife (see below).

Spurge

Recently, the provincial government announced it was funding the Invasive Plant Council of BC with $3 million to create a new employment program, called Take Action, that will train and hire up to 150 people to help prevent and reduce the spread of invasive plants around the province.

In April, the City of Powell River council and The Powell River Regional District (PRRD) board voted to give the non-profit society Coastal Invasive Plant Committee (CIPC) a total of $5,000. The funds will be used for its proposed 2011 inventory and treatment work plan. CIPC partners on the Sunshine Coast include the ministry of transportation and infrastructure, BC Hydro and Fortis BC.

Powell River funds will go toward management activities in the region. For example, there are tansy ragwort sites, on Texada Island, that are adjacent to high value agricultural lands. As well, giant hogweed and Japanese knotweed sites treated by CIPC crews in 2010 need to be re-treated, as well as new or untreated sites. Crews will also remove butterfly bushes which are growing along roadsides and next to waterways and gorse, Scotch broom and English ivy in high value natural areas.

With the funding, the council will work with the province’s 12 regional weed committees to place local, multi-person teams around BC. The teams will be trained to undertake work identified as critical and specific to their local area. Please keep an eye out for work in this field through Career Link’s website and by subscribing to our free emailed job alerts.

Video on invasive Giant Hogweeed:

LINKS:

Powell River Peak article:

http://prpeak.com/articles/2011/05/04/news/doc4dc09ebb5ea76061659505.txt

General information re: invasive species in BC:

• invasive-plants/how-can-i-manage-invasive-plants
• invasive-plant-watch/how-can-i-manage-invasive-plants
• invasive-plants/impacts-of-invasive-plants-in-bc
• invasive-plants/invasive-plant-watch
• invasive-plants/community-mapping-network-invasive-species-atlas

Information on Japanese knotweed: http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/jknotweed.htm

About invasive plants: http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/invasiveplant/index.html

BC’s Weed Control Act: http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/noxious.htm

South Coast integrated pest management plan: http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/invasiveplant/documents/Pest_Management_Plan_Backgrounder_South_Mainland_Coast.pdf

Information on the invasive plants in our region (PDF) : http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/invasiveplant/documents/Pest_Management_Plan_Multi-Agency_South_Coast_Vancouver_Island.pdf

March In Like A Lion

March: In Like a Lion

Well, it sure feels like March came in like a Lion.  Or in the case of the Labour Market, a pride of Lions each with a story to tell. And just like a Lion, March seemed both beautiful and worrisome. Our job board is full, our clients’ job search strategies are leading to employment, and yet the numbers from BC Stats have been better.

As of March 31st BC’s unemployment rate is tied with Ontario’s as the fifth lowest in Canada at 8.1%. This current rate is down from the February 2011 unemployment rate of 8.8%. While employment gains played a role, the primary contributor to the growing unemployment rate was the drop in the provincial participation rate (people actively seeking work) from 65.8% to 65.4%. 

Total employment in BC remained virtually unchanged in March since February. Bucking against the national average, all of BC’s gains were in part time work − up by 7,400 jobs −  while full time work in BC registered a loss of 3,900 jobs. In our region BCStats calls Vancouver Island/Coast, our unemployment rate increased in the last month by 1% to 9.1%. 

So what’s the Labour Market like in Powell River? We think things may be heating up, keeping in mind the unemployment rate lags behind what is happening now. Have you walked by our sidewalk’s famous job board lately? Of the impressive 206 Career Link clients who found work so far this year, 92 of them found work in March alone which is up from 61 clients who found work in March, 2010. Way to go each and every one of you! 

BC Human Resources Management Association Director of Research and Learning, Ian Cook recently told the publication Business in Vancouver:

“Organizations have gone through the crisis, they’ve started to reset their strategies, they’re now starting to invest in plans to deliver on those strategies [...] They’re looking for the best talent they can afford, so there are more vacancies up there.” http://www.bivinteractive.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4013&Itemid=1

Cook expects that soon the unemployment rate will reduce as the jobs and opportunties start to flow. 

The number of Career Link job postings should help the cause. Job postings are up … way up … Powell River employers have advertised 30 more jobs at Career Link this March over last March. So far this year, 165 job opportunities have been posted with us …. this time last year we were at 111 job postings.  We think an increase in job postings indicates there are more jobs available (perhaps more part time than full time) and that because employers are looking for the best talent they can find, a Career Link posting reaches their target audience with up front details and requirements. Clearly the unemployment rate indicates it’s still an employer’s market so job seekers must be creative, targeted and thorough in their job search.  At Career Link our Employment Counsellors will help you get creative, target your resume to successfully highlight your relevant experience and work with you to help you tap into your lion’s share of confidence to identify and go after the best job for you; the one that you really want.