Within 3 days of completing school I found my dream job!
Posted by Sprott Shaw in 
I don’t want to sound corny or fake but Sprott-Shaw had been one of the best experiences I of my life and here is why; Other colleges wouldn’t let me in without certain upgrades, upgrades that were not covered by student loans. This was not a problem for Sprott Shaw they worked with me to get a student loan and in the classroom the next week. This was just my experience in the beginning as I took the class everything just kept getting better. The teachers are flexible and understanding and work hard to maintain a high standard of excellence with themselves the course and students. The teachers also understand the value of personal successes and that everyone is an individual. Speaking of individuals because of the continuous intake cycle the class sizes are always manageable if not small so you get a lots of individual attention. Upon completion of my Early Childhood course I was sad because my wonderful experience was coming to an end then things picked up in the usual Sprott Shaw fashion and I got to meet the person who helped me with my resume and interview prep. It was a wonderful send off from an almost magical experience. Thank you so much Sprott-Shaw and everyone who works so hard to run it.
P.S I almost forgot the most important factor out all of my story, within 3 days of completing school and with the assistance of Sprott-Shaw I found my dream job!
Nanaimo PN Program Celebrates 100% on National Exam
Congratulations to our Nanaimo campus Practical Nursing program students who all passed the National Exam this year. This is the 5th year in a row of the PN program in Nanaimo having a perfect 100% pass record – great job!
If you haven’t enrolled in our PN Program yet, don’t miss out! January is your last chance to take our 12 month program before all PN programs in all post-secondary institutions transition to a 24 month program. Our Nanaimo campus still has a few spots left, but they will fill up fast. Start the new year off right with this fantastic program and contact us today for more information.
Get hired faster with help from the Global Career Center
Many of our current and former students have not yet taken advantage of our Global Career Center (GCC) in their job search. The GCC contacts human resources departments of multinational companies to ascertain their hiring needs and follows up with job candidate applications professionally prepared by the GCC. This is a cost effective way to provide additional value to students and graduates by bridging the gap between the learning and working sectors and making it easier for employers to fulfill their recruitment needs. This service is exclusive to Sprott-Shaw and our sister companies of the CIBT Group.
The Career Center has a database of more then 3000 jobs and is adding more jobs to its database everyday. Even in this tough economy its placement performance has increased more then 400%!
What do I need to do?
To use GCC services, contact the Graduate Services Representitive (GSR) from your campus or call our Head Office at 604-552-9711. They will ask you to send them your resume so it can be submitted to the Global Career Center.
ECE Province-Wide Photo Contest
Early Childhood Educators of British Columbia (ECEBC) has announced a province-wide photo contest in preparation for ECEBC’s 41st annual conference. They are inviting Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) to submit photos of children and educators engaged in authentic play to ECEBC. The winning photo will be produced as a poster for their 2012 Conference.
Please use the following criteria to guide you in your photo selection:
- Photos must include children and educators together.
- Consider the conference theme (Playing it Forward: Discovering the Wonder and Value of Authentic Play) when selecting photo submissions.
- Entries must be submitted as a jpeg file with photo release forms for every individual in the photo (parents/guardians must sign for children) to membership@ecebc.ca. Photo release forms can be downloaded at www.ecebc.ca.
- All photos become the property of ECEBC once submitted.
The winning photo will be chosen by the 2012 Conference Committee. The winner will be announced on the ECEBC website and at conference, and will receive a free one-year ECEBC membership and a framed copy of the poster. Other photos may be displayed at conference.
Contest opens: November 1, 2011
Contest closes: January 15, 2012
Please email photo submissions and completed photo release forms to membership@ecebc.ca.
For more information, please contact Director of Conference, Charlene Gray, at cggray@shaw.ca.
Thanks Sprott Shaw, now I am financially independent.
I came to Sprott Shaw in March 2010 and I enrolled in the Community Support Worker/Social Services program. It took me quite a long time to decide to even come back to school, school has never been my strong point, but once I met my instructor Lisa I knew I was in good hands. Sprott Shaw has taught me to use my own creativity and life experiences, Sprott Shaw’s curriculum and one on one training has provided me with the necessary skills to further my career. Currently I have a position with Pacific Housing Society working full time with individuals with mental health and addiction problems. Thanks Sprott Shaw, now I am financially independent.
Cheers to all the staff and people I’ve met along the way.
Fall Graduation 2011
Almost 150 Degree and Diploma graduates and approximately 700 friends and family from all across the Lower Mainland came together in celebration last night. The beautiful Red Robinson Show Theater in Coquitlam played host to this fantastic event. Graduates from our Vancouver, East Vancouver, Surrey, New Westminster, Maple Ridge and Degree College campuses all participated. Virgin Radio and “Jack The Giant” from the Vancouver Giants were on hand, Virgin interviewed attendees and “Jack” posed for pictures. Prizes were awarded after the ceremony and everyone in attendance enjoyed cake.
Thank you to all who attended and we wish all the best to our graduates, don’t forget to drop by your campus and let us know how you are doing!
Click here to see pictures from the event. Tag yourself in photos on our Facebook page and you could win a Sprott-Shaw prize pack!
Happy Health Care Assistant Day
Today, October 18, is Health Care Assistant (HCA) Day in British Columbia. Back in July, B.C.’s Lieutenant Governor Steven L. Point proclaimed October 18, 2011 as Health Care Assistant Day. The name Health Care Assistant is used to describe several different positions including residential care aides, community health workers, long term care aides, home health aides, home support workers, personal care aides and continuing care assistants.
Health Care Assistants are an important and increasingly vital part of the our health care system, working in healthcare facilities and community agencies. If you have seen a Health Care Assistant at work, you know how important it is to dedicate this day to HCA’s to show that we all appreciate the hard work they do, and we understand the compassion and care they give every day.
As our “baby boomers” continue to grow older, HCA’s will become even more critical. You too can be a part of this growing and fulfilling field. Learn more about Health Care Assistants by contacting one of our experienced career advisors online or by phone at 310-HIRE (4473). By this time next year, you could be celebrating this day with your Health Care colleagues.
Senior population increasing
The Province newspaper has started a fantastic 14-part series on the aging Lower Mainland population. One of the articles included in the weekend edition of this series was titled “Demographic shift could challenge B.C. more than any other province” and included this quote from NDP MLA Mike Farnworth:
“Over the next 10 years the population of seniors will increase significantly, depending on the age cohort,” Farnworth said. “From 60 to 64, the population will increase by 29 per cent. From 65 to 69, the population will have grown by 52 per cent. The age group of 70 to 74 will have grown by 65 per cent. The age group of 75 to 79 will have grown by 79 per cent, and the increase of people over 90 will have grown by 63 per cent.” (Source)
These eldery British Columbians will require a significant increase of health care resources. Sprott-Shaw has college programs starting monthly for Health Care Assistant (formaly known as Residential Care Aide), Practical Nursing and more. The article concludes:
“…[A] person in the 65-to-69-year-old age group uses more than twice the health care services of someone in the 45-to-49-year-old age group. A person who is 75 uses twice the health care of someone who is 65, and an 85-year-old uses twice the health-care services, on average, of someone who is 75 years old. That tells you that we have some significant challenges.” (Source)
If your looking for a rewarding career in health care with significant opportunities for employment and advancement, contact us today, or call us at 310-HIRE (4473) and speak with one of our friendly career advisors.
Personal Performance Review: Five Steps to Put Your Career Path in Your Own Hands
By Joe Girard
Are you worried about your performance? Do you really know what you contribute? Are you unsure of the direction you are going? The steps below will help guide you through a self-assessment and move you towards better performance.
Most times we leave the performance review up to someone else – supervisor, boss. We wait with anticipation to see if we are doing a good job. Wouldn’t it be nice to be totally aware of what you do and how well you do it?
Remember that you are the one who understands what you do every day better than anyone else. Who better to assess and develop your talent than the person in the mirror?
The five stages are:
1. Awareness
2. Planning
3. Action
4. Evaluation
5. Decision
1. AWARENESS: Understand the goals of your boss and other stakeholders
This will be the most important step of the process and will help you gain the focus you need. In any situation, before change can take place, awareness is the key. Complete awareness of the whole picture. Keep in mind that this stage is not where you share your ideas of how things can change, improve or be more efficient. Request a meeting or share a coffee. You should feverishly take notes. Ask questions, and paraphrase that you understand the information correctly. Ask about what makes them excited about their job and the company. Find out what direction they see it going. Question about what they think the company does great and some wish lists they might have on how the company can improve. You might think that these types of questions could be considered as intrusive; however most people will be happy to talk about their own goals and passions for their jobs.
2. PLANNING: Make a list of everything you do – clean house, start fresh
From watering plants to washing your hands before brain surgery, leave no task off the list. This will allow you to see exactly what you do. Then do the following:
- Analyze the importance of each task. Rate them ABC.
- Analyze the percentage of time spent on each task.
- Compare time spent and importance.
- Find a way to remove unimportant activities.
By freeing up your time and removing unimportant activities, you will unlock the freedom to add new, more productive tasks to your day.
3. ACTION: Set goals for the month and the year – then work to achieve them!
One of the challenges many people have when they look at their job and company is that they don’t understand the value of goal setting and follow-through. Goals are not just ideas, but actions which are specific and measurable. Everyone has ideas; to excel you must act on them and produce results. They can be big goals like being a better leader or something as small as making sure that your desk is clean at the end of each day.
4. EVALUATION: Review your performance monthly and yearly – be honest
In one of my recent blogs, I wrote about conquering the week, which was about the feeling you get when you accomplish the goals you set out. How do you feel when you start and then finish something? We all have those days and weeks where we end up just coasting through. We wonder what is happening on Facebook. We check the news or sports scores. We might still get everything done that we needed to do that day, but we don’t really feel like we achieved something special. But we have all also had the days where we just kick the crap out of everything, we might stay late, or we put our stamp on something special. When you have one of those days, do you feel like going home and telling everyone what a great day you had? What if you could capture that magic and make it a more frequent occurrence. That is where goal setting and accomplishing comes in. When you put your future in your own hands, you can build that momentum.
5. DECIDE: Make a decision on your future – take steps to see it through
Whether you are struggling to find your passion, contemplating leaving your current job, or trying to build your empire, you should not make decisions based on emotions. Do your research and study the situation. Once you have built thorough knowledge of the situation, you can make informed decisions. It is at this time you can approach your boss or other stakeholders to discuss new opportunities and ideas. Your ideas will be concrete, actionable, and measurable. You will also have the confidence to vocalize your ideas. Confidence is king.
- Get better at what you do
- Find a new job
- Go back to school (I wrote recently about education as an investment)
It’s your choice
This process might seem time-consuming and overwhelming, but you are investing in your future. Take the time to thoroughly understand how to increase your own personal brand. Through this process, you can build your resume and ultimately your future. I will be talking about personal branding in some upcoming blogs, so make sure you subscribe to the blog.
Think about this – can you find one hour a week to invest in planning and developing your own personal development plan? Perhaps you could skip an hour of TV or hanging out on Facebook? It’s your choice.
There are so many seminars and books on professional or self-development. When I talk to others about their experiences with these tools, the response I get always amazes me. A common answer is, “Oh, I’ve heard this before…nothing new.” I ask them if they think the advice is good. “Sure,” they say.
So why don’t they use the advice? Oh it takes work. Only about 5% of people who read about self-development or attend seminars actually use the information and put it to good use. It is usually that 5% that achieve the most success.
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes
dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
-Thomas Edison
“I am aware that success is more than a good idea.”
-Anita Roddick (1942–2007) English entrepreneur and activist, founder of The Body Shop
Check out a great blog by Dan Schawbel titled “If you don’t dig your job leave it and find another.”
Joe Girard is the Systems Project Manager for Sprott-Shaw Community College and lives in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. For more information on Joe, visit his web site or email him at joegirard@gmail.com.
Victoria Campus is hiring Business Instructors
Our Victoria Campus is hiring Business Instructor(s). This is a part-time position. The successful candidate must have two years job-related experience, a professional designation, or a degree. Areas of instruction may include:
Computerized Accounting Systems; Communications, Bookkeeping; Marketing; Computer Applications and Systems.
We offer a competitive package, excellent team oriented work environment and future opportunities. Please forward your resume and cover letter to annew@sprott-shaw.com or fax to 250-384 8121.
