Seminar Review - The Job Interview

There were fewer people out tonight, which, hopefully, was not a reflection of the value of the information that was gleaned the last two nights. Thankfully, those who were there were a lot more vocal. It's much better to help people with the issues they have, than to go over a lot of information they might already have.

So, without delay, the reviews...

The first three are solid. There is a suggestion that a seminar on job searching for new comers to Canada would be useful. This seems like a good suggestion. I'd need to do more prep work if I were to lead something like this, but I'd certainly be game.

The rest of them were good, too. It's nice to know that people found the seminars useful. There were a couple of reviews that suggested more time was needed. I completely agree, however it might be difficult for people to commit more time.

Another person suggested doing a mock interview, and then discussing it. This would definitely require more time, but if you have people who are interested in it, it can be quite useful. If people aren't really interested, then I don't think it would be quite useful.

So that's it for now. There may be more to come in September. As with previous seminars, I quite enjoyed this. Maybe, years from now, I'll try doing this sort of thing full time.

Seminar Review - Resume Writing

So, tonight I led a seminar on resume writing.  This is a topic that I find quite important.  In my experience, most people don't like writing resumes, and many just follow some advice they received about writing resumes, without ever thinking critically about that advice.

This is not to meant to be insulting to people.  I understand why people hate writing resumes.  I used to hate it to.  It's only as resume writing has become part of my job, and I've started thinking strategically about it that it no longer seems like a wretchedly labourious chore.

And that's what I should stress, as with the rest of your job search, you need to have a strategy when composing your resume.  Be thoughtful and deliberate.

Anyway, this post isn't about resume writing, per se, it's about about the seminar.  It's so difficult to judge these things.  A few people were asking questions, and this is always a good thing; it keeps me from falling into lecture mode.  I could talk about resume writing for five hours (literally... the last time I did these, the seminars were three hours, I spoke the whole time, and still had to leave information out).

So yeah, I feel pretty good about it, but let's go through the reviews from the participants.

The first few are pretty good.  No one is completely dissatisfied, and most seemed please.

The rest are pretty much the same.  All but one were quite positive, and even the worst review gave the seminar a mediocre grade.  That's a pretty good batting average.

Unfortunately, no one had any suggestions.  It's understandable.  It's an immediate review, so no one has the opportunity to ruminate on it very much - and I imagine people were eager to get home - but it would be helpful to get some pointers.

(Ya know, I just re-read that, and I think it might come off a little ungrateful.  I don't mean to demand that I get good reviews and constructive advice.  I'm quite pleased that people liked the presentation.  I just mean to say that I am under no delusion that I am perfect at this, and I am eager to improve.)

Well, that's two down.  Tomorrow night, we'll be looking at interview tips.  I think the class might be full, but if you're interested, you can try registering here.

And if anyone who has seen these presentations is reading, feel free to leave further comments.

Seminar Review

Tonight I was at the Ottawa Public Library leading a seminar on job searching using the internet.  It went fine.  There was some participation by those in attendance, and that's usually a good sign.  However, you can get really diverse groups for these sorts of things, so you never really know if everybody is getting something out of it.

...or, at least, that's how it used to be.

Tonight, for the first time, there was actually a formal review form filled out by participants.  So I'll now go through them.  This should be interesting.  Hopefully, I'll get some good suggestions on how to improve the presentation.


Well, the first couple were positive.  There are concerns about the pace of the seminar and the length of time.  Both seem like fair issues.

Overall, the reviews were positive (though I assume that most people will tend to be err on the side of being nice, especially since they're going to see me two more nights).  One person did suggest some other courses they'd like to see, including:

• Facebook;
• Introduction to web-based email (gmail);
• Searching for beginners (Yahoo!, Google); and,
• How to really find information on the net.

This highlights a potential issue with my presentation.  I went into the seminar with some basic assumptions - that people were comfortable with the internet, used email, etc.  I tried to touch on these things briefly, but with only an hour, I couldn't spend much time on basic internet use.

I think the final suggestion is quite interesting, and probably useful to more people than realize it.  I have become pretty comfortable searching the internet (it is, after all, part of my job), and even I can benefit from some tips (by the way, if you need any, you can just google, google tips).

I'll be back at the library the next two nights, tomorrow for resume and cover letter writing, Thursday for interviewing tips.  I don't know if there is still room, but, if you're interested, you can register here.

Finally, for any Algonquin College students out there, I might be making a visit to the Woodroffe campus next week.  I'll post more information once it is confirmed.

Career Seminars

I will be leading some career seminars this week at the downtown branch of the Ottawa Public Library.  Here's the schedule:

Tuesday April 13 @ 6:30 pm
Searching for a Job on the Internet

Wednesday April 14 @ 6:30 pm
Resume and Cover Letter Writing

Thursday April 14 @ 6:30 pm
The Job Interview

The Main Branch of the library is located at 120 Metcalfe St.

Registration is required (for each event).  You can register here.
 

Entering the Lion's Den

On Thursday, I will be leading yet another seminar.  This one might be the most difficult of all, as I will be speaking to a group of...

High School Students!  (Gasp)

My company is taking on a co-op student this term, and the co-op teacher and I have decided that I will come in to their class for one afternoon to talk about interview skills and how not to lose a job once you get it (a skill many people need to learn... and one that the teacher thinks will be quite useful for her students).

It should be interesting.  I've presented to professionals, peers, and university and college students, but never have I ventured into a high school.

We'll see how this goes.