Career Options - Autumn 2012

coFor Canadian Post-seCondary students 16 soCial enterPreneurs:

MarC Kielburger on the business oF Changing the World

18 hoW to be an ‘intraPreneurial’ eMPloyee

37 WorKstory.net: a KaleidosCoPe oF Career Paths

career options

careeroptionsmagazine.comFall 2012 / VoluMe 26 no. 2

Do You Have WHat

it takes to Be an

entrepreneur? An IntervIew wIth

Bruce croxon of cBc’s “DrAgons’ Den”

page 23

Kia Ora (Hello!)

from neW zealanD!

noW available on Your

smart pHone anD Your tabletDownloaD a free reaDer

at www.issuu.com

career optionsFall 2012

7entrepreneurship: The Opportunity of a Lifetime By Jordan Adams

12entrepreneurship is everybody’s Business By Hilary Thomson

10Young canadians Building ambitious Ventures: 10 Simon Jalbert15 Bella Hwang25 Evan Price

16social entrepreneurship: Combining Business Savvy with Desire to Change the World By Jordan Adams

18Me, inc.: Entrepreneurial Employees Can Be ‘Intrapreneurs’ By Kerri Zanatta-Buehler

20Where to Find Help: Resources to Advance Your Entrepreneurial Goals

23interview with a Dragon: The Risks and Benefits of Being an Entrepreneur By Jordan Adams

27sports-Mad new Zealand: Combine Adventure with Study in Kiwi-Land By Kathryn Young

32the practicalities: Many Ways to Bring Down the Costs of N.Z. Study By Kathryn Young

37Wondering about a Job or career? Workstory.Net May Inspire You By Fraser Tripp

40Helping You Find Your path: Career Centres Help with More than Just Resumés By Sharon Ferriss

44De-Mystifying University allows aboriginal Youth to Visualize themselves in Higher education By Kakwiranó:Ron Cook

46HelpX Helps those Who Help themselves By Jasmine Irwin

take the plunge! international education is your path to adventure page 27

CAREER OPTIONS FALL 2012 3

4 FALL 2012 CAREEROPTIONSMAGAZINE.COM

We WoUlD like to tHank oUr aDVertisers…

[ eVen More] career options

WHAT’S ON AT CAREEROPTIONSMAGAZINE.COM »

as always, you can check out the latest issue of Career Options online, or browse the archives for more great feature articles from past issues. But there’s a lot more in store at our website, careeroptionsmagazine.com.

Blogspot is a space where guest bloggers share their thoughts about post-secondary education, entering the workforce, finding the “right” job and getting a career on track. Submit your own blog ideas at careeroptionsmagazine.com/blogspot/

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34 American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine

36, 49 Appraisal Institute of Canada

2 Brock University, Faculty of Graduate Studies

15, 48 Cameco

20, 48 Canadian Payroll Association

52 Certified General Accountants Association of Canada

22 Certified Management Accountants of Canada (CMA Canada)

45, 48 DMC Mining Services

3 Education First

11, 49 Enterprise Rent-A-Car

43 Forest Products Sector Council

13, 48 Halliburton

50 Halton Regional Police Service

5 Harris Institute

51 Humber College Business School

49 Humber College School of Media Studies & Information Technology

50 IFSE Institute

50 Japan Exchange and Teaching

(JET) Programme

38 KPMG

14, 49 McGill University, Faculty of Engineering

50 Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR)

49 Morgan International Canada Inc.

42 Money Mart

5, 48 New England Center for Children

47, 48 Nexen

31 Perth Education City

50 Queen’s University, School of Graduate Studies

26 Ross University School of Medicine

9 Shell Canada

29 Sprague-Rosser

6, 33 St. George’s University, School of Medicine

39 Study and Go Abroad Fairs

21, 48 Sun Life Financial

19, 48 Teck Coal Limited

3 University of Waterloo, Master of Public Service

career optionseDitor-in-cHieF

Paul D. Smith

Managing eDitor | gorDongroUp

Kathryn Young

proJect ManageMent | gorDongroUp

Matei Savulescu

art Direction | print ManageMent | gorDongroUp

Leslie Miles

Design & laYoUt | gorDongroUp

Laura Willsher

Director oF aDVertising sales | gorDongroUp

Kirill Kornilov

aDVertising sales | gorDongroUp

Pauline de Gonzague, Colleen Hayes, Andrew Moore

DistriBUtion representatiVe | gorDongroUp

Denise Damecour

contriBUtors

Jordan Adams Kakwiranó:ron Cook Sharon Ferriss Jasmine Irwin Hilary Thomson Fraser Tripp Kathryn Young Kerri Zanatta-Buehler

Career Options is published bi-annually in January and September by the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE),

720 Spadina Avenue, Suite 202, Toronto ON M5S 2T9

For sUBscription inForMation, contact paUl D. sMitH:

Tel.: 613-634-2359 Fax: 416-929-5256 Email: [email protected] Website: careeroptionsmagazine.com

For aDVertising inQUiries, contact kirill korniloV,

Director oF aDVertising sales, gorDongroUp:

Tel.: 613-288-5363 Fax: 613-722-6496 Email: [email protected] Website: gordongroup.com

ISSN: 1712-1183

The Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE) is a national, non-profit partnership of employer recruiters and

career services professionals. Our mission is to provide authoritative information, advice, professional development opportunities and other services to

employers, career services professionals and students.

Career Options is distributed to students at post-secondary institutions across Canada. Career Options is available free of charge through

campus career centres.

NOTE: The opinions expressed within are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect CACEE policy. No part of this magazine may be

reproduced in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher.

The National Student Resource of: Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers

720 Spadina Ave., Suite 202, Toronto ON M5S 2T9 cacee.com


eDitor’s letter

Celebrating entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, risk-taking and leadership

in this issue of Career Options we celebrate entrepreneurs, those people who create an

enterprise from their imagination and effort. Starting your own business is a very real option

for new grads, and there are many success stories, a few of which we present here. There are

also plenty of resources available to help you get started, some of which are also introduced

here. For example, experience is a great teacher, and franchise opportunities offer resources and

mentors to help you get started. If you think you might enjoy working for yourself, then read on—

there is something inside for you. And if you’re not sure about working for yourself, then you should

also read on. The first question any entrepreneur must answer is, “Am I cut out for this?” The

answer to that question is the most important piece of information you will need.

There’s an old saying that a university is “a place where mostly ‘A’ students teach mostly ‘B’ students

to go to work for mostly ‘C’ students.” I have always taken this to mean that the “C” student is an

entrepreneur. It’s a saying of dubious merit, as all generalizations are, but it’s catchy, and makes

struggling students feel better about their circumstances. And we’ve all heard about the success

of Bill Gates, whose experience shows that success may indeed come to those who opt out of

academic excellence as the means to prosperity. As a former member of the “C” class, however,

I can assure you that not all of us are tech billionaires. I also know that there are entrepreneurs who

were honour students, so the saying lacks the external validity my quantitative stats profs used to

talk about. But there is an interesting kind of truth being spoken here.

Success of the type that creates jobs for other people is exceptional, and must, by definition,

require an exceptional path. Graduation followed by employment with a large corporation or

government department is a worthy accomplishment, and it’s a well-travelled road that offers

established rewards. Those who seek a different kind of success must take a different road and

leave behind the comfort of the crowd. Doing so introduces an element of enhanced risk, as any

innovative effort must, but it also offers enhanced reward. Being your own boss offers the freedom

to do what you want, and the thrill of making an impact on your own terms, but these perks come

at a price: the risk of failure. Balancing this equation is the challenge all entrepreneurs must face—

how much risk will they tolerate to collect their reward?

If entrepreneurs are indeed different, perhaps it is their willingness to take on risk that makes them

so. That is in fact one of the theories explaining why some people are willing to gamble with their

money (or their family’s) and their time. But others refute that supposition, pointing to studies that

show entrepreneurs don’t see risk as others do. They believe so strongly in their idea that they simply

can’t imagine it will fail. So be it a gambler’s heart, or the faith of the believer, something drives these

exceptional people to make their own way. Statistics Canada reports that the small and medium

enterprise (SME) sector is the largest employer of Canadians, and it stands to reason that a good

number of those SMEs are directed by entrepreneurs. Canadians owe a great deal of our prosperity

to the individuals who take the risk to start their own companies, and that is not likely to change.

Enjoy the issue!

paUl D. sMitH is the Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Career Educators and

Employers and Editor-in-Chief of Career Options magazine. Email Paul at [email protected]

For More inForMation, Visit: cacee.com, careeroptionsmagazine.com


entrepreneUrsHip:

The opportUnitY

of a liFetiMe

r isk-taker, innovator, trailblazer,

opportunist: many words could be

used to describe an entrepreneur,

but what exactly does

entrepreneurship itself entail? The most basic

description of an entrepreneur is someone who

starts his or her own business, but the concept

goes a lot deeper than that.

One frequently referenced definition comes

from Harvard Business School professor Howard

Stevenson: “Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of

opportunity without regard to resources currently

controlled.” What this means, according to

Dave Valliere, professor of entrepreneurship at

Ryerson University, is that you see an opportunity

that’s “so compelling,” you have no other choice

but to pursue it—even if you don’t have the

necessary resources. You simply assume that

you’ll find a way to get it done, he says.

tHe attriBUtes oF an entrepreneUrThere is no “cookie-cutter” set of skills you need

to be an entrepreneur, says Simon Jalbert, a

participant in The Next 36, a national program

for Canadian undergraduate student innovators.

The one trait most entrepreneurs share, however,

is drive. You need ambition and a strong work

ethic in order to be a success.

“To be a successful entrepreneur, you have

to love a really long work week where you’re

thinking constantly about your business, and

have a deep-seated passion and focus,” says

Claudia Hepburn, Executive Director and co-

founder of The Next 36. “Without that you can’t

sell your idea to anyone, or bounce out of bed

early or stay late to make it succeed.”

Jalbert agrees: “You have to find something

you’re passionate about. There are days

sometimes where everything is going the wrong

way, and unless you really like what you do it’ll

be hard to keep going with it.”

There are many other useful traits that can help

you achieve your goal of starting a business.

While drive and work ethic are difficult to

“learn,” there are many valuable skills that,

experts say, people are not born with but taught.

For example, an ability to sell is a skill that

some people, mostly introverts, think they

need to be born with—but this is a myth,

says Valliere. “There’s research to support

that you aren’t born with it,” he says.

“Anybody can do this, learn this, and be

successful in it. We’ve looked at successful

entrepreneurs and found that all sorts of

people are successful, and it has nothing

to do with your personality.”

By Jordan Adams


Rodney Larmand is President of College Pro

Painters, a company that develops over 700

entrepreneurs a year by providing students with

the chance to start their own business. Larmand

says that no two entrepreneurs are the same.

“Many of our people are introverted. They have

drive and passion, but it’s not always evident. Our

entrepreneurial experience is a catalyst for growth

because we teach them to sell, lead people

and communicate more effectively because it’s

needed to run a business,” he says. “In the last

42 years we have proven that with the right raw

material, leadership and management skills can

be learned. Many of our strong leaders have an

introverted side which helps them listen, reflect

and build lasting one-on-one relationships,

which is critical in leading others.”

Another “learn-able” skill is how to think like

an entrepreneur. In fact, programs like the

entrepreneurship major at Ryerson University’s

Ted Rogers School of Management are based on

teaching entrepreneurial skills.

“It’s about seeing things that don’t yet exist

and figuring out how to create them. We think

of ourselves as the creative or artistic part of

business,” says Valliere, who is also the director

of Ryerson’s Entrepreneurship Research Institute.

“Entrepreneurs see possibilities; they see things

that don’t yet exist. They have a different set of

mental tools.”

For example, all of the technical tools needed to

create websites like Amazon or Facebook already

existed before these sites were created. People

may think those sites were not innovative because

“anyone could have done it,” Valliere says. “They

could have done it, but they didn’t. The question

is, how do you develop that ability to see things

before somebody does it? A lot of things are obvious

after the fact.” This is what entrepreneur majors at

Ryerson learn, along with opportunity identification,

business planning and management of innovation.

groWing tHe entrepreneUrial spirit in canaDaThe research Valliere conducts has looked at

culture as a possible cause of whether people

in a society will think like entrepreneurs.

Many think that Canada doesn’t produce enough

high-impact entrepreneurs who create world-class

companies and products. Valliere says a country’s

culture can have an impact on how many

entrepreneurs are produced. “Canadians are very

modest; they’re not shooting for the stars. They

can, but they don’t.”

Hepburn and The Next 36 want to change the

attitudes of young Canadians so that they produce

more top-level companies.

“We believe that many top Canadian students

don’t set their goals high enough and slide into

corporate jobs where they have productive lives

and good income, but don’t create value by

building great organizations like Facebook and

RIM,” she says. “They need the role models

and the skill sets and the practice in building

organizations for Canada to develop high-impact

entrepreneurs. The goal of The Next 36 is to

increase Canadian prosperity by developing the

next generation of high-impact entrepreneurs.”

The Next 36 was inspired by “Economics of

Entrepreneurship,” the top-rated course at the

University of Toronto for six years. The professor

of that course, Reza Satchu, helped found the

program that selects 36 of the best and brightest

students in Canada with dreams of running their

own business.

“That course made us think Canadians really

needed a program that takes the best students

who show the best promise, ambition and

achievement,” says Hepburn. “We thought we

could put together a program that didn’t exist in

Canada, or the rest of the world, which offers an

extraordinary set of experiences and relationships

to change the trajectory of their growth.”

The 36 aspiring entrepreneurs are selected from

over 1,000 applicants—university students in

their third, fourth or fifth year of study—and are

placed in groups. Most spend the first five months

working remotely on their ventures while they

finish their degrees. Then, in the summer,

they all come together in Toronto, where the

groups live together and work on their projects.

Each group is given a mentor, someone from

the business world who knows the industry,

such as Jordan Banks, the managing director of

Facebook Canada. They attend special classes

taught by top professors from the Rotman School

of Management, Harvard Business School,

MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

and the Richard Ivey School of Business.

The students work on mobile, high-tech or

Internet-related ventures, because they are the

easiest and cheapest to start in nine months, says

Hepburn. Tuition is covered by donors, such as

founding patrons and top Canadian business

leaders Jimmy Pattison, W. Galen Weston and

Paul Desmarais. Investors contribute up to

$80,000 toward the students’ ventures.

Hepburn’s advice to interested applicants and

future entrepreneurs is to always act with integrity

and professionalism. “You have to present yourself

as credible, which means following through on the

commitments you make, she says.”

Even if you don’t have access to the same

resources these students do, with a great idea

and a solid plan, it isn’t as difficult to attract an

investor as you may think, says Valliere. “Investors

can’t just let money sit in the bank,” he says.

“They want to give the money to somebody, but it

has to be somebody worth giving it to. If you have

found an opportunity and have a plan to exploit

that opportunity, you’ll find somebody.

“But you have to have done your homework and

have a real plan—something that’s feasible and

not too risky,” he says. Having a well-thought-out

business plan is crucial; otherwise, you may be

entering hazardous territory.

tHe riskY siDe oF entrepreneUrsHip“Entrepreneurship is a very risky thing to do and a

lot of businesses fail,” says Hepburn. “You can’t

be too idealistic and caught up in your own way of

thinking. You need to respond to market signals

for when your product isn’t wanted.”

The public often assumes that entrepreneurs are big

risk-takers, Valliere says, but it only looks risky from

the outside. “Entrepreneurs don’t like to take risks....

They have extra information; they know something

that we don’t. So we teach how to do that—how to

figure out what no one else knows yet,” he says.

“it’s aBoUt seeing tHings tHat Don’t Yet eXist anD FigUring oUt HoW to create tHeM.”


Larmand says the College Pro Painters program—

running for over 40 years—can help minimize

risk by providing participants with mentorship

and education on how to run a business.

Students lease a franchise for one year and learn

the ins and outs of entrepreneurship as they go.

An intense training program takes place during

the school year to prepare students for work

in the summer. They learn how to market their

services, hire employees, deal with customers,

draft estimates, create budgets, manage

finances and resolve conflicts, among other

business skills.

College Pro ensures its student entrepreneurs

speak with past participants to gain a sense of

how the program works. “That way they’re able

to understand the challenges, and the ups and

downs,” Larmand says. “People excel based on

how quickly they learn. You have to understand

you’re going to make mistakes.” Entrepreneurs

make a lot of mistakes, and good entrepreneurs

don’t repeat them. Success comes from how

quickly you learn from those mistakes, he says.

Some students may be wondering if their degree

will make them good entrepreneurs. The bigger

question is, do you need a business degree to

be a success? Larmand says no. “No more than

half of our students are in business,” he says. “A

lot of arts students find they really like running a

business. The non-business students learn where

they want their life to go and how to get into the

business world. And I think a lot of them will

source out an entrepreneurial role in a corporation,

like being a high-level manager.”

BeneFits oF entrepreneUrsHip At the end of the day, having that drive and passion

will be your most important key to success as an

entrepreneur. If you’re doing what you love, and

doing it on your own terms, you can achieve what

many are striving for: being your own boss.

“Entrepreneurship is a good method of achieving

all sorts of goals: making money, improving

the world, and having a fun and interesting

career,” says Valliere. “A lot of people do it for the

autonomy; they don’t want to have a boss. They

want to do their own thing and set their own hours.

Or maybe they want to create a legacy.”

Achieving success and autonomy means you

need to be proactive and self-motivated. “If you

have to be directed by others, you’re not really

entrepreneurial,” says Larmand.

The sooner you start thinking about your ideas,

the better.

“It’s never too early to start thinking about how

you can solve a problem and make life easier for

people,” says Hepburn. co

JorDan aDaMs is a Carleton University

journalism graduate.

For More inForMation, please Visit: ryerson.ca/ent, tedrogersschool.ca,

thenext36.ca, collegepro.com,

careeroptionsmagazine.com

t his young entrepreneur’s passion for

business sparked from an unlikely

background: sports. Simon Jalbert’s

love of being part of a team and

playing a leadership role translated well into

his start-up companies. After completing his

bachelor of commerce at Saint Mary’s University,

Jalbert was selected to participate in The Next

36 entrepreneurship program. With his team, he

developed a tablet application called StrokeLink,

which he hopes will empower people who have

suffered a stroke. The app includes exercise

programs specific to the patient, progress

monitoring and educational material.

“Everyone seems extremely excited about it,” says

Jalbert. “We’ve been invited to speak at health

technology conferences all over Canada. People

are taking notice, which is definitely exciting for us.”

Jalbert and the three other members of his team

take on different roles for the StrokeLink project.

He does most of the financial work, but says

entrepreneurs have to dip their hands in all pots.

“I’ll do some design work and quality assurance—

you find yourself doing a bit of everything,” he says.

As a member and president of his university’s

Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) chapter,

Jalbert also helped to develop an employment

assistance program for young people in Halifax.

“We identified that a lot of kids in Halifax don’t

come from wealthy families,” he says, “so we

analyzed Halifax and asked, ‘What industry

has the most jobs to offer people?’ Out of that

research we started a project where we taught

those kids the skills they need and how to do well

in interviews.” About 97 percent of students in

the program got jobs in the end, he says.

His advice for young entrepreneurs is to develop

their attention to detail. “An ability to move back

to the bigger picture is important as well,” he says.

“And finally, you have to develop ideas, you always

have to be pitching and be the best salesperson

you possibly can.” co

“YoU HaVe to DeVelop iDeas, YoU alWaYs HaVe to Be pitcHing anD Be tHe Best salesperson YoU possiBlY can.”

siMon Jalbert

» YoUng canaDians BUilDing aMBitioUs VentUres


entrepreneurship iseVerYBoDY’s BUsiness

p harmacy students as entrepreneurs? Many people think that

studying business is the best way to learn the skills necessary to

create a successful business. However, this is not always the case.

The knowledge base for a business can come from any number of

fields and areas of expertise, such as health care, community outreach and

even the military.

Jeff Wandzura is a participant in this year’s The Next 36 program, in which

36 students from universities across the country are separated into nine

groups of four and challenged to come up with a product they’re in charge

of creating, marketing and selling—in other words, starting a business.

Wandzura is a pharmacy student going into his fourth year of undergraduate

studies at the University of Saskatchewan. He is now also the President and

CEO of EDO Mobile Health. The freshly minted company has developed a

mobile app called MobiCare that aids in caregiving for people suffering from

Alzheimer’s disease.

Wandzura says the app helps to organize care by connecting the support

team of the person affected through alerts and requests for help. The app

also helps caregivers to identify the progression of Alzheimer’s by inputting

the person’s symptoms and comparing them to others with the disease.

The idea for MobiCare was a collaborative effort, Wandzura says, adding

that his team “wanted to do something in the health care field and a couple

of our teammates are personally affected by Alzheimer’s.” He sees the

importance of bringing technology into the health care field, and says the

creation of MobiCare is helping to do that.

Wandzura became involved in The Next 36 because he couldn’t see

himself working at a nine-to-five job in a pharmacy.

“When you have your own business, you see the results of your hard

work right off the bat,” he says. “You see success for the time you put in,

and you meet lots of interesting people.”

The Next 36 is not the only program that supports young Canadian

entrepreneurs. The University of Waterloo’s unique Enterprise Co-op

program allows students to build their own company during their co-op

term, rather than working for an established company in their field of study.

Logan Fuller is an electrical engineering student who has taken full

advantage of the Enterprise Co-op program. He has created the prototype

for a web application called Oikoi (which means ‘houses’ in Greek) that

will help students find housing.

By Hilary Thomson



Fuller came up with the idea through his own experiences and through

talking with other students. He says most students use Kijiji or Craigslist

to find housing, but these sites are not tailored to the needs of a student

looking for a place to live.

“There is an inherent distrust with postings on these sites,” Fuller says.

“You never really know what the living space will actually be like.”

Oikoi will use existing programs such as Facebook and Twitter to give

students more information about the area and the accommodations they

are potentially renting or leasing. Another feature under development is a

compatibility program for people seeking roommates.

Fuller says that being an entrepreneur, especially from a non-business

background, has its challenges but also its rewards. “I am constantly

learning about the business side of things,” Fuller says. “You have to wear

many hats when you are the CEO of a startup.”

Fuller says that Waterloo’s Enterprise Co-op program is extremely valuable,

offering an opportunity not only to start your own company but also to gain

experience in your field in the process.

“Professors push you to think outside of the box,” Fuller says. “The University

of Waterloo really supports entrepreneurship.”

Fuller will be taking a year off from his studies to grow Oikoi into a profitable

business, something that the University of Waterloo fully supports, he says.

Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) is a worldwide organization that provides

another example of students from different faculties coming together and

using their various fields of expertise to develop something new.

Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s has an extremely

successful SIFE team, which has won many competitions over the years,

including the SIFE World Cup in 2008.

Shane Skinner, President of SIFE Memorial, says each university SIFE team

has its own mission statement. Memorial’s mission is to find “local solutions

to global economic challenges,” he says, adding that SIFE Memorial is “all

about giving a hand up, not a hand out.”

One of SIFE Memorial’s ventures is the Bright Futures program, which gives

people with disabilities who are unable to hold regular jobs the opportunity to

find ways to make a profit from something they are passionate about.

Jackie Squire is among the participants who have benefitted greatly from the

program. Because of her disability she was bullied throughout her life, but

never had the courage to speak out about her experiences.

Now in her mid-thirties, Squire has written and illustrated a book about the

struggles of being different and being bullied because of it. Through Bright

Futures, SIFE Memorial went through business techniques with Squire,

coaching her on personal financing and networking, Skinner says. He adds

that Squire has now sold more than 300 copies of her book for a profit of

more than $3,000.


Although there is huge support for the SIFE program in the Faculty of

Business Administration at Memorial, Skinner says the 64 members come

from all faculties.

“It is 100 percent beneficial to have students from different faculties with

different experiences and facilities,” Skinner says. “It gives us a well-rounded

group to continue developing the best projects to help people in need.”

Although university is a stimulating environment that often facilitates the

growth of new ideas and even entrepreneurial ventures, great ideas for

businesses can also come from other life experiences.

Fred Aubin is the founder of Strategic Red Team Consulting, a consulting firm

based on ideas and values he learned during his long career in the military.

Aubin was a Combat Arms officer in the Canadian Forces for 35 years

and has served all over the world. In his later years, he became the head

campaign planner for the Canadian Forces. When it was time to retire from

the military, Aubin was offered numerous jobs in the government as well as

in the private sector, but he was not drawn to any of them.

“I didn’t like what they were producing,” he says. “It all seemed very flavour of

the day.”

And thus Strategic Red Team Consulting was born. Aubin says people in

the military must be strong communicators, as well as disciplined, strategic

and organized—all qualities that he felt would be of value in the business

world as well.

Aubin says he purposely advertises his military background as part of his

business, and his clients find it to be SRTC’s strongest quality. “I’m not afraid

of being old school,” he says.

Aubin believes that examining past successes while being innovative and

different is the key to being a successful entrepreneur. The venture also needs

to be something you enjoy and are passionate about, he says, quoting the

Joker in The Dark Knight: “If you’re good at something, don’t do it for free.” co

HilarY tHoMson is a journalism student at Carleton University.

For More inForMation, please Visit: thenext36.ca, edomhealth.

com, cecs.uwaterloo.ca/students/enterprise, oikoi.co, sifememorial.ca,

stratredteam.com, careeroptionsmagazine.com

“it is 100 percent BeneFicial to HaVe stUDents FroM DiFFerent FacUlties WitH DiFFerent eXperiences anD Facilities.”

B ella Hwang is proof that not just business

students have the entrepreneurial

spirit. The occupational therapy major

was working in a hospital when she

realized she wanted to pursue business, after

getting a taste of entrepreneurship with a food and

culture magazine she launched with a friend. At

the pediatric clinic where she worked, Hwang says,

she “was always excited and keen to launch new

programs with my colleagues, including starting

a feeding program and an aquatic program for

children with disabilities.”

She then started her own private practice, and

successfully helped others launch their own

practices as well. She realized she wanted to learn

more about business, so she completed an MBA

at Simon Fraser University. This led to her helping

to launch a maternal health centre in rural Uganda.

“I think from my health background, I’ve always

had an interest in combining entrepreneurship

and health, and working in the field of social

entrepreneurship,” she says. She now works in

the field of “mHealth,” shorthand for “mobile

technology supporting health care.”

Hwang says her success has been due to her

ability to say yes to every opportunity, leading to her

wide range of experiences. “I think this has been

the key to understanding how the world works and

how my skills and goals fit into it,” she says.

The skills she says are important for entrepreneurs

are “persistence, hard work, staying level-headed,

and having a strong understanding and ability

to analyze the industry or market.” Hwang also

values creativity, which allows her to come up with

interesting solutions to business problems. co

HWang saYs Her sUccess Has Been DUe to Her aBilitY to saY Yes to eVerY opportUnitY, leaDing to Her WiDe range oF eXperiences.

Bella hwang



By Jordan Adams

social entrepreneUrsHip:

Combining BUsiness saVVY with desire to cHange tHe WorlD

By Jordan Adams


i s there a problem in society that you’d

like to see eliminated? Do you have an

entrepreneurial spirit and new ideas?

Do you have passion, drive and optimism?

Social entrepreneurship may be the career you’ve

been searching for. Not only is it fulfilling to work

for yourself as an entrepreneur, but you’re also

working for others and for the benefit of all society.

Two leading social entrepreneurs who have

helped change the culture surrounding charitable

activities and ventures are Canadian brothers Marc

and Craig Kielburger. Through their organizations

Free The Children and Me to We, they have

inspired a generation to push for social change.

“Social entrepreneurship is creating a lifestyle to

create better choices for a better world,” says

Marc Kielburger, co-founder of Free The Children

and Me to We, who spoke to Career Options at

a recent event for young entrepreneurs involved

in The Next 36—a national program for top

university undergraduate entrepreneurs.

Social enterprises can be either not-for-profit or

for-profit, as long as they are working to solve a

problem in society. Through domestic programs

and international development, non-profit Free

The Children aims to free young people from

poverty and exploitation, and inspire youth to

become socially conscious global citizens.

When the brothers started their charity in 1995,

it was “uncool” to care about changing the world.

“I spent Grade 9 in a locker,” says Kielburger, adding

that making it “cool to care” is an important factor in

the social entrepreneurship industry.

“It’s about using peer pressure in a positive way.

It’s coming up with actions and opportunities,

and using celebrities and Facebook,” he says.

The Kielburger brothers have done that through

‘We Day,’ a youth empowerment event held

across Canada, where guest speakers and

performers entertain and engage young volunteers.

In recent years, social entrepreneurship has

gained more respect and attention, says Claudia

De Simone, Program Director of Venture,

Fellowship and University Partnerships at

Ashoka Canada, a global organization of social

entrepreneurs. “Ten years ago, or even five years

ago, people didn’t understand the words ‘social

entrepreneurship,’ ” she says. “More and more

young people are dedicated to creating a positive

difference in the world, and can see themselves

actually doing that for a livelihood.”

“Social entrepreneurship is going to be the

dominant force within social change, as opposed

to traditional charitable activities,” says Kielburger.

The time is ripe to start a social venture. “Get

on the wave and ride it because this is the

opportunity to jump on now. And you’re going

to become a leader in a sector as opposed to a

follower in something that’s very established.”

So what advice would today’s established and

young social entrepreneurs give to post-secondary

students? The one, overriding requirement is that

you need passion; without that, it will be hard to

get through tough times.

“Don’t start until you’ve found a problem that

you’re so passionate about solving that it just

makes you crazy,” says Heather Payne, who

started her own social venture called Ladies

Learning Code. Her not-for-profit business has

been around for just over a year and has already

seen more than 1,700 women (and some men—

she doesn’t want to exclude) learn technical skills

like website building and photo editing from over

400 volunteers in Toronto’s technology community.

Her aim is to reduce the inequality of women in

the technology industry.

“We found a way to create a really welcoming,

comfortable environment for women where they

can learn. Plus, our workshops are accessibly-

priced and actually a lot of fun,” says Payne. For

$50, women spend a full day with tech experts.

Payne has worked in a tech start-up company,

but prefers social entrepreneurship. “I’m not

interested in building the next Farmville. I love

social entrepreneurship because it’s about looking

at an issue in society and saying ‘I think we can

come up with a solution that will at least move

us in the right direction.’ ”

Payne, who is 25 years old, says starting a

social venture was risky and a bit scary, but it

paid off in the end—she’s opening a chapter in

Vancouver, and has plans for more in Canada

and the United States. Her business background

and entrepreneurial mind helped her succeed in

social entrepreneurship. “I love the way that social

entrepreneurship can combine principles from the

for-profit world and the issues we really do need

to solve to create really innovative, interesting and

sustainable enterprises,” she says.

Once you’ve found the cause that drives you,

De Simone says to jump right in. “Just take a

risk…If nothing is happening, create something.”

She says it’s much easier to attract potential

investors or partners when you already have

your idea and plan in place.

Kielburger says that once you have the ‘why’ of

your venture ready—the social problem you want

to fix—then figure out the ‘how.’ He says to be

shamelessly idealistic and “come up with a

larger vision than you think you can fulfill.”

“Get yourself out of your comfort zone.”co



For More inForMation, please Visit: freethechildren.com, metowe.com,

canada.ashoka.org, ladieslearningcode.com,


“get on the wave and ride it BecaUse tHis is tHe opportUnitY to Jump on now.”


By Kerri Zanatta-Buehler

Me, inc.: entrepreneUrialeMploYees can be ‘intrapreneUrs’

Work For YoUrselF, or soMeone else? »


M any people are entrepreneurially driven and know

that running their own businesses is the way for them, while

others choose to first venture into organizations and perhaps

consider entrepreneurship later. Regardless of the route you

might take, the skills and attributes you need for entrepreneurial success are

also needed to be a successful “intrapreneurial” employee.

An entrepreneur’s success is often based on such attributes as productivity,

effort, commitment and leadership. It also includes the abilities to be an

effective decision-maker, to troubleshoot and problem-solve, and to be self-

managing and creative. Entrepreneurs possess drive, and are able to work on

their own as well as in collaboration with others. They manage multiple tasks

at once and are effective at building relationships to the betterment of their

venture. All of these desired traits can be found in many job descriptions for

intrapreneurial employees as well.

“Many millions of people proudly claim the title ‘entrepreneur,’” says

renowned entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson. “On the other hand, a title

that hasn’t gotten nearly the amount of attention it deserves is entrepreneur’s

little brother, ‘intrapreneur’: ‘an employee who is given freedom and financial

support to create new products, services and systems, who does not have to

follow the company’s usual routines or protocols.’ While it’s true that every

company needs an entrepreneur to get it under way, healthy growth requires

a smattering of intrapreneurs who drive new projects and explore new and

unexpected directions for business development.”

Generally speaking, most people will join an existing organization rather

than start their own business—at least at the start of their careers. People

often move into self-employment later in life, after they’ve fine-tuned their

business skills within an organization; then they venture into the world of

self-employment, such as becoming a consultant. That way, they can use

the knowledge and expertise they’ve developed through the years, and offer

their insight to other organizations.

As an employee working within an organization, you’re often advised to

approach your job as if you’re running your own company, and recognize that

your individual efforts will reflect directly on the success of the organization

as a whole. That’s an intrapreneur.

So are there places where intrapreneurs can grow and flourish? In

organizations around the world, individuals who are given the freedom to

“intrapreneUr:an eMploYee WHo is giVen FreeDoM anD Financial sUpport to create neW proDUcts, serVices anD sYsteMs, WHo Does not HaVe to FolloW tHe coMpanY’s UsUal roUtines or protocols.”



delve into new territory and exercise their creativity are keeping their

employers on the cutting edge and successfully navigating the tides

of change. They themselves are consequently staying ahead of the

curve; they’re keeping up with the speed at which innovation moves—

which is fast and furious these days.

“Often everyone becomes so immersed in what they’re doing that

they feel like they own their companies,” Branson says of intrapreneurs.

“They don’t feel like employees working for someone else.”

When people feel this passionate about the work they do, they are

committed to it and have a vested interest in it and in their own success

as well. This dedication will ultimately reflect on the organization as a

whole. So while your name might not hang on the sign in the lobby,

“Me, Inc.” is a real company. It’s yours, and one that exists to thrive

and prosper with entrepreneurial you at the helm. co

kerri Zanatta-BUeHler is an employment development

specialist at Sheridan College.

For More inForMation, please Visit: entrepreneur.com/article/218011, sheridancollege.ca,


ace (aDVancing canaDian entrepreneUrsHip): This national organization is affiliated with the worldwide SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) program, which hosts international competitions for student entrepreneurs. Many Canadian universities and colleges have active ACE/SIFE chapters where students learn the ins and outs of entrepreneurship, and then apply that knowledge to create their own community-based ventures. see acecanada.ca

WHere to FinD Help: RESOuRCES TO ADvANCE YOuR ENTREPRENEuRIAL GOALS

there are countless ways you can achieve your entrepreneurial aspirations—and plenty of programs dedicated to helping you realize those goals. Here is just a small sample of the supports available to budding canadian entrepreneurs.


tHe neXt 36: This new-venture challenge, launched in 2011, arose from a popular course on entrepreneurship at the university of Toronto. Each year, 36 candidates are selected from thousands of applicants to participate; funding comes from various sponsors, including top Canadian entrepreneurs. Students are placed in teams and mentored by business leaders, such as Jordan Banks, managing director of Facebook Canada. The teams develop their venture—which has to be based on mobile or web technologies—while learning the necessary skills to be successful. see thenext36.ca

VentUre connection at siMon Fraser UniVersitY, VancoUVer, sUrreY anD BUrnaBY, B.c.: Along with offering academic programs in entrepreneurship and other contests, the university also runs venture Connection. This program gives support to students from the very beginning—the “first spark” of an idea. Mentorships, resources, seminars, workshops and co-ops are some of the advantages of joining. Web ventures such as MetroLyrics, Hiretheworld and Buyatab are among the many successful alumni of the program. see ventureconnection.sfu.ca

tHe genesis centre at MeMorial UniVersitY oF neWFoUnDlanD, st. JoHn’s: The Genesis Centre provides support for technology-based businesses and new entrepreneurial ideas. The greater community can access their services—it’s not

just for students. Admission to Genesis provides you with access to office space and equipment, mentors, technical and scientific resources, a large entrepreneurial community and opportunities for networking. see genesis.mun.ca

scHlegal centre For entrepreneUrsHip at WilFriD laUrier UniVersitY, Waterloo, ont.: The Centre provides resources for students, such as an in-house entrepreneur for advice, co-ops and a loan program for students looking to start their own business. Its Laurier Entrepreneurship Competition offers thousands of dollars in prizes, along with publicity and feedback. There is also the BDO New venture Competition, a year-long course where students work in teams to develop a venture. Scholarships are awarded at the end-of-year awards reception. see bit.ly/ou7sp9

Digital MeDia Zone at rYerson UniVersitY, toronto: It’s not just students that are eligible for this digital media entrepreneurship program; anyone in the greater Toronto area can make a pitch to be supported by the DMZ. When accepted, the hopeful entrepreneurs receive guidance and resources to help make their ventures a success. An alumnus start-up of the program is TeamSave, a social buying website that has since partnered with Kijiji. see digitalmediazone.ryerson.ca

interview with a By Jordan Adams

the risks and beneFits oF being an entrepreneur »


cBC’s hit television show “Dragon’s Den”

has brought entrepreneurship into the

primetime spotlight. Aspiring venturists

present their ideas to the Dragons—

some of Canada’s brightest, most successful

entrepreneurs—in the hope of striking a deal that

will bring their product to the marketplace.

One of those Dragons is Bruce Croxon, a digital

pioneer who co-founded the online dating service

Lavalife. He now invests in digital start-ups and

owns a chain of holistic spas, while also partnering

with promising ventures he encounters on the

show. He talked with Career Options about what

young entrepreneurs need to know to succeed.

career options: WHat is a tYpical DaY like For an entrepreneUr?

BrUce croXon: I would say the answer is there

really is no typical day, because I think by its

nature, you have to be ready to adapt to changing

situations depending on the size of the business

you’re involved with. But if you’re just starting

up, there really is no typical day. You’re usually

underfunded, doing everything yourself. It can be

a scramble. The challenge is to take that chaos

and the temptation to lose your focus, and try to

bring some focus to what you’re trying to do. So

the short answer is there is no typical day.

co: WHat are tHe risks anD HaZarDs oF Being an entrepreneUr?

croXon: The challenge of being an

entrepreneur is that it can be a very lonely

existence. You’re taking responsibility for the

success or failure of whatever it is that you’re

being entrepreneurial about. The risk is that

you can work and work and work—and there’s

no doubt that it’s more work than a more

conventional career path—and the risk is you

can work really hard and not get the results that

can be considered a success. You have to let

go of the notion that you put in eight hours of

work and therefore should get this much money.

The reality is you’ll have to work really hard, and

the amount of money you get for the amount of

effort you put in may not be equal. You have

to keep grinding until things start to happen.

co: WHat are tHe BeneFits?

croXon: It’s a very personal journey. You

acutely feel every victory and you acutely feel

every defeat. If you’re the kind of person who can

live with the ups and downs of it, and not let it

keep you awake at night, and if you’re still a nice

person to be around and the rollercoaster doesn’t

eat you up, there’s no better feeling than working

hard at something and having the fruits of your

own labour come out the other side. It’s a very

rewarding experience.

co: WHat are tHe QUalities neeDeD For a sUccessFUl entrepreneUr?

croXon: Stamina and stick-to-it-ness. You need

to work harder than the next person. You need to

be comfortable [with the fact] that you need to be

thinking about your business seven days a week,

24 hours a day. In this competitive environment,

if you’re not doing that, someone else will be. I

think the other quality of a good entrepreneur is

the ability to look in the mirror once in a while and

realize that you don’t have all the answers. It’s a

fine line, because you need enough ego to have

enough confidence to do it on your own, but your

ego can’t be so big that you ignore the mistakes

you make or the learning you get from other

people and situations. So introspection would be

a quality you need. The ability to work with others,

too, unless you’re an exceptionally bright person—

of which I’ve met very few in my life.

co: WHen is a “gooD” iDea reallY a BaD iDea?

croXon: It depends on what area you’re

working in. I work in the digital world. The good

and bad thing is you get feedback very quickly.

You know how people use the service and respond

to what you’re doing. You just really need to listen

to your customers and pay close attention to how

they’re adapting to the service. In most industries

today, because things move a lot quicker than

“tHe cHallenge oF Being an entrepreneUr is tHat it can Be a VerY lonelY eXistence. YoU’re taking responsiBilitY For tHe sUccess or FailUre oF WHateVer it is tHat YoU’re Being entrepreneUrial aBoUt. ”


they used to, if you’ve got your eyes and ears

open, that feedback comes pretty quickly.

co: HoW Do YoU knoW WHen to QUit?

croXon: If you’re an entrepreneur, you’re an

entrepreneur. Quit doesn’t really enter into the

vocabulary of the best ones. They just need to

change. It’s not about quitting, it’s about adapting.

When you get a certain amount of information

and you’re getting evidence that your idea doesn’t

work, you need to go back to the people that

you’re trying to get as customers, and ask what

it is about what you’re doing that they didn’t like,

and just change what you’re doing. One of the

qualities of a good entrepreneur is the willingness

to change direction, to not get too locked into

your own point of view. When the evidence

comes in that your point of view is not shared

by a market, you need to shift gears and change

your idea. That’s really different than just throwing

in the towel.

co: WHat aDVice WoUlD YoU giVe to a YoUng entrepreneUr in post-seconDarY or JUst graDUating, especiallY in terMs oF MoneY?

croXon: I would say live at home for a bit

longer—it’ll save you some rent—and get to

work. When you have something that’s worth

backing and worth getting behind, the best vote of

confidence you can get is from your friends and

family. Investors like me, if you’re looking

at early stage ideas, look at whether your friends

and family have supported you the best they can.

They probably have the best idea of what your

odds of success are.

co: WHat Do YoU WisH YoU kneW WHen YoU Were a YoUng entrepreneUr?

croXon: Looking back, I wish I had known

a little more about financing and the right time

to bring capital into a business. So the balance

sheet and financial part of things, I could’ve used

a bit more knowledge about. The other thing is

it’s probably as easy to go with a big idea as it

is a small idea. It’s the same amount of work,

so you might as well go for the big one. co

“tHere’s no Better Feeling tHan Working HarD at soMetHing anD HaVing tHe FrUits oF YoUr oWn laBoUr coMe oUt tHe otHer siDe. it’s a VerY reWarDing eXperience.”



For More inForMation, please Visit: cbc.ca/dragonsden, brucecroxon.com,


t hrough a program called “I Want to

be a Millionaire,” Evan Price received

a small start-up fund of $200 to

create a business. He went on to turn

a profit with his “High-tech Hygiene” service—

which included cleaning and energy audits on

appliances—all at the tender age of 10! He hasn’t

looked back since, and today describes himself as

“a true salesman at heart.”

His entrepreneurial spirit served him well in later

ventures; most notably, he cultivated the largest

crop of fiddleheads east of Ontario, and founded

the largest organic beer hops farm in Nova Scotia.

These businesses helped him pay for his bachelor

of commerce at Dalhousie University, where he

was Vice-president of Finance and Operations for

the student union—handling over $6.4 million in

spending and $2.7 million in investments.

Impressed yet? He was also named one of

the “Top 10 entrepreneurs under 35” by Nova

Scotia’s High Fliers program; received business

development funding to the tune of $10,000;

and was named the best co-op entrepreneurial

student at Dalhousie for 2010, receiving the

Sagewood grant of $4,000.

His successes haven’t all come easily. “The

hardest parts are always around getting the

confidence of others and finding partners or start-

up funding to keep growing,” Price says. “But if

you take time and build relationships, that’s much

harder to break than simply having the best price.”

When building relationships, even just in the

classroom, Price advises making friends with

people in different programs. “You don’t have to

be learning business to start one, but the team

you build will be stronger if they are good at

different things,” he says. co

“tHe HarDest parts are alWaYs aroUnD getting tHe conFiDence oF otHers anD FinDing partners or start-Up FUnDing to keep groWing.”

eVan priCe



YoUng canaDians WHo Want eXciting international eXperiences HaVe More options anD opportUnitY tHan eVer BeFore—anD coUntries like neW ZealanD are eMBracing Visiting stUDents. »

By Kathryn Young

sports-mad new Zealand:

coMBine aDVentUre WitH stUDY in kiWi-lanD


Bungee jumping, black water rafting,

zorbing, jetboating, heliskiing:

New Zealand is the mecca for

adventure sports, says 19-year-old

B.C. student Julia Thrift.

“Why not study in the capital of adventure tourism?”

asks Thrift, who is enrolled in the snowsport

business management program at Queenstown

Resort College on New Zealand’s South Island.

“My friends are so jealous.”

Snowsports is a specialty within QRC’s adventure

tourism management program, where students

learn more than just the visitor experience. They

also learn how to develop and operate different

models of adventure tourism companies, and

the skills needed for leadership, marketing,

human resources, writing business plans,

communications and more.

“It’s all internationally transferrable,” explains

Program Manager Chris Warburton. In fact,

QRC has an agreement with Thompson Rivers

University in B.C., whereby QRC grads can

automatically go into the third year of Thompson

Rivers’ degree program. Similar agreements are

in place with other schools, including Ontario’s

University of Guelph, where students can study

for one or two semesters at Lincoln University

in N.Z. and pay the regular U of G tuition

fees, rather than higher international student

tuition fees.

Adventure tourism is just one of many N.Z.

post-secondary sports programs that are open

to Canadian students. And Education New

Zealand is openly courting international students,

especially from North America, for these programs

that go beyond elite performance to include sports

business administration, recreation management,

sports massage, outdoor leadership and even

sports turf management.

great enVironMent For sports“Very few people are elite athletes,” says Don

Milham, Team Manager at the School of Sport

and Exercise Science at Waikato Institute of

Technology, known as Wintec. “But health and

wellness is across the lifespan. We have a great

environment for that.”

Wintec is located in the small city of Hamilton

on the North Island, where winter daytime

temperatures are usually 10 to 14°C. And that’s

part of what makes N.Z. a sports-mad country:

it’s easy to get outside and be active when the

temperature rarely dips below zero, and then

only in the mountains.

“It’s a very sports-dominated society,” says

Stewart Brougham, Wintec’s Director of

Internationalization. “It imbues society with a view

that sport is something you should continue with…

That passion for sports fuels the supply industry.

You need people to run and manage the sports

clubs, to manage and coach the teams, work for

companies or teach sports in schools.”

N.Z. offers Canadian students some attractive

post-secondary (they call it “tertiary”) options. You

can study in the land of the Kiwi for a semester

or two, take courses during a gap year, do an

exchange program, or complete an entire diploma

or degree. You can even earn credits that will be

recognized by your Canadian college or university,

through partnership agreements or individual

Career Options magazine would like to extend our gratitude to all those who helped to make our visit to New Zealand such an enjoyable and educational experience. Those mentioned in the articles and many others generously offered us their time and resources, and we are deeply appreciative. Special thanks to Education New Zealand and Air New Zealand, who truly made this trip possible.

“WHY not stUDY in tHe capital oF aDVentUre toUrisM? MY FrienDs are so JealoUs.”



negotiation. And studying abroad can offer a

compromise between gap year travel and going

on to post-secondary.

“I really wanted to travel, but Mom wanted school,”

says Thrift, from Whiterock, B.C. The compromise

was QRC. “Queenstown has blown me away—the

connections you make. I’ve done things there’s no

way I would have done before, like canyoning.”

Lincoln University student Jenn Halliday, also

from B.C., urges Canadian students to apply for

N.Z. programs. “You’ll never know if you could

have made it if you don’t try,” she says. “You can

make it work and you can get here.”

Studying at Lincoln—a beautiful treed

campus surrounded by farmland just outside

Christchurch—is a dream that Halliday made

come true with hard work to help offset the

costs. While studying abroad can be more

expensive than in Canada, she was able

to bring down the price of her Bachelor of

Sport and Recreation Management (see “The

Practicalities” on page 32). PhD students take

note: you pay domestic tuition fees in N.Z.,

not the higher international tuition fees that

undergrads pay.

“The process of studying in another country

enriches you,” says Brougham. “You’re a bit more

thoughtful, you learn to be more tolerant. It just

changes you.” And that’s something you get no

matter where in the world you go.

N.Z. is an easy place to live and study. The culture

is different enough to be interesting, yet familiar

enough that you’ll feel at home amongst friendly

people, speaking English—sort of. There are lots

of fun Kiwi terms to learn if you’re interested

(see “Don’t Tramp in Your Jandals” on page 35).

“I found New Zealand like home, but with a twist,”

says Halliday. “There are so many advantages:

you learn about yourself and different cultures.”

ManY sports prograMsAs well as bachelor’s degrees, Lincoln offers

postgraduate degrees and certificates in sport

and exercise physiology, parks, recreation and

tourism management, plus an elite Sports

Scholarship Program and the Asia Pacific

Football [Soccer] Academy.

Wintec offers certificate programs in sports

massage, outdoor education and recreation, and

fitness industry training. Bachelor programs

are available in coaching, nutrition, exercise

physiology and biomechanics, and there’s a

one-year teaching program. The communications

school offers sports journalism.

Otago Polytechnic—based in Dunedin on

the South Island, but with other campuses as

well—has certificate and/or diploma programs

in a range of subjects: snowsport instructing,

avalanche safety, outdoor leadership and

management, physical conditioning, and sports

turf management, plus a bachelor of applied

science in physical activity, health and wellness.

QRC’s adventure tourism management program,

with its specialty in snowsport business

management, includes paid internships.

N.Z. has a population of just four million people,

so its colleges, universities and polytechnics

(degree-granting institutions that are like a cross

between college and university) are small too.

Classes are small and professors really get to

know their students.

“A student said to me, ‘I can’t believe you gave me

your cell phone number so we can call you,’ ” says

Chris Hutchinson, Lincoln’s academic coordinator

for sports management. “Here, it’s first-name terms.”

“Anybody who comes here can be a big fish,” says

Milham.

HanDs-on, practical skillsThe sports programs—whether at the university

degree or college diploma level—focus on

practical skills and career building.

“Real people with real skills get real jobs.

That’s always been my philosophy,” says

Gary Smith, program manager for Otago’s sports

turf management program, where students

complete paid internships at golf courses,

rugby fields and cricket pitches—and then

get snapped up by employers.


“YoU’ll neVer knoW iF YoU coUlD HaVe MaDe it iF YoU Don’t trY. YoU can Make it Work anD YoU can get Here.”

“When you come out of the course, you’re set up to

go into the industry,” says David James Moseley,

20, studying outdoor leadership and management

at Otago. “Last year we lived on a beach for a

week, rock climbing and sea kayaking.” After

completing an internship,

he now has a full-time sea-kayaking job

waiting for him when he graduates.

“Some educational institutions lose sight of

the end goal, which is jobs,” says Charlie

Phillips, CEO at QRC. “We’re really focused

on completing that loop.” Students are treated

as professionals right from the first day, when

they’re greeted with: “Welcome. You’re starting

today, not in two years’ time.”

Students wear uniforms appropriate to their

studies—for the adventure tourism students, it’s

black track pants and black QRC t-shirts—and

are marked on grooming, attendance and

punctuality. “It’s all about getting ready for the

industry,” says Phillips. “Ninety-seven percent of

graduates get jobs.”

Lincoln’s Bachelor of Sport and Recreation

Management degree includes a requirement to

complete 480 hours of practical work in a sport

or recreation role. For example, students recently

organized an Olympic gala day for 800 school

children, while others handled the registration

and finish-line facilities for the Tour of New

Zealand 10-day cycle race through the whole

length of the South Island.

“Ours is a very enthusiastic, hands-on, fun degree,

but does contain robust academic theory before

the fun stuff,” Hutchinson says. “We’re working

quite closely with industry, not just in Christchurch

but around New Zealand.”

earlY inVolVeMent in researcHMany of the sports programs also emphasize early

involvement by undergrad students in research

projects “so by the time they get to the masters

level, it’s not new to them,” says Milham, leading

a tour through Wintec’s biomechanics lab. One

student is periodically jumping on a metal plate on

the floor, sometimes using his arms and sometimes

not, while his colleagues look at a laptop measuring

his impact. Another lab houses an altitude machine

and a heat chamber where students can control for

heat and humidity during experiments.

Leah Hutching, 22, is a second-year masters

biomechanics student researching regular shoes

versus toe shoes, and how human mechanics

change at different speeds. She hopes to work for a

sports shoe company after graduating from Wintec.

At Lincoln, Mike Hamlin, academic coordinator

for the sports scholarship program, describes

research into new technologies aimed at

boosting performance, including compression

garments, altitude training for rugby players

going to Johannesburg, and the effects of blood-

flow restriction on netball athletes while they’re

training. Result: increased muscle endurance

and strength. (Netball is similar to basketball.)

Jenn Halliday says studying in N.Z. has been the

best thing for her. She talks regularly with her parents

via Skype. “They’re supportive and proud of me that

I’m brave enough to take on the world,” she says.

So what would she tell Canadian students

thinking of studying in N.Z.?

“I would tell them to go for it,” she says.

“Don’t just dream about it, but actually do it!” co

katHrYn YoUng is managing editor of

Career Options. Education New Zealand

and Air New Zealand invited her to tour

N.Z. tertiary education schools and

sponsored her trip.

For More inForMation, please Visit: airnewzealand.ca, newzealandeducated.com,

learnmorestressless.com,

newzealandpostgraduate.com,

lincoln.ac.nz, apfa.co.nz,

queenstownresortcollege.com,

otagopolytechnic.ac.nz, wintec.ac.nz,


“last Year We liVeD on a BeacH For a Week, rock cliMBing anD sea kaYaking.”


tHe practicalities:many ways to bring down the Costs oF n.Z. study

By Kathryn Young

considering studying abroad, but concerned that it’s too

expensive? It can be, primarily because international

tuition fees are always higher than tuition paid by students

in their home countries. However, the good news is that

there are ways you can bring those costs down considerably.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to cost maybe a few thousand more

than in Canada,” says Jenn Halliday, a Canadian earning her

Bachelor of Sport and Recreation Management at Lincoln University,

just outside of Christchurch, New Zealand.

To pay for her studies, 20-year-old Halliday won a scholarship,

arranged a Canadian student loan and works part-time. Here’s how

she makes it work:

• AmeritscholarshipfromLincoln,basedonheracademicsand

references, is worth $5,000 NZD ($4,046 CDN) per year. “That

scholarship was a big help for me,” says Halliday.

• AloanfromtheCanadaStudentLoansprogram,worth$13,505

NZD ($11,000 CDN).

• Apart-timejobofeightto10hoursperweekatanafter-school

program for children, helping them with homework and doing

activities. “I have to work to continue to be here,” she says.

Minimum wage is $13.75 NZD ($11.12 CDN).

• TheCanada-N.Z.currencyexchangeratefavoursCanadians.

“That makes a massive difference in student loans,” says Halliday,

adding that it also helped her make her decision to go to N.Z.


6 / start YoUr stUDies. The schools provide full orientation to the school and the town or city where you’ll be staying.

4 / get MeDical anD traVel insUrance. International students are not covered under N.Z.’s health care, so you must arrange your own medical and travel insurance. The schools will help. Otago Polytechnic, for example, uses uni-Care, which has a special insurance package for international students that costs $510 NZD ($413 CDN) for a full year.

• ShegotcreditforheroneyearattheUniversityofBritishColumbia,

so she started in second year at Lincoln.

“I’ve always felt supported,” says Halliday of her move to the far side of

the world. “Every question answered. The international advisor helped.”

International tuition fees in N.Z. range from $16,000 to $18,000 NZD

($12,946 to $14,564 CDN) per year. But international PhD students

pay the same tuition as N.Z. students—about $5,000 to $8,000 NZD

($4,046 to $6,473 CDN).

Canadian students considering studying abroad should apply for every

scholarship, bursary or loan they can find. Schools generally have an

“International Students” page on their websites, listing all the possibilities.

And don’t be shy about asking for help from the schools’ international

advisors—they WANT you to study in N.Z.

“QRC will do their best to help you come,” says Julia Thrift, 19, from British

Columbia, who has a bursary from Queenstown Resort College where she’s

in the snowsports program. “I was really happy. They helped arrange it.”

2 / applY For YoUr stUDent Visa. This is required if you’re going to be in N.Z. longer than three months. If you want to work in N.Z., be sure to tick off the applicable boxes on your student visa form. International students can usually work up to 20 hours a week while in school and full-time during holidays, as long as you’re there for a program lasting longer than a year.

Some schools have agents in Canada whom you can talk to about the schools, life in N.Z., the programs and the application process. Between agents, the schools and Education New Zealand, there are many guidebooks available offering step-by-step processes for applying for programs, student visas, work visas and accommodation. They’ll give you any advice you need to help fill out the forms.

Here’s tHe general process »

3 / FinD accoMMoDation. Each school will help you, whether you want to stay in the Halls of Residence (as they call it), a homestay or your own flat. Living in N.Z. is generally cheaper than in Canada.

5 / Make YoUr traVel arrangeMents. Some schools will even pick you up at the airport and take you to your new home!

1 / applY to a scHool. After you’ve received an Offer of Place, pay your tuition fees. You need your receipt to apply for your student visa.


katHrYn YoUng is managing editor of Career Options. Education

New Zealand and Air New Zealand invited her to tour N.Z. tertiary

education schools and sponsored her trip.

For More inForMation, please Visit: Immigration New Zealand: immigration.govt.nz; Canada Student Loans:

hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/learning/canada_student_loan/index.shtml;

Code of Practice for International Students: minedu.govt.

nz/NZEducation/EducationPolicies/InternationalEducation/

ForInternationalStudentsAndParents.aspx; Uni-Care medical and travel

insurance: uni-care.co.nz; airnewzealand.ca; newzealandeducated.com;

learnmorestressless.com; newzealandpostgraduate.com;


kia ora (pronounced kyorah) = hello, welcome

kiWi = a New Zealander or the small brown bird

kiWiFrUit = kiwi (the fruit)

pakeHa = non-Maori person (Maori are the Aboriginal people of N.Z.)

tertiarY eDUcation = post-secondary education

Uni = university

polYtecHnic = cross between university and college. Polytechnics grant degrees.

papers = courses, e.g. “I’m doing a paper in economics.”

scHeMe = program, e.g. an “exchange scheme” means an “exchange program”

Flat = apartment (flatting = living in an apartment, e.g. “I’m flatting with friends.”)eFtpos = bank cardBUsH Walk = hike in the foresttraMp = hiketogs = bathing suitrellies = relativesJanDals = flip-flopsHottie = hot water bottlegreasies = fish and chipsloo or DUnnY = bathroomDoDgY = bad, spoiledcHUnDer = to vomitFlasH = really good, expensive, e.g. “That’s a flash car.”

gooD on Ya, Mate! = congratulations, well done

scUll = to drink beer rapidly

FootBall = soccer

aMerican FootBall = football as Canadians know it

HockeY = field hockey, unless “ice hockey” is specified

all Blacks = N.Z.’s national rugby team (the equivalent of gods)

kit = uniform

long Black = two shots of espresso

sHort Black = black espresso

Flat WHite = espresso with slightly foamy milk

Don’t traMp in YoUr JanDals, or HoW to talk kiWican YoU DecipHer tHis? “DoDgY greasies or too MUcH scUlling? YoU’ll cHUnDer in tHe DUnnY.” iF not, reaD on For eXplanations oF soMe coMMon kiWi terMs.

Accommodation is another financial consideration. Living in residence

allows you to meet more people in your first semester, but it’s more

expensive than “flatting with friends” (sharing an apartment). Costs vary by

city, and can be as low as $85 NZD ($69 CDN) per week, but Thrift pays

$124 NZD ($100 CDN) per week for flatting in Queenstown.

Another option is a “homestay,” i.e., boarding with a Kiwi family, which costs

about $240 NZD ($194 CDN) per week, including three meals a day.

N.Z.. wants international students to be safe and well cared for. Point your parents

towards the Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students,

published by N.Z.’s Ministry of Education, so they can rest assured. co

N.Z. is in the southern hemisphere, so the seasons and school year are reversed. Semester 1 (autumn) runs February to June, and Semester 2 (spring) runs July to November. Summer holidays are December to February. The deadline for applying to N.Z. schools is generally Nov. 30.

Depending where you’re from in Canada, you’ll find winters in N.Z. a lot warmer. Average August (winter) temperatures are 11°C in Dunedin on the South Island, 5°C in the central part of the South Island, and 12°C in Auckland on the North Island. Snow generally falls just in the mountains.

N.Z. is all in one time zone, on the other side of the International Date Line, and is 16 hours ahead of central Canada.

Kiwis drive on the left, not the right! Even if you opt not to drive, you must be careful crossing streets or even walking the sidewalks or up staircases, where you’ll feel like a fish swimming upstream if you’re on the right.

tHings are BackWarDs in neW ZealanD! Don’t Forget »


DiD YoU knoW tHat YoU can coMBine a Degree in science WitH YoUr loVe oF Wine?

Before creating WorkStory.net, neither did

Natalie Allen, a professor at Western University.

“I think typically most of us have a kind of

narrow range of things we consider possible,”

says Allen. “It’s partly because most of us learn

about work through the same standard set of

jobs that get mentioned and from television,

plus a few jobs are kind of odd-ball. But mostly

it’s a pretty mainstream set.”

Allen is attempting to remedy the situation with

the website she co-created with University

of Guelph professor David Stanley. Young

professionals can use WorkStory.net to post

videos and stories about their current job, and

how they arrived at where they are now.

“What we wanted to do was put together a

kaleidoscope of work stories that would give

people one more resource as they’re pondering

what they are interested in, what they can do—

that kind of thing,” says Allen.

Allen hopes that by watching videos on the

website, students can think about their skills,

interests and training in a less step-wise path à la

“Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, undergrad or college”

and more in “a mixing and matching the shapes

and patterns in their life” kind of way.

Allen uses the analogy of a kaleidoscope to give

a more concrete idea of what she means.

“We would like people to match their interests,

knowledge and contacts and think of those as

ingredients in a kaleidoscope, and imagine when

you turn a kaleidoscope and everything jumbles

in a different way,” she says.

Videos like one posted by a sommelier are the

perfect example of Allen’s goal to show students

that they can combine their passions with a

career. “We have a grad from Dalhousie, who has

his degree in science, who decided that his real

passion is wine,” says Allen.

While it’s still in its early days, WorkStory.net

received a lot of attention at the Canadian

Association of Career Educators and Employers

(CACEE) Conference in June.

Amy Elder, Director of Career Services at Brock

University, was apprehensive when Allen first

approached her about the website. The first

video Elder saw just happened to be from a

Brock graduate. From there she got the idea that

WorkStory.net would make a rich database if they

could get more alumni to post their own work

stories on the website.

Brock had a program called ‘Alumni Sharing

Knowledge’ that was simply a database listing

alumni names and where they worked. Elder

says that, while other information such as salary

range and position title were sometimes provided,

“it was pretty dry information.”

With WorkStory.net Elder says students get the

information they really want to hear, such as

a “day in the life” of the job they’re interested

in. She also says the site is a useful tool in the

By Fraser Tripp wondering about a

JoB or career? WorkstorY.net may inspire you


early stages of searching for a career path. Elder

says the problem most student have seems to be

knowing where to start, and they often end up

relying on job boards.

“We tell them to network, to ask for information

interviews. That’s very scary to them,” she says.

Elder says WorkStory.net is similar to a mini-

information interview without “the scary part of

calling somebody and asking them for 10 minutes

of their time.”

Encountering students on a regular basis who

might be afraid to branch out, Elder believes that

with WorkStory.net available, they could learn about

a day on the life of somebody in a specific industry.

“The site is only going to be as good as how

well it’s populated. So if you go on and there are

50 videos, that’s a whole different ball game than

if there are 5,000 videos,” she says.

To help with that, they plan on asking alumni

to create videos on the spot when they come to

network at Brock’s Smart Finish Conference.

“It’s a great way to talk about the school they went

to,” Elder says. “So it’s kind of a nice way for them

to contribute as an alumnus in a non-financial way.”

Jeff Watson, Employer Relationship Developer at

Western, says they’ve used the website in a similar

manner by incorporating it into their Career Week.

“We wanted to give WorkStory more visibility.

We actually included it in our web feature on

each day,” says Watson. “If we were doing

programming that involved a living library event,

then we featured a librarian as the work story.”

WorkStory.net has featured employees from

specific companies, such as Golder Associates,

who described their jobs and the paths they

took to get them. By partnering with companies

and other organizations, the site is able to offer

them free exposure and help with their recruiting

processes, while also providing a wider range of

options for website visitors.

While the main objective of the website is to

inspire, Allen admits that one video won’t change

someone’s life.

“What I’m hoping is that when we get literally

hundreds and hundreds of these that, combined

with the text stories, this will allow you to click

variants of the stories’ tags and allow you to see a

whole bunch of work blends and maybe one that

will inspire you,” she says.

Allen encourages anyone who is happy in their

job to create a WorkStory—either text-based

or video. Who knows? Maybe you’ll end up

providing just the inspiration a new graduate

needs. co


Fraser tripp is a Carleton University

journalism student.

For More inForMation, please Visit: WorkStory.net, uwo.ca, brocku.ca,

careeroptionsmagazine.com.

Or contact WorkStory through email

([email protected]), Twitter (@workstory)

or Facebook (facebook.com/workstory).

polish you

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helping you FinD YoUr patH

career centres Help WitH More tHan JUst resUMés

By Sharon Ferriss


W hether you’re just starting a degree or set to graduate

this year, you’re going to need the best advice on

how to plan your career—and land that dream job.

Your university or college career centre may be one of

the best-kept secrets on campus.

The majority of students who use their career centres come for the resumé

consultations. But this only skims the surface. What services are offered

will vary by centre, but most can provide you with help and individual

counselling on topics such as researching careers, understanding your skills,

gaining work experience, preparing for interviews and more.

One high-impact offering that has grown exponentially at the University of

Alberta is job shadowing. During Reading Week, more than 100 employers

bring students into the workplace for one to four days to experience “a day in

the life,” says Blessie Mathew, Manager of Career Education at CAPS: Your

U of A Career Centre. She says opportunities like this help students to get a

clearer idea of their career goals.

As a specialized career centre, York University’s Schulich School of

Business Career Development Centre delivers “concierge services,” says

Executive Director Joseph Palumbo. For example, if you’re interviewing

with CIBC, the centre can arrange for an alumnus who works for the bank

to coach you. Schulich also places a focus on soft skills such as dining

etiquette, dressing for success, and the dos and don’ts of social media.

Students can even participate in wine, beer or scotch appreciation events.

“It’s about rounding out the skills to get an edge to get in the door and stay in

the door,” says Palumbo.

At Laval University, more than 70 percent of students across 17 faculties are

registered with the career centre, but many use only the job board. Students

can be disappointed if they don’t see postings that they can directly connect

to their field, such as philosophy, says André Raymond, Associate Director of

Laval’s placement service. “We have to explain to them that we offer much

more,” he says.

Visit earlY, Visit oFtenCareer service professionals agree: many students don’t use their career

centre until it’s too late to gain the full benefits.

“We see the most students when they start looking for summer work, or for

work after graduation,” says Mathew. “Then they are scrambling, trying to

figure out what they’re going to do.”

She would like to see an increase in the number of first-, second- and

third-year undergraduate students, as well as students just starting on their

graduate degrees, using the centre—which, she adds, is open throughout

the summer.

Raymond believes a big reason students don’t visit sooner is that they

underestimate how challenging a job search can be. “Very often they arrive

when they are disappointed with their search,” he says. “They think they

only have to make a resumé and respond to a job posting. Also they think it

is very easy to pass an interview, until they fail the first one.”


career DeVelopMent neVer enDs

“Your career doesn’t start when you graduate—

it’s unrolling in front of you when you set foot on

campus,” says Mathew. University is your chance

to find out what you like and don’t like and to

build connections.

Palumbo wants students to understand that

“career development is a lifelong process. The

sooner you start, the better.” He says students

can expect to change careers many times:

organizations, industries, locations. What’s key is

to identify your skills, your brand proposition to

employers, and the market conditions.

“The 30-year career with one firm is pretty much

dead,” says Palumbo, but a 30-year career in

marketing, accounting or supply chain is what

students need to manage.

“Every decision is a career decision,” is a

message that students receive at Nova Scotia

Community College.

“Career development is about ‘who am I’ and how

that relates to the world of work,” says Laurie

Edwards, Director of Career Development at the

college.

Her colleague Clarence DeSchiffart, NSCC’s

Co-ordinator of Career and Essential Skills

Services, says his school takes a “whole person”

approach to career counselling. This means

helping students with self-awareness so they can

make the best decisions in the context of life

circumstances, whether that’s caring for children

or aging parents. “We want people to feel

empowered to handle change,” he says.

BeYonD tHe career centreToday’s students are likely accessing the

services of their career centre without actually

knowing it. A trend among career centres is to

work closely with faculty (who have the trust and

attention of students) to integrate career learning

into the classroom.

At the Schulich School of Business, all MBAs

and undergraduate students use a tool called

CareerLeader as part of their course work to

explore their interests, motivators and skills.

Students learn the basics about themselves:

“Who are you, what are your strengths, and

what is the best place to apply those strengths,”

says Palumbo.

Outside its central career centre, the University

of Alberta now has a career development officer

within the Faculty of Arts to help students with

career education and work experience tailored to

their fields. Another satellite office is set to open

within the Faculty of Science.

Many university career centres, including Laval,

are increasingly using technology to deliver

career services. Laval puts its workshops, on

topics such as writing resumés and cover letters,

on YouTube. With more students doing distance

courses or studying part-time, Laval has also

begun to provide online counselling via a

Skype-like system with video webcam.

Nova Scotia Community College is moving

towards offering more opportunities for informal

career discussions, such as coffee clubs and

lunch ’n’ learns.

career coUnsellors Don’t Bite (reallY)It’s understandable that students aren’t aware of

their school’s career centre. “Students can get

overwhelmed with the amount of information that

gets thrown at them in the first couple of weeks,”

says Mathew.

Once students do see a career counsellor, they

are often pleasantly surprised. “They’re used

to formality and bureaucracy at university.

But we’re not about dates and deadlines,”

Palumbo says about his Schulich career centre

staff. “We’re very warm, easy to get to know,

and interested in them as individuals and in

their careers.”

Palumbo says it’s not easy, especially for

undergrads, to ask for help. They might ask

their parents or their own networks, but they

think, “I don’t see my buddies in the career

office, so why should I go?” He says it’s a

misconception—and that all students can

benefit from career services.

However, the onus remains on the student to

take the initiative, says DeSchiffart. “No one person

has all the answers. Let’s do this together.” co

sHaron Ferriss is the Director of

Marketing, Web and New Media at the

Canadian Education and Research Institute

for Counselling, a charitable organization

that advances education and research in

career counselling and career development.

For More inForMation, please Visit: ceric.ca, caps.ualberta.ca, yorku.ca/careers,

spla.ulaval.ca, nscc.ca,


“your career doesn’t start when you graduate—it’s unrolling in front of you when you set foot on campus.”


on the flanks of Mount Royal in the city

of Montreal, outreach to Aboriginal

youth has taken strong root at McGill

University and has since spread

branches across Turtle Island. Over the last six

years, the university has proactively committed

to improving educational outcomes for Aboriginal

youth in both urban and rural communities

across the country, one student at a time. As

the Aboriginal Community Outreach Coordinator,

I’m happy to report that this is one of the most

gratifying posts I can imagine having at McGill.

De-mystifying the university experience years

before students would actually be ready to

apply is significant. By inviting Aboriginal

youth to experience life at McGill, we strive to

help them envision themselves here, or at any

other institution. Our dedicated team at the

First Peoples’ House achieves this with the

collaboration of McGill students, both Aboriginal

and non-Aboriginal, as well as alumni, staff,

faculty and administrators, all of whom serve as

role models and donate their time and energy

to create and facilitate on- and off-campus

invitational events. Through these, Aboriginal

students aged 12 to 18 have gotten to explore

their career interests through interactive

workshops and camps hosted by a wide array of

McGill representatives.

Nothing speaks more clearly to youth than hearing

directly from McGill’s Director of Admissions

about the university’s commitment to increasing

enrolment of Aboriginal students. Along with the

testimonials of current Aboriginal students and

discussions with the sole Native professor at the

university, these messages will hopefully stay with

the youth as they make their way through the rest of

high school and prepare for post-secondary studies.

On campus, we host outreach events throughout

the academic year, starting with the McGill

Pow-Wow in September. We welcome about

125 Aboriginal students from Montreal area high

schools, who come to enjoy the festivities and

glimpse what it’s like to study physical education,

physical and occupational therapy, or social work at

McGill. Many young lacrosse players from the two

nearby Mohawk territories also get a chance to meet

and play with members of the Redmen lacrosse

team, who have a dedicated Aboriginal liaison.

In the spring, we host our premiere outreach event,

the Eagle Spirit High Performance Camp. With an

equal split between athletics and academics, the

goal of the camp is to promote post-secondary

studies while emphasizing a balance between

healthy mind and healthy body. We focus on

health-related careers and partner with the McGill

Faculty of Medicine to offer the 30 or so campers

from across Canada a truly hands-on experience.

In the anatomy lab, nothing gets to the bare bones

of what it’s like to be a medical student like holding

human hearts, lungs, livers and, well, actual bones

in your hands. Even as a thirty-something adult, I

By Kakwiranó:ron Cook

De-MYstiFYing UniVersitY ALLOWS ABORIGINAL YOuTH TO vISuALIZE THEMSELvES IN HigHer eDUcation



still find the experience to be quite stunning, and

can only imagine what an impression it must leave

on a high school student considering a career in

medicine. Just last week I accompanied a group of

Mohawk youth from Kahnawake who were invited

to visit McGill’s Douglas Hospital to see, learn about

and hold human brains in Canada’s only brain

bank, and to talk with neuroscience researchers

about their work.

As McGill’s Aboriginal student recruiter, I get

the opportunity to travel across the country to

attend recruitment events. So far, I’ve set up in

British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Alberta

and the Northwest Territories. We also sponsor

a booth at one of Indspire’s bi-annual Soaring:

Indigenous Youth Career Conference events,

where approximately 500 to 1,000 high school

students will show up depending on the location.

While on the road, I schedule community visits

wherever feasible to talk with youth, parents,

teachers, coaches and guidance counsellors

about McGill, and even deliver career exploration

workshops when time permits. Here in my

home province, I travel to the annual Quebec

Aboriginal Science Fair with the McGill chapter of

Let’s Talk Science, which provides excellent and

stimulating hands-on workshops.

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is

for Aboriginal youth to imagine themselves

in higher education. The challenges can be

significant—in one Cree community in Quebec

that I visited last year, the principal told me that

they hadn’t had a high school graduate in the

previous three years. Initially I found it shocking,

but it gave me pause to reflect; I myself was the

only graduate among 12 Native students who

started at my high school just off the Pine Ridge

Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where I

grew up. I attribute my perseverance not only to

all the support I got from family and in school,

but also to the role models and mentors who

came through my young life.

McGill is taking a long-term approach to

encourage Aboriginal participation in higher

education, which will in turn help Canada meet

its increasing demand for human resources—

after all, Aboriginal people are Canada’s fastest

growing demographic. I find the increasing

number of eager McGill volunteers to be

inspiring, and I wholeheartedly encourage

you to forge a pathway for Aboriginal youth

into your organization. The goal here is to

engage Aboriginal youth as a friendly,

inclusive partner. co

kakWiranó:ron cook is a member of

both the Akwesasne Mohawk and Oglala

Lakota Sioux Nations, and has served as

McGill University’s Aboriginal Community

Outreach Coordinator and Career Advisor

since February 2010.

For More inForMation, please Visit: mcgill.ca/fph, mcgill.ca/deanofstudents/

aboriginaloutreach, indspire.ca,


aBoriginal people are canaDa’s Fastest groWing DeMograpHic.

‘‘ i just wish there was a simple, hassle-

free way for me to work somewhere

interesting in return for food and

lodging,” I said to a friend as we

waited for a train in Barcelona. We were both

students on exchange in France for the spring,

and I was trying to plan what to do for the short

period after school in Europe ended but before my

summer job in Canada began.

“Well, that exists,” she told me. “It’s called HelpX.

Look it up.” I was initially skeptical—I had never

heard of HelpX or met anyone who had tried

it. Most international volunteer organizations I

researched presented mazes of administrative red

tape, sometimes with hefty participation fees.

However, when I returned home and visited the

website, I learned that HelpX acts as a liaison

between independent hosts (families or employers

seeking assistance in return for housing) and

helpers (labourers looking for the opportunity to

stay somewhere new) for a minimal, one-time

fee. The well-known organization WWOOF (World

Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) operates

on similar principles, but with a focus on organic

farming. HelpX is much more varied; hosts offer

positions that include hostel receptionist, goat

herder and childcare worker.

I was stunned at the sheer number of postings;

there are thousands of them, organized by

geographical region. A prospective helper could

garden in Alberta, tend sheep in Ireland, assist in

an elementary school in Morocco—the possibilities

seemed endless. This was exactly what I’d been

looking for.

Several months later, I spent two beautiful weeks

working outdoors in southern France, staying in a

17th-century farmhouse surrounded by vineyards. I

am certain it will not be my last HelpX experience.

HelpX.net launched in 2001 and has grown steadily

ever since. The site isn’t flashy or aesthetically

arranged, but is very easy to navigate. Hosts post

profiles of varying length and detail—some include

pictures and lengthy descriptions of their home and

the job, while others are very minimal. The standard

arrangement between host and helper is five to

eight hours of work for five or six days a week;

these terms are dependent on each host’s needs

and practices. To access host contact information

and read reviews, the user pays a ‘Premiership’ fee,

which grants them a two-year HelpX membership

for 20 euros (around 25 dollars). In doing so, the

user constructs a helper profile, which details if

they are traveling alone, with a friend or as a couple.

The helper can list skills, qualifications and interests

that the host may later browse. Once registered, the

helper can sift through postings and contact hosts

offering jobs that interest them.

Because of the slow economy, it’s been hard for

young professionals to find work directly out of

university or college. Taking a gap year to travel

the world or pursue an unpaid internship appeals

to many, but can also break the bank when it

comes to living expenses. HelpX provides an

interesting alternative: you can travel as little or as

much as you want and try your hand at a variety of

different vocations—all while living for free (except

for the cost of transportation). HelpX commitments

vary in length—it can be difficult to find a

placement for less than one or two weeks, and

they can last up to a year. Hosts often offer longer

stays in exchange for teaching skills, such as how

to build a house addition. A lot of helpers choose

to stay at a variety of placements to offset the cost

of long-term traveling and experience new jobs.

“Flexibility is key,” says Ali Tamlit, a 24-year-old

student and HelpXer from England. “Patience and

a willingness to give things a go can lead you to

enjoy an experience that was initially not so good.”

Tamlit and his girlfriend, Frances Kelsey, took a

year between their undergraduate and masters

degrees to spend eight months traveling Europe,

HelpXing along the way in Austria, Slovenia,

Turkey and France. They mostly worked in

landscaping and childcare, but also helped

with sheepherding in Austria.

If you want to tailor your HelpX experience to

further your career development in specific areas,

that is absolutely possible. Many HelpX placements

take place in the areas of small business,

agriculture, building and hospitality. Have open

communication with hosts regarding your skill

set, and propose ideas around how you can use

them in your placement. For example, if you are a

marketing and communications major, ask a host

if you could spearhead a publicity and advertising

campaign. Hosts can review your effort, and their

endorsement could be valuable when moving

forward into the workplace.

Even if career development is not your specific

objective, it’s hard to come out of a HelpX

placement without experiencing some remarkable

skills and growth. “My interpersonal skills grew in

just the few weeks that I did HelpX,” says Kelly

Agnew, a student from Virginia who did a placement

this spring. “I was exposed to new experiences that

have made me a more adaptable person.”

By Jasmine Irwin

HelpXHelps tHose wHo Help tHemselves


JasMine irWin is a media and public interest student at

Western University.

For More inForMation, please Visit: helpx.net, wwoof.org,


More tips on HelpX-ing »1 / location: Look for placements in an area where you want to spend some quality time! There are HelpX locations all around the world, with concentrations in North America, Europe and Australia. It is less common for developing countries to have HelpX placements, but they certainly exist and are growing in number. You don’t need to go abroad to participate in HelpX; there are over 300 hosts in Canada, from the Yukon to P.E.I. If you’re interested in traveling between HelpX stints or on your days off, it’s important to consider transportation options in the area of your host’s location. Hosts are often unable or reluctant to make frequent trips to a train station that might be hours away. Working on a gorgeous and remote Croatian island is incredibly appealing—however, that makes it hard to go on fun, tourist day trips.

2 / Hosts: Premier members can look at host reviews left by former helpers. “For a first time I’d go for a HelpX with a lot of recent, positive reviews, and for a profile which is comprehensive,” says Frances Kelsey, a British student who has been travelling and HelpX-ing for more than eight months. “For example, it should explain what you’ll be expected to do, how many hours, what you could do on your days off, what the accommodation will be like, etc.” When contacting a host, ask as many questions as you need to get a complete picture of what the placement entails before you commit. Be respectful and honest when it comes to what hosts are seeking— if they require someone with cement and construction experience, don’t apply based on your Grade 9 woodshop class.

3 / saFetY: I chose to try HelpX by myself, which as a young woman was fraught with the standard dangers of any solo travel. I chose my first placement in a family environment only a few hours from my ‘home base.’ There are many placements available for couples or friends, which would make for a great trip. If you’re HelpX-ing alone (which is also a blast), just ensure you leave the contact information of your host with someone at home in case of a problem.

4 / preparation: Some countries (like Australia) require a work visa for volunteer labour. Make sure you check out the visa requirements before leaving home. Bring work clothes and footwear—one of my friends had to mulch in the outfits she brought for springtime in Paris. She sure looked cute but tomato plants didn’t appreciate it.

I hope I’ve served the same purpose my friend did while we waited for the train

all that time ago, giving a small piece of information that could lead someone else

to a big adventure. The beautiful thing about HelpX is it is there for you whenever

you’re ready, for as long as you want. The sheep in Ireland are waiting… co





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Career Options - Autumn 2012