The One About Careers

Did you ever have a time when you were working in fraud investigation, and then your family history, your creativity and your joy all converged in one place, and you quit your job and opened a restaurant?Yeah, we didn't either. But this episode's guest did! Meet Honey Abada, the current owner of La Isla Manila in Barrie, Ontario.Honey dropped some terrific insights on her own career journey, including:Leading with curiosityGetting out of your own head, and really hearing how others see your skillsBeing open when opportunity arisesThe ups and downs of entrepreneurshipUsing your skills and talents to serve

In this episode, Devon and Sarah-Jane jump into the world of environmental careers, with Leslie Greener, Business Centre Pratice Lead, Environmental Service at Stantec Consulting Ltd.(We didn't know what that meant either, so don't worry, we asked!)Leslie's work in the environmental field has spanned the private sector, the public sector and consulting work and she's currently on her second tenure at Stantec.Some of the wisdom Leslie shared in the episode:Looking at other options after her undergrad, rather than jumping right into a Master's degreeThe fun and the challenge of keeping up with changing trends, laws and technologyUsing a wide range of employability skills such as problem solving, critical thinking and continual learningThe importance of understanding all aspects of what your team does - getting your boots on the ground - especially if you are in a decision-making roleBeing confident enough to ask questions and try things that are unfamiliarResources:Environmental Management and Assessment at Niagara CollegeStantec Environmental Services

In this episode, Devon and Sarah-Jane chatted with Courtney Brooks, Case Manager, Employment and Social Services for the Municipality of Chatham-Kent.As usual, talking about someone's career journey led to some great nuggets of information.Here are some of the highlights:Using transfer credits to choose a university program so that it takes less time and costs lessFinding the balance of competency at work and being challenged enough to land in the sweet spot of job satisfactionUsing skills in ways you didn't expect - like using teaching, coaching and mentoring skills in a case management capacity, perhapsThe struggles parents have to understand their kids' education options when the options are so different and more varied than they used to beUnderstanding that evolving as a person might make you better equipped to take on your dream role later in life, rather than landing in it as quickly as possible.The disconnect between high school courses and real workEnjoy!

In this week's episode, Devon and Sarah-Jane sit down and talk to Aaron Schoenmaker, and hoooo boy, does he have a story!Today, Aaron is the Manager of National Student Recruitment at Centennial College.Follow along as we unwind Aaron's twisty tale from high-school dropout and petty criminal to factory worker, skilled tradesperson, marketer and college recruiter.Here are a few highlights we discovered:Networking and building relationships are your best friend when it comes to career movementContinuing to upgrade and pursue more education and leveraging transfer credits each timeUsing work-integrated learning opportunities through school to explore options and build experienceTaking advantage of contract roles to learn, build your network and develop skills in different areasThe impact of working with real grown-ups at a young age to get a sense of how work fits into your life

In this week's episode, Devon and Sarah-Jane sit down with Jenn Powell, a self-described "Jenn of all trades."Currently, Jenn coordinates events and training for clients across the postsecondary education industry in Canada. But how did she get there?In this chat, we hit on some great nuggets of info:Surviving never working in the thing you studied forTaking education on a continuing basis while workingUnderstanding how postsecondary education works by working in postsecondary educationThe benefits of regular networking, plus having the guts to reach out to a potential employer when they post on LinkedIn about an employee leavingLeaning into curiosity and asking questions to find out how many different versions there might be of a career you want to pursueDoing something for fun, even if it didn't work out to be your careerResources:Brainstorm Strategy Group

Join Devon and Sarah-Jane for a chat with Amanda Donovan, who is the Activities Coordinator for St. Paul's Anglican Church in Charlottetown, PEI. (A job she would never have expected to be doing!)While much of her job is about event management, and she gets to lean into her love of events and building connections, we got pretty philosophical about life and careers at the end!Along the way, some other great tidbits about careers came out:Recognizing the common thread about you that shows up in different areas of work, volunteering and lifeBeing able to identify skills that you have that are actually unique and marketableFinding a welcoming and accepting workplaceFollowing your dream without it having to be your jobThe ongoing battle we all have to find your voice and have the courage to use itHow your life view at a young age can shape your career decisions, even long after you've grown up.A few links for ya:Drawstring Productions on Facebook (Amanda's theatre company)Holland College, PEI's community collegeSt. Paul's Anglican Church, Charlottetown, PEI

In this episode, Devon and Sarah-Jane interview Will Howe, who is the Provincial Data Lead for the School-College-Work Initiative in Ontario.While you learn all about Will's extremely windy career path, you'll also hear his insights on:Why a liberal arts major is usefulHow to use connections to find workThe importance of being able to communicate what you learn in school in a language employers understandThe bonus of not having a planBringing honesty into the workplace and your work relationshipsHaving postsecondary options that aren't just "straight to university"Learn more about what the School-College-Work Initiative does here.

In this episode, Devon and Sarah-Jane chat with Shelly Totino, who eventually landed in the communications field after 4 attempts at postsecondary education (2 of which she actually completed!).In this conversation, you'll hear Shelly's take on:The benefits of pursuing postsecondary education when you're not fresh out of high schoolUsing networking to land cool jobsUsing credit transfer to obtain more than one credentialBeing in a type of work that crosses industries fairly easilyWhether or not AI will take away writing jobsOvercoming "sunk cost fallacy"Resources:Devon's chat about sunk cost fallacy on Your Career GPS.

It wouldn't be unusual to meet someone who has had these jobs throughout their working life:Registered Practical NurseVolleyball RefereeSecurity GuardDrag PerformerBut when did you meet someone who has all of them, all at once?You will on this episode! Parastoo Sadeghein is interested in many different things, and has always been. In her view, why not do them all? If you or someone in your life is struggling with narrowing down career options, you just might find Parastoo's story fascinating.

Don't worry, we started with "what the heck is a Functional Business Analyst??"This episode launches a series of informational interviews with a variety of people working in a variety of jobs and taking a variety of career paths to get there.In this episode, Devon and Sarah-Jane interview Melanie Maloney, a Functional Business Analyst at Durham College in Oshawa, Ontario. Some topics we covered:How do you go from never having heard of a thing to working in it?What do you do with a credential in environmental science?Why choose college instead of university?For more info, check out the International Institute of Business Analysts: https://www.iiba.org/.