Career Trends

SEO stands for "search engine optimization." It is the process of getting traffic from the "free," "organic," "editorial" or "natural" search results on search engines. All major search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo have primary search results, where web pages and other content such as videos or local listings are shown and ranked based on what the search engine considers most relevant to users.

I choose this website on search engine optimization to relate to Friedman's ninth flattener: In-forming. This resource explains how making your website popular through optimization influences the success of the web page.

This article is interesting because we are used to major companies outsourcing their positions across the world, but here a service paid for by Canadian taxes is being outsourced elsewhere, taking jobs away from Canadian taxpayers. This introduces an interesting ethical issue, as many believe it is wrong for a company paid for exclusively by Calgarians is outsourcing jobs to other areas of the world.

Here is a website where people can join an on-line "coffee" chat room to discuss and share insights and spark ideas that will "plant the seeds of the future opportunities" We're connecting students, recent grads, and young professionals with leaders and established professionals over a cup of coffee. This site demonstrates the ability to connect with professionals both locally AND globally. What a great idea!

EARLY NEXT MONTH local dignitaries will gather for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at a facility in Whitsett, North Carolina. A new production line will start to roll and the seemingly impossible will happen: America will start making personal computers again. This article discusses the reasons why offshoring activity is declining and the trend towards "onshoring".

This article highlights insourcing and GE's initiative to bring back some of its production to the U.S.

This program is program developed specifically for gymnastics clubs. It manages classes, fees, and even can keep track of inventory and sales at your front desk. Parents can access this from home and fill in registration information, sign up online for available classes and even make monthly payments without ever needing to come into the gym.

This web-tool was originally a special module of the web tools offered by Tools for Organizations since 2000. However, in 2010 it was released a stand-alone software for scheduling and managing volunteers for events and projects. The system allows volunteers to sign up for hours, once the event is completed the staff member then confirms these hours, and these hours are logged and tracked.

Interesting article written in April 2013, when RBC was outsourcing jobs and there was much hype in the media about it.  The author makes some interesting points which I have highlighted for you to read.  Firstly, commenting on the fact that Indian workers are actually as well qualified or more qualified than Canadian workers to get the job done.  Friedman mentions this in his book when talking about his visits to Bangalore.  She notes that when businesses boost profit this is good for the economy because it means they will invest it. However, it was noted by Stanford in Economics for Everyone, that this is not always the case, and the amount of profit being spent on luxury goods rather than investment is currently increasing.  Interesting note the author makes about us vs them.  She mentions that if the jobs had been moving somewhere else in Canada, would the reaction have been just as passionate?  It is important to ensure that we are looking at cultural and racial issues here and taking these into account.   Lastly, she comments that on how we have to allow "the natural forces of capitalism to work".  Stanford also mentions how economists will often refer to capitalism as "natural" and that this is not true.  It is one economic system (which has been created by man) which we currently use, but it is not the only one that can exist, and it certainly did not exist before man did.  It is not natural like the seasons.  

An interesting current community and university partnership research project on precarious work and its impact on poverty in Ontario.

Workforce Planning Ontario is made up of a network of 26 Workforce Planning Boards covering four regions across the province. They gather intelligence about the supply of labour and the demand side of the local labour market by working with employers to identify and meet their current and emerging skills needs. The primary role of Workforce Planning Boards is to help improve understanding of and coordinate community responses to labour market issues and needs. If you click on an area of interest, such as the city you live in, there are publications on LMI, including spotlights on specific industries in that area.

This week I started on JobBank.gc.ca and searched my local market, York Region (as listed under "Basic LMI Resources - Where to Start" in our course notes). As I typically work with students, this particular site www.betakit.com and an article about funding for youth entrepreneurs was a great source of info to share with my students! Reza Moridi, Minister of Research and Innovation, was at Communitech this morning in Waterloo and announced a partnership with the Campus-Linked Accelerators (CLA) and On-Campus Entrepreneurship Activities (OCEA) to help students interested in building their own business gaining skills to succeed. The CLA is investing $5.8 million and the OCEA providing over $650,000.

This site is in Alberta however is great because you can easily see the type of occupation, the NOC code (for qualification purposes), average wage and average salary. An important pat of labour market information is being able to see what wage/income you will be receiving. This could make or break whether you accept a job or not.

This website is interesting because you can learn about salaries and wages which is crucial when looking in to occupational information. Each job is also led with an NOC number which provides details on qualifications and what type of training is required. You can search any job title and with just entering your postal code, you can see the average wages for that occupation.

The Workforce Planning Board of Waterloo Region has created this document to point out population changes, including changes in the working age population, migration changes, and employment changes for each sector in the last year. According to the document, Real Estate, Crop Production and Animal Production are the top 3 growing industries in the Waterloo Region, while Specialty Trade Contractors, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services, and Management of Companies and Enterprises are the 3 most declining sectors. The 2014 report has not yet been released.

This week I researched different Graduate Placement Reports from Colleges and Universities that you could use to find Labour Market Information. McMaster - Easy to find when searched on Google. Divides by areas of study. Information is a little old (2011).

This week I researched different Graduate Placement Reports from Colleges and Universities that you could use to find Labour Market Information. UofT - Was difficult to find, had to do a lot of searching. Only gives overall employment rate, not broken down into programs or even program areas.

This week I researched different Graduate Placement Reports from Colleges and Universities that you could use to find Labour Market Information. Conestoga - Very easy to find when searching Google. Up to date information. Very thorough, gives statistics for all programs, not just program areas.

This week I researched different Graduate Placement Reports from Colleges and Universities that you could use to find Labour Market Information. Queens - showing information from 2013 and 2012. Information divided by area of study. Was easy to find when searched on Google.