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Overview of Services Available at the Newmarket Employment Resource Centre
Strac Ivanov, M.B.A., co-founder of the Vicinity Jobs Network
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The Newmarket Employment Resource Centre helps people who are unemployed and underemployed (working 20 hours or less per week) in York Region with their job search efforts. Its services are funded by Employment Ontario and in part by Service Canada (the Federal Government of Canada), and are available at no cost to unemployed individuals. The Newmarket Employment Resource Centre is operated by Academy of Learning. The web site of the centre is http://www.newmarketerc.com.
There are other government-funded Employment Resource Centres in a number of other GTA communities. In York Region, government-funded Employment Resource Centres exist in Markham (operated by COSTI), Vaughan (COSTI), Richmond Hill (Rehabilitation Network Canada), Stouffville (YMCA), and in Sutton (York District School Board) – see the links at the end of this article.
Note that the purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the services delivered specifically by the Newmarket Employment Resource Centre. This is NOT an overview of all employment services available in York Region. If you work with an organization delivering government-funded employment services and programs in one of the regions that we serve, and you would like us to create such profile article for you as well, please contact us at info@vicinityjobs.com and we will gladly do so - using information that you provide.
Also note that this article is up-to-date as of May 29, 2009, and the availability of services and program from different providers may change in the future.
If you are unemployed and you feel that some assistance and advice could help your job search, a great place for you to turn to would be an Employment Resource Centre. To take advantage of an Employment Resource Centre, you need to be ‘job ready’. This means that you must be available to work and you need to have the ability to use a computer and word processing software to create your job search documents.
At the Newmarket Employment Resource Centre, you will get access to various resources that are required for the success of your job search, incl. computers with Internet access (there are currently 16), printers, FAX, photocopier, phones and the resource library. All of these are available to use free of charge.
You can also attend workshops and guest speaker events and meet with employment specialists and facilitators to discuss your individual needs. In fact, I am personally a regular guest speaker at the Newmarket Employment Resource centre myself, delivering one presentation each month.
Some of the specific areas that the Newmarket Employment Resource centre can help you with are:
- Resumes: While the centre’s employment facilitators will not actually type in your resume for you, they will assist you with advice and feedback to ensure the effectiveness of your resume. The centre also offers regular resume writing workshops which you can attend.
- Cover Letters: The centre’s facilitators can guide you through the creation of effective cover letters.
- Job Interviews: The centre provides workshop to help you prepare for job interviews, and you can also speak with an employment facilitator to get some tips and advise concerning your specific situation. They also do mock interviews to help you practice and receive feedback and advise.
The centre provides free workshops on various topics relevant to people looking for employment, some of the most notable topics include:
- Accessing the hidden job market;
- 180 Turnaround - designed specifically for those looking to generate career options and research them to make a decision.
- Art of Communication - designed to help job seekers to improve their communication skills and the way they present themselves to employers.
The Newmarket Employment Resource Centre also hosts job fairs with local employers. You can inquire with the centre for a schedule and the upcoming fairs.
In case you do not live in central York Region (the Newmarket and Aurora area), you may wish to use an employment resource centre close to home. Below are links to the web sites of other employment resource centres in York Region:
- Markham Employment Resource Center (Operated by COSTI) - http://www.costi.org/programs/program_details.php?program_id=80
- Vaughan Employment Resource Centre (Operated by COSTI) - http://www.costi.org/programs/program_details.php?program_id=109
- Richmond Hill Employment Resource Centre (Operated by Rehabilitation Network Canada) - http://www.rehabnetwork.ca/erc/welcome_page6.htm
- Stouffville ERC (Operated by YMCA) - http://www.ymcatoronto.org/en/find-ymca/york/stouffville/employment-centres/stouffville-erc.html
- Sutton Employment Resource Centre (Operated by the York Region District School Board) - http://www.suttonerc.ca/ (currently under construction)
Strac Ivanov is the president of IT-Challenger Consulting Group, and co-founder of the Vicinity Jobs Network of Community Job Search Engines serving the suburban communities of Greater Toronto. Strac holds a Master's degree in Business Administration and has over a decade of experience in the field of integrating Internet based solutions into businesses.
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