In lieu of this month’s Employer of the Month feature, we’d like to share some suggestions for finding employers to connect with during your job search in this unprecedented time.

 

Essential Services

By government definition, essential services are those daily services essential to preserving life, health, public safety and basic societal functioning. They are the services British Columbians come to rely on in their daily lives.

Essential services fall under the following sectors:

• Health and Health Services
  • Direct-to-Public Health Services
  • Health Service Providers
• Law Enforcement, Public Safety, First Responders and Emergency Response Personnel
• Vulnerable Population Service Providers
• Critical Infrastructure Service Providers
• Food and Agriculture Service Providers
• Retail
• Transportation, Infrastructure and Manufacturing
• Sanitation
• Communications, Information Sharing and Information Technology (IT)
• Non-Health Essential Service Providers

For a fully detailed list of all essential services within those sectors, during COVID-19: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-preparedness-response-recovery/covid-19-provincial-support/essential-services-covid-19

 

Keep an eye on our Career Centre job board.

Stay up-to-date with the latest positions, as posted directly by local employers.

https://www.careercentre.org/find-a-job/

 

Research companies who have had to pivot their business or change their mandate during this time, to see if they need help.

Examples of business pivoting:

• In-person services shifting to online services
• Distilleries making hand sanitizer
• Restaurants shifting to delivery model (often contactless)
• Manufacturers shifting to production of health protective wear, such as gloves and masks, and vital health equipment, such as ventilators

 

Please check back next month for our regular feature.

 Stay safe and well, and please reach out to us for ongoing job search support.

Staying Active in Your Job Search During COVID-19

You have been in job search mode, but now are isolating at home and unsure how to proceed. Sound familiar? Here are some strategies to help keep you active and productive.

While it’s true that the pandemic has left some companies with hiring freezes, staff reductions, layoffs or closures, other sectors are ramping up their recruiting in an attempt to fill vital positions. You may be surprised at how large the list of essential services is: https://bit.ly/2JqgkY7. Start by researching the sectors of interest, then types of companies on the list. Next research and target local companies within the industry.

Once you find companies of interest, be sure to research their websites and check out their social media pages. These can usually be found as icons at the bottom of a company website or on their contact page. Consider including a paragraph in your cover letter, about why you are interested in working for their company specifically, including information that will prove your research efforts, interest and enthusiasm to the employer.

Ensure that your resume, cover letter and any other marketing documents are customized and personalized to each company and/or position. These are living, breathing documents and not meant to be static, generic, or used for multiple companies. Want to exude professionalism? Brand all your documents (including your reference contact list) by using the same font style, font content/title sizes, and letterhead across all. Avoid the use of headers and footers, which are unreadable by many applicant tracking systems (ATS).

While networking by phone and email is still a top way to find employment, be sure to have job alerts created on all your preferred job boards (e.g. CareerCentre.org, WorkBC.ca, Indeed.ca, WowJobs.ca, Glassdoor.ca, Google) for the various job titles of interest. This way you are spending less job search time surfing job boards (let’s say 20%) and more time with specific, customized job search activities (80%).

When in doubt, reach out! Stay connected to your WorkBC Employment Consultant for support. Our team is working by phone, email and virtually to serve you during this time.

Stay safe and be well,

Brenda
Employer Services Coordinator

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Career Centre remains open for business, however, for the health and safety of our clients and staff, services will be offered via telephone and internet technology only.  See this week’s hot sheet for more information.

Please note our Hiring Fair on April 9^th has been CANCELLED.  We have made this decision in order to ensure the ongoing health and safety of our employers and job seekers.  We apologize for any inconvenience this cancellation may cause. See this week’s hot sheet for more information.