Wednesday's Assignment

Job Advertisements

One way to find out about jobs that are available is to search job advertisements, also called job postings. Job advertisements can be found in newspapers, at employment resource centres and on job listing websites. 

Task 1:

Look for three job ads from any of the work-related resources page on top of our blog. Then, find the answers to the following questions.

1.     How does someone apply for the job?

2.     What are the main duties for that job?

3.     What are the employment requirements for the job you are looking for?

4.     How would you find out more about this occupation?

5.     What is the last day to apply for this job?

6.     Make a list of the soft and hard skills this job requires, according to the posting.

Task 2:

Compare between the websites that you have used in terms of the following aspects:

• Clarity
• Organization
• Simplicity
• Accuracy

Tuesday's Assignment

National Occupational Classification

 The National Occupational Classification (NOC) is a system of organizing information about occupations in Canada. Every occupation in Canada has a NOC job description, which provides listings of the main duties, employment requirements and job titles. These descriptions are identified by a four-digit code called the NOC code.

Task 1:

Click on this link and list the 10 sectors that the first digit of the NOC code refers to. In small groups, brainstorm three occupations for each sector.

0.                                                         5.

1.                                                         6.

2.                                                         7.

3.                                                         8.

4.                                                         9.

Task 2:

Imagine that you want to apply for a position as a cashier in a grocery store. Find the NOC information related to this position. Answer the questions below.

a) How many Major Groups are listed in this sector? What are they?

b) What Major Group is the Cashier occupation listed under?

c) What types of occupations are within this Major Group (represented by the three-digit code)?

d) What is the four-digit NOC code for a cashier?

e) Click on the NOC code for the cashier and read the NOC description. What kind of information can you get from the NOC description?

Task 3:

Here is another very useful website which is JobFutures. This is a Canadian government website that provides information about 300 occupational groups. For each occupation, you can learn about average earnings, job duties, unemployment, and education requirements. The strength of this website is that it provides up-to-date information about the work prospects or employment outlook for each occupation. This information can help you decide what kind of work to look for. Use these both website to look for an occupation that interests you. Read the description in both site for this occupation.

Then, prepare a short presentation for the class about this occupation. Include the following in your presentation:

• Main duties
• Unemployment rate
• Annual average earnings
• Employment requirements
• Related job titles

Monday's Assignment

Culture Shock

What were your first 36 hours like in Canada? What differences did you notice between the culture here and the one you left? How did they make you feel?

I. Watch the following video clip and identify five things that make for culture shock.



Task 1:

Write down five significant differences between cultures in the video. Discuss your list with a partner.

Task 2:

Read this article and focus on its list of stages of culture shock. Write short answers to the following questions:

1. List the five stages proposed for culture shock.
2. In what ways do you agree with the author?
3. In what ways do you disagree?
4. How does your experience compare with the author's five stages?
5. At which stage would you place yourself?
6. What factors helped move the author from one stage to the next?
7. What factors have helped you move from one stage to the next?

Task 3:

Write an email to a friend here advising him/her on how to move on from Stage Two to Stage Three. List all the suggestions or recommendation you can propose to them. 

Friday's Assignment

Your assignment for this morning is here.

There's a lot to do, which some of the other class have done already. Be sure to work in teams and use your limited time wisely.

If you need a data cable, ask "Hala" for it.

Wednesday's Assignment

Information Interviews

Information interviews are considered an integral part of a job search. They are interviews that you (the job seeker) arrange with people who are already working in the occupation you are interested in so that you can gather information about employment trends, possible jobs/career paths to explore, and further sources of information to research. Information interviews can help you find out more about the field you want to work in, practice your interviewing skills, build confidence in your ability to discuss your work expertise, interests and goals, and build your contact network. It is important to be prepared and professional during information interviews: always make an appointment and be punctual, have a list of questions you want to ask, take notes if needed, and keep records of the contact information you gather. After an information interview, it is a good idea to send a thank-you note and acknowledge the person’s time and the advice they gave you.

Task 1:

Click on this link and listen to two conversations in which job seekers request information interviews. For each conversation, answer the questions below.

1. How does a job seeker connect himself/herself to the interview contact?
2. What information about himself/herself does the job seeker provide?
3. What does the job seeker request?
4. How does the job seeker react to his/her contact’s response?
5. How effective was each job seeker’s request?

Task 2:

When making a telephone call to request an information interview, you can create a telephone script to guide you. Prepare a dialogue using the prompts below.  Record yourself on this link, save it, copy the link, and then publish it on your blog for your instructor’s feedback.

• Introduce yourself
• Explain to your contact how you heard of him or her
• Give details about yourself and your situation
• State the purpose of your call Arrange a meeting
• Thank the contact

Task 3:

There are a lot of useful websites when it comes to looking for a job. Click on this link, type in the name of an occupation, and then select a location. Read the information about the occupation. Give a short presentation of your findings to the class. Discuss which parts of the tool you found useful and why.

On your presentation, you need to elaborate on the following areas:

1. Education requirements
2. Experience needed
3. Salary
4. Main duties
5. Any other aspect that you have found useful for you

Tuesday's Assignment

Good morning everyone,

We are still trying to assess our skills and part of that is to identify your soft and hard skills.

Task 1:

Sort the following skills into two categories as soft or hard skills. Write SS for soft skills and HS for hard skills:

1. Patience
2. Proficiency in a foreign language
3. Leadership Skills
4. Persuasion
5. A degree or certificate
6. Typing speed
7. Time Management
8. Machine operation
9. Teamwork
10. Computer programming
11. Communication
12. Flexibility
13. Motivation

Task 2:

Now click on this link and decide which of these skills are soft and which are hard skills. 

Task 3: 

Think of two or more of your hard skills and soft skills, then write them down, and provide one example for each skill as how you have demonstrated this skill on the job.

Wednesday's Assignment

Good morning everyone,

In order to make our speech/writing more colourful and vivid, we need to learn and practice the use of descriptive adjectives and adverbs.

Click on this link, go over the list there, and then answer the following questions:

Task 1:

Use at least 10 of these adjectives to describe yourself in a short paragraph.

Task 2:

Ask two of your classmates to read it and tell you his/her opinion and then they can add or change any adjective(s) that they feel is/are not relevant to you.

Task 3:

Look at this picture below and describe the person in it. You need to describe the surroundings, what she is thinking of, what you think is her emotional state, and what might have been going in her life. Write all in third person speaker (he/she/it).