Career Trends

Although a couple years old, this article points out some important/interesting factors related to our readings about what the Canadian economy needs.

Key Messages: Canada earns an "A" on its Education and Skills report card, ranking 2nd among 16 peer countries. Canada's strength is in delivering a high-quality education with comparatively modest spending to people between the ages of 5 and 19. Canada needs to improve workplace skills training and lifelong education. Unfortunately Canada earns a "C" in the "science, math, computer science, and engineering" category as well as the "high-level science skills" category.

This article discusses how companies, such as Johnson and Johnson are looking towards countries such as China for new innovations.

This article looks at how the Ukraine is looking to improve their higher educational system to match that of the U.S. It shows how the rest of the world's educational system is pushing out higher quality graduates to compete with American innovation

This article identifies the different risks associated with foreign investing, the different markets available (frontier, emerging, developed), and the steps one should take when investing overseas.

I came across this organization and thought it was worth sharing in relation to upcoming trends in recruiting and networking. Brazen powers online virtual events and career fairs for leading organizations around the world, improving recruiting, networking, and audience engagement. Their mission is to change the way people find professional opportunities and employers find talent. They also believe that everyone deserves a job they love, which is evident in their work setting (they don't work in cubicles, have access to snacks, lunches, and have comfy lounges to work in with a large screen TV). I don't know of many organizations myself that have these awesome perks at a workplace, but perhaps what this organization is starting is an emerging trend, as well as a new way of recruiting and expanded networking beyond LinkedIn.

This short article from a marketing school resource outlines key themes for self-marketing and the need for skill mastery in the changing workplace. While also providing more general advice to job-seekers everywhere in the form of how to put yourself out there. 

Outsourcing brings in a lot of flexibility and financial freedom but it also has its pitfalls. Any company looking to outsource must keep in mind the pros and cons of outsourcing before deciding to take the plunge. Take a look at this list of advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing.

This article talks about people needing to change their view from secure employment to gaining employability skills, as one is likely to change careers a number of times throughout life. It mentions some ideas for a future worker to consider.

This article looks at how Canada's economy is failing apart while highlighting that other countries like China are booming. It talks about things like people living beyond their means and a lack of business investment as well as other factors that are contributing to the economy problem. I thought this was a great article for this week since we are ending with Friedman and Stanford. Both of their thoughts can be applied to this article.

A self- assessment tool that assesses a person's strengths and areas for improvement in regards to continuous learning. Friedman emphasizes in chapters 8 and 9 the importance of continuous learning and ongoing education in order to reach career related goals and strive for self improvement.

The growth of hyperspecialization and new markets such as TopCoder, through which individuals can 'sell' their specialized talents, allow individuals to compete in an increasing "flat" world. Outsourcing if often thought of only in terms of wealthy developed world companies seeking cheaper labour from developing countries, however this article highlights that some outsourcing is done to increase the quality of work, not simply to decrease cost. In an increasing connected world, individuals can 'outsource' the parts of their job that they do not excel in, to other individuals who are specialized in it.

This is a recent article published on "Business Insider" in regards to current free-trade negotiations in the Pacific. 

Richard Paul's article is about the increasing need, in this intertwined, globalized world for us to foster critical thinking in our children. As we have already learned from both 'The World is Flat' and 'The Shift', in this flattened world, simply obtaining basic skills or knowing the answers to certain questions will not be enough. Paul argues that our current K-12 school system is not breeding creative students, and is not giving students a chance in the ever-changing work landscape. He maintains that in order to keep up with globalization, we need to be fostering in our children the ability to problem solve creatively, to anticipate patterns and meanings, to think abstractly, to ask 'why', and to be able to communicate, collaborate, and negotiate with others.

Written about 10 years ago - around the time of Frieman's book - this article talks about the myths and truths of globalization as it may affect our clients.

I thought this was a particularly interesting website as it touches on a lot of things that Friedman has mentioned in his book; including the focus on this weeks readings on education and a knowledge-based economy. It has articles outlining how China is overtaking the U.S in terms of how much money is spent on science and technology funding for example, showing how the developing countries are catching up with us in terms of their high-skilled, more innovative work.

This organization focuses on helping people further their education in order to improve their standard of living. This really aligns with Chapter 5 in Friedman's book, as he discusses how low-skilled workers must improve their education in order to obtain better positions (229). They have to do this as the jobs they were doing have been outsourced to other countries.

Hi, This website looks like a helpful resource for people considering self-employment. This particular article entitled: "Cloud Computer Basics for the Self-employed" examines how small business owners can benefit from taking advantage of "cloud computing."