Labour Market Skills for a New Economy

David's Story: What Do I Need for This Challenge?

The next meeting, after researching occupations and growing industries...

David: I didn't know there were so many different jobs connected to safety. There seems to be quite a few occupations that are hired in many different industries. Look...

David had been able to draw up a list of occupations and industries that fit his motivating interest. He had checked out the NOC http://www23.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/, Job Futures http://jobfutures.ca/en/home.shtml, Career Directions http://www.careerccc.org, and Look Ahead Get Ahead: Growing career opportunities for technicians and technologists, starting with obvious occupations and moving to related occupations lists for new ideas.

He was also able to find information that indicated growth occupations and industries. Most Sector Councils http://www.councils.org have labour force and labour market information. David was able to find some relevant data on their sites. In his case the Canadian Technology Human Resource Board had useful information on several occupations that interested David.

As David and Charlotte continued their meeting, David brought up something that had happened in the last week.

David: I got a call from one of the guys who was kept on in my old company and he was telling me that they have teams at work now that are assigned projects. They have pulled together people from different departments and they have to plan the whole project together. It used to be that we were just told what our part was and we did it. And he said that some of the technical people who were kept on have been let go because they can't work in the groups. They don't contribute, don't listen to other people's opinion. The manager couldn't control the team members and he has since been replaced by some new "team specialist." He says the guys are either quitting, being fired or struggling to learn how to "relate in a team."

He was part of a hiring committee and they actually passed over the highest technically qualified person to hire someone who had lots of experience in team work. The leader of the hiring committee convinced the other members that they could train the new person in the areas she was lacking, but they couldn't train the other candidate how to relate to people.

David was surprised at what was going on in his old company. He expressed the idea that it seems to take more than just the ability to get the job tasks done these days. After a discussion on the attitudes and talents that employers looked for outside of job-specific skills - the generic employability skills that have become increasingly important - Charlotte commented:

I know from our discussions that you're already well equipped in most of these skills. For one thing, as safety supervisor you had to communicate honestly on delicate issues. You also worked on a team when you went to regional safety meetings and planned next steps. You know, for you, it's probably just a case of gathering proof from your past experience to demonstrate your strengths. Having that information should give you the confidence to sell yourself assertively once you've trained in the job-specific skills you want.

David's old company was in a major upheaval as it tried to get ahead fast and David was confused by what is needed to get out in the work world again. He had not learned to recognize where he already had competencies. Chapter 4 describes six major areas of generic skills (which include attitudes and values) that are critical for employees to find and keep work. David needs to focus his attention on one of these generic skills in particular: the ability to recognize how established skills can be transferred from one situation to another and to market these skills for career development, whether employed, unemployed or self-employed.