The following success stories are from previous and current clients of The Career Foundation, who were eager to share their experiences since seeking our services. We invite you to fill in this form to share your experience with us!
Central Toronto Employment Centre Client
H.A. was a newcomer to Canada who accessed job search services at the Central Toronto office of The Career Foundation. She came from a teaching background as she had taught in public schools as a Primary Teacher for more than 10 years. Upon arriving in Canada along with her family, she realized that going back to a teaching job in a public school was not an easy path and she would have to be licensed to teach in the school system. As a result, she moved her attention to finding work in administrative and clerical work. As she was new to the Canadian job market and since she was making a career change, she found it difficult to make this transition. She faced multiple barriers to employment including education outside of Canada, no Canadian work experience and no related work experience in her new career goal.
H.A. was supported by her Employment Specialist to develop an effective résumé and build her confidence when attending job interviews. In addition, a volunteer opportunity was arranged for her with The Career Foundation so she could gain work experience and build her administrative and customer service skills. She also worked with a job coach and attended several workshops that built her confidence tremendously. She obtained employment a Customer Service Representative with a telecommunications company in Toronto. She is doing very well in her new position and is happy that she has achieved her employment goal.
Being new to the city, The Career Foundation turned out to be a blessing for me. It not only helped in building my résumé and preparing me for interviews, but it gave me a chance to work as a volunteer. I met Selome as my counsellor and she is a gem. Selome is working with all her clients with complete sincerity. Success of her clients always brings a smile to the team. The workshops helped me to build my résumé, to effectively job search, improve my LinkedIn profile and to prepare well for interviews.
Etobicoke Employment Centre Client
P.W. was seeking job search assistance to find a position as a Peer Support Worker. He graduated from a Canadian university in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in engineering.
P.W. was eager to look for positions in engineering, but soon came to realize that his passion and career goals changed. He became less interested in the engineering field and instead wanted to pursue his passion as a Peer Support Worker. He had always been interested in guiding and assisting others, and believed he could parlay that into a role in mental health services.
Both P.W. and the Employment Specialist agreed that his résumé required updating so it could be tailored to his new career goal. The Employment Specialist assisted P.W. with this and additionally provided him with interview resources and coaching to prepare him for future interviews.
With support from The Career Foundation, P.W. obtained his CPR certificate — a highly beneficial certificate in his ideal line of work. In July 2020, The Career Foundation hosted a Virtual Interview Event for Residential Support Workers. The Employment Specialist encouraged P.W. to attend. After two rounds of interviews, P.W. was successful in obtaining employment as a Residential Support Worker!
The Career Foundation was very helpful in my job search. They were responsive and I found them to be very professional and caring. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for job coaching and help with job searching. Thank you, The Career Foundation, for all that you have done for me.
Scarborough Employment Centre Client
R.D. was a 46-year-old female who did not work for 13 years because of a medical condition. She had been on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) since leaving the workforce.
In June 2020, R.D. contacted The Career Foundation to discuss the possibility of re-entering the workforce and/or getting re-trained in a new career. After meeting with an Employment Specialist and going through a career assessment, R.D. was informed about an employer who was hiring that met her specific needs.
After coaching and much encouragement, R.D. applied for the position. Soon after, she was hired on full-time.
I was officially offered the job earlier this week. Thank you so much. I wouldn’t have even heard about it if it weren’t for you. Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH! So, you got a middle-aged woman who hasn’t worked in 13 years a job. You are good!”
Completing the Circle (Hamilton) Client
This success story is about a 23-year-old female living in Hamilton with her family. She participated in our Completing the Circle (CTC) Hamilton program for job search support. Upon entering the program, she faced multiple barriers to employment, including: being a visible minority, not having completed her post-secondary education, being a female and being an immigrant youth. This program participant also informed staff that she is living with a severe vision disability and is classed as legally blind; however, with the help of her glasses and other modifications she does maintain some vision.
Early on in the program, she expressed that she was concerned about her job search and knew that it would be difficult to find an employer who would be willing to accommodate her disability. Indeed, it was quite apparent to staff that this participant’s biggest challenge was not her disability, but her self-confidence. Over the first week of Group-Based Employability Skills workshops, our CTC Hamilton staff were able to help her identify her skills and other strengths and she slowly began to regain her confidence. She proved to be an excellent addition to the group, often displaying strong leadership and analytical abilities. Staff made sure to let her know how successful she had been in the program so far, and by week three she had grown into a very self-assured young woman. She was able to take this new-found confidence to her interview with an employer, where she dazzled interviewers and was offered a full-time Customer Service Representative position at their head office!
Today, she continues to work for the employer and has quickly become a model employee. Her managers are extremely happy with her progress and have stated that she is well on her way to obtaining a position with additional duties/responsibilities. She is delighted with the placement and thankful for The Career Foundation’s support.