Career Boost
2017:
Exhibitors’
Fair and Panel
Discussions
Learn how to boost your career
by transferring your skills across
different industries.
Welcome to Career Boost 2017:
Exhibitors’ Fair and Panel Discussions
Career Boost is not a career fair! It’s your opportunity to seek information and ask
questions about business trends, corporate cultures, and the transferable skills necessary
for success in different sectors. You’ll accomplish this by visiting the exhibitors’ fair and
by attending panel discussions centered on different segments of our local economy.
Throughout, you can explore the transferability of your skills, discover diverse sectors,
learn about business trends, and the importance of adaptability in today’s labour
market.
This event is brought to you by Career Connection at Bow Valley College and is funded
by The Government of Alberta, Ministry of Community and Social Services.
We wish you a rewarding and enjoyable day.
Thank you for attending!
Agenda
9:00 a.m to
3:30 p.m
Exhibitors’ Fair
(2nd Floor BVC North Campus)
9:00 a.m to
10:45 a.m
Welcoming
(1st Floor Lecture Theatre N124 BVC North Campus)
Elza Bruk - Dean, Centre for Excellence in Immigrant & Intercultural Advancement, Bow Valley College.
Market Update… trends and direction.
Jeanette Sutherland - Manager Workforce &
Productivity, Calgary Economic Development (CED)
Keynote: Adaptability & Skills Transfer… Now or
Never.
Ify Chiwetelu - co-Host CBC Radio show Now or Never
What are the skills you can take from one job to
another and how to market them?
Nicole Jelley - Executive Director, Talent Pool
2 | Career Boost 2017
11:00 a.m. to
12:00 p.m.
Panel Discussion
(2nd Floor Room N231 BVC North Campus)
Moderator: Jeanette Sutherland, Manager of Workforce &
Productivity at Calgary Economic Development.
1:00 p.m. to
2:00 p.m.
•
High Tech (Anette Ceraficki, Director Talent & People
Development at Benevity)
•
Agribusiness (Lori Free, Director of Talent Attraction and
Sourcing at Agrium)
•
Energy (Kelly Murphy, Vice President Human Resources
at Devon)
•
Renewable Technology (Paula McGarrigle, Managing
Director at Solas Energy Consulting Inc.)
Panel Discussion
(2nd Floor Room N231 BVC North Campus)
Moderator: Benjamin Kemp, Vice President Corporate
Development at Bowen
2:30 p.m. to
3:30 p.m.
•
Retail (Steve Brierley, Associate Vice President Talent
Management at FGL Sports & Marks)
•
Tourism (Shelley Zucht-Shorter, Vice President Indestination & Event Services at Tourism Calgary)
•
Financial Services (Alex Ritchie, Director Post-Secondary
Student Relations at ATB)
•
Creative Industries (Russ Rickey, Strategy Director at
Critical Mass)
Panel Discussion
(2nd Floor Room N231 BVC North Campus)
Moderator: Benjamin Kemp, Vice President Corporate
Development at Bowen
•
Manufacturing (David Brown, Business Development at
DIRTT)
•
Construction (Dan Piekut,
Management Services)
•
Public (Cheryl Goldsmith, Business Partner Talent
Acquisition at The City of Calgary)
•
Transportation (Norma-Jean Rocky, Program Manager
Talent Planning at WestJet)
Recruiter
at
Graham
Career Boost 2017 | 3
Keynote, Guest Speakers & Moderators
Ify Chiwetelu
Elza Bruk
4 | Career Boost 2017
Ify Chiwetelu hosts Now or Never, heard nationally Saturdays on
CBC Radio One. On Now or Never, Ify and her co-host meet people
on personal missions to make change, big or small. Ify is a Nigerianborn, former Calgarian who quit a job in the energy sector to pursue
her creativity. In doing so, Ify charted her own path to form a career
as a stand-up comic, improv performer, and comedy writer. She has
written articles for CBC COMEDY and is a contributing writer for the
upcoming Season 2 of CBC’s hit television show, Baroness Von
Sketch Show.
Elza Bruk is the Dean of the Centre for Excellence in Immigrant and
Intercultural Advancement. Elza has had many roles at Bow Valley
College, but the common thread has been her commitment to
enabling Albertans to achieve their career aspirations.
Jeanette
Sutherland
Jeanette Sutherland, is the Manager of Workforce and Productivity
at Calgary Economic Development, where she is responsible for the
strategic planning of workforce development strategies designed
to maximize economic development and workforce investment in
Calgary.
Jeanette’s employment background includes strategic market
planning, project management, communications, marketing, public
relations, talent management, and program development. Prior to
joining CED, Jeanette worked as Regional Workforce Development
Manager for a global talent firm where she was responsible for
the strategic development, management and implementation of
programs designed to overcome skill and employment shortages.
Jeanette has extensive experience managing talent development
and working with a variety of sectors on workforce and economic
development. She chairs the Calgary Works Employer Advisory
Committee and sits on a Senior Business Leaders Advisory Board for
talent management, as well as 8 committees/boards for workforce
and industry. Jeanette manages the Calgary Connector Program to
connect youth, Aboriginals and Immigrant Professionals to industry;
and the Careers in Calgary program to build workforce capacity.
She’s led 4 national and international labour attraction missions and
participates in regional workforce strategy sessions with government,
education and industry.
Jeanette has supplemented her major studies in Education at the
University of Calgary, with training in business, human resources
and marketing.
Nicole Jelley
Nicole Jelley, Executive Director of Talent Pool. Nicole is a multi-lingual
senior Human Resources and Operations executive with extensive
experience in international and domestic markets. She is proficient
in employment legislation and practices in North and Latin America,
thereby bringing a strategic perspective to HR initiatives in the retail,
manufacturing, not for profit and consulting industries. She holds an
LLB degree in Commercial Law and earned her PHR designation from
the Society of Human Resources Management.
Career Boost 2017 | 5
Benjamin
Kemp
As Vice President, Corporate Development, Benjamin Kemp is
responsible for a broad portfolio of strategic functions at BOWEN.
With responsibility for sales, marketing, and client relationships,
Benjamin and his team are expanding BOWEN’s reach across Canada
and diversifying our client base while continuing to uphold delivery
commitments and excellence for our existing clients.
Prior to joining BOWEN, Benjamin spent a decade in senior roles in
the technology industry including Global Director with Oracle and
General Manager of Sales Operations for Xerox Canada where he
focused on developing client-centered teams that were inspired
to think and act differently. After graduating in international
business, he honed his skills in the UK recruiting industry where he
understood both the demand and supply driven markets in a highly
competitive space.
Benjamin is actively involved in youth development and has
introduced internship and practicum programs at BOWEN. He works
directly with educational institutions focused on enhancing student
success in entering the workplace.
Outside of work, Benjamin can be found in the Canadian
Rockies taking full advantage of one of the world’s greatest
outdoor playgrounds.
Panelists
Anette
Ceraficki
6 | Career Boost 2017
Anette is the Director of Talent and People Development at Benevity,
a rapidly-growing Calgary-based software company and social
enterprise that creates technology to power responsible business.
Anette has been a talent scout and worked with folks for or about
careers for 15+ years in Calgary and across Western Canada. She
has strongly held beliefs about supporting folks as they embark on
new adventures and move through their careers and is more than
happy to share the benefits of her learning and experience. Anette is
passionate about the outdoors, is a proud Canadian and can often be
found travelling or enjoying live music.
Lori Free
Lori Free’s experience spans the national and global sourcing of talent
as she leads Agrium’s Global Talent Attraction & Sourcing Center of
Excellence. Lori sits on the HR Leadership Team with responsibility for
the recruiting and talent sourcing function spanning all levels. Her
team is recognized for their strategic, innovative and results oriented
approach to securing talent.
Lori’s expertise includes long and short term strategy development,
talent & diversity mapping for top tier search, recruitment of critical
talent and the development/implementation of internal hiring
tools and processes with the intention to create a top notch hiring
experience.
Prior to working with Agrium Lori held various leadership roles in
Talent Acquisition including KPMG Canada where she led Canadian
recruitment for experienced hire Tax and Advisory practices.
Kelley Murphy
Paula
McGarrigle
Through many different roles of increasing responsibility in Canada
and the United States with Devon Energy, Kelly is now the Vice
President, Human Resources of Devon Canada Corporation. Kelly is
a strategic thinker and a trend setter in the field of Human Resources
with extensive experience in the corporate and non-corporate
world. With her pragmatic approach to organizational design
and development, Kelly is helping the transformation to the” new
normal” at Devon through pragmatic talent management, employee
engagement, and innovation. An alumni of the University of Calgary,
Kelly holds a bachelor of sociology and a certificate in human
resources. In 2016, Kelly was recognized by the Human Resources
Institute of Alberta with their Leader of the Year Award.
Paula McGarrigle is a professional with over 20 years of experience in
the energy sector in North America. The majority of her experience
has been in the renewable energy sector. Paula is the co-founder
of Solas Energy Consulting. Her experience includes project
development, climate change, business development, and strategic
planning. Paula was previously the head of Shell Wind Energy for
Canada, and started the Suncor Alternative and Renewable Energy
group.
Paula’s academic background includes a Bachelor of Science in
Biology and Chemistry and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical
Engineering. In addition, Paula holds an MBA in Finance from Queen’s
University, Canada. Paula is a member of APEGA and the Canadian
Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) and the Canadian Solar Industry
Association.
Career Boost 2017 | 7
Steve Brierley
Steve has held progressive positions in talent development over the
past 20 years in Canada and the USA. While in the USA, Steve was a
franchise partner and General Manager of a multi-national training
organization providing training and leader development consultation
to Fortune 100 organizations and government agencies.
After returning to Canada, Steve established the University of Alberta
School of Business Executive Development office in Calgary as
Director of Executive Education. He then joined the energy sector with
Talent Management roles at Encana Inc. and most recently as Director
of Talent Management at Enbridge Inc. In his new role as Associate
Vice President of Talent Management for Canadian Tire, FGL Sports
and Marks, Steve leads enterprise wide talent practices for succession,
performance, development and executive development. Steve is also
an experienced facilitator, trainer and coach.
As a lifelong learner, Steve obtained a Master of Arts in Leadership
from Royal Roads University in 2012 and is currently pursuing
International Coaching Federation certification.
Shelley
Zucht-Shorter
Shelley is the Vice President of In-destination and Event Services for
Tourism Calgary.
For the past 7 ½ years Shelley and her team have been responsible
for executing a strategic tourism plan that includes sport & major
event hosting, in-destination marketing, business development,
and creating and delivering Tourism Calgary’s signature events.
She is passionate about creating remarkable and memorable
guest experiences and has worked on over 100 high profile events
during her career, most recently the JUNO’s in 2016, and her pride
and joy: the annual Calgary White Hat Awards. Shelley is active
on the following community boards and advisory committees:
Canada 150, the Calgary White Hat Awards, City of Calgary Event
Advisory Committee, Breakfast on the Bridge committee in support
of the Calgary Military Family Resource Centre, the Every Woman
Foundation, SKAL Calgary, Canada’s Sport Heroes committee, and the
Celebration of Sport advisory committee.
8 | Career Boost 2017
Alex Ritchie
Alex Ritchie grew up in Grande Prairie and went to the Grande
Prairie Regional College taking the two year Business Administration
diploma program.
Alex transitioned from college into banking and has over 19 years of
experience in the financial industry. He has covered various banking
roles within the province of Alberta including Branch Manager with
two financial institutions, Regional Sales Manager of Mutual Funds
where he had a responsibility to develop and coach sales teams, as
well as Business Development Manager in Conditional Sales. Alex has
spent 13 years in various leadership positions and has a strong passion
for coaching and employee development.
In Alex’s current role he leads a small but passionate customer facing
team at ATB’s University of Calgary and University of Alberta locations.
Our team’s goal is to attract millennials to bank with us, enhance our
long-term brand with students and ensure ATB is recognized as the
employer of choice
Russ Rickey,
PhD
Russ started thinking and writing about digital experiences while
working towards an MA and PhD. His dissertation was one of the first
focused on digital storytelling and performance.
While in graduate school, Russ joined a dot-com to lead their web
design and marketing team and decided that was the path to follow.
Growing along with the digital industry, he has been everything
from a copywriter to a group creative director while leading creative
marketing teams. Notable clients include AT&T, Blue Shield of
California, Clorox, Coca-Cola, Disney, ESPN, Infiniti, Kraft Foods, MTV,
Nissan, Sony, and the United Way.
Russ is currently a Strategy Director for Critical Mass. He regularly
writes on digital experiences and continues to return to universities to
share his experience with students.
David Brown
David Brown, Business Development at DIRTT Environmental
Solutions. Shattering perceptions with facts and technology, David
Brown instigates conversations which explore better ways to build.
Equal parts educator and entertainer, he’s spent more than 15 years
traveling North America to study trends in operations, marketing,
manufacturing and construction.
What he has come to learn is that there is a connection between the
built environment and its influence on our lives, the opportunities we
seize and our wellbeing….today and in the future.
Career Boost 2017 | 9
Dan Piekut
Dan Piekut is a recruiter with 10 years’ experience in Talent Acquisition.
He has experience as both an in house HR recruiter and on the agency
side in the Construction, Oil and gas and social care industries.
He has managed full cycle recruitment for both corporate and
technical roles ranging from new grad to VP level across Canada and
Internationally.
Currently working in house with Graham construction he has prior
experience with Progress Energy, ConocoPhillips, Toyo Engineering
and many other clients.
He is passionate for the field and finds a lot of personal satisfaction
in getting to know people, learning and different roles and
ultimately helping people hire for their teams and helping people
with their careers.
Cheryl
Goldsmith
Cheryl Goldsmith is the Leader of Talent Acquisition at The City of
Calgary. Her work group is corporate recruitment, and their most
recent project is the launch of new tools and assessments to identify
quality hires. Her area coordinates The City’s LinkedIn pages, and
they use this channel to recruit for hard-to-fill positions.
Cheryl has had multiple careers – as a scientist, a teacher,
international development worker, and in Human Resources.
Some of her key achievements include: piloting the first immigrant
mentorships with CRIEC (the Calgary Regional Immigrant
Employment Council); initiating and supporting the Diversity and
Inclusion framework, the creation of a youth Facebook page, and
coaching her team to a winning submission for various Canadian
and Albertan employment awards.
Norma-Jean
Rocky
10 | Career Boost 2017
Norma-Jean Rocky is the Manager for Talent Planning at WestJet in
Calgary, AB. She joined WestJet’s People & Culture department in
January 2017 to develop their people strategy, succession plans, and
leadership pipeline. As a former McKinsey & Company consultant
and independent management consultant, Norma-Jean has advised
Fortune 100 companies, SMBs, local governments, and non-profits
across Canada and the USA. Norma-Jean was also the founder of
a failed baby food company, but she learned a lot and met some
amazing people along the way. Norma-Jean is a wife and mom of two
kids and passionate about community development, healthy children,
women’s leadership, and entrepreneurship. Norma-Jean has a
Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of British Columbia.
Exhibitors Fair Map
North Campus, Second Floor
1. Design Group Staffing & Talentcor
12. Concorde Group Entertainment
2. Benevity
13. Tourism Calgary
3. MNP (The Self-Employment Program)
14. Carewest
4. Adecco Employment Services
15. Immigrant Access Fund (IAF)
5. ATB Financial
16. Friday Professional Group & WeEmploy
6. Business Edge Coaching
7. DIRTT Environmental Solutions
8. Bowen
9. WestJet
10. Reach Hire
17. Securitas
18. Motive Action Training Foundation
19. Connector Program (CED)
20. Connections to the Workplace (BVC)
11. Diversified Staffing
Career Boost 2017 | 11
List of Transferable Skills
Transferable skills are skills that you can take with you from one situation to another,
from one job to another. The skills below are important to employers. Which ones do
you have? Note: This is not an exhaustive list.
Communicate: Speak and/or write well and get your ideas across to other easily.
Interpret: Look at things and make sense of them, figure out what makes things work, why
there is a problem, etc.
Analyze: Break a problem down to see what is really going on.
Creativity: Use your imagination to come up with new ideas or to solve problems.
Order Goods/Supplies: Keep track of items and how to order them.
Decision Making: Make good judgements about what to do in a difficult situation, even when
the supervisor is not present.
Adapt to Situations: Learn a new task and/or work in a different area with
different co- workers.
Explain: Tell others why you do certain things the way you do or why you think the
way you do.
Think Ahead: Plan your day and keep problems/accidents from happening.
Numeracy: Use a calculator, cash register or computer to answer numerical questions.
Operate Equipment: Turn equipment on and off as well as how to use it safely and wisely. (If
you don’t know how to operate certain things, you always ask for help.)
Record Data: Write thorough and accurate notes/numbers. Create reports.
Set Goals: Set goals for yourself to achieve and plan ways to achieve them.
Learn Quickly: Do new things and carry out new responsibilities easily by watching other or
by following instructions.
Confident: Believe in and feel good about yourself.
Pleasant: Nice person for others to talk to and be with.
Energetic: Lots of energy to use at work and at play.
Helpful: Enjoy helping people solve their problems.
Trustworthy: Can be trusted to get the job done, to look after things or keep secrets that are
very important to other people.
Efficient: Perform tasks in the fastest and simplest ways that they can be done.
Organize: Arrange people/plan events/put things in order so that they run smoothly.
12 | Career Boost 2017
Delegate: Assign tasks to others to complete.
Assemble Products: Put things together with your hands.
Take Instructions: Follow instructions well, ask questions when you do not fully
understand instructions.
Motivate Others: Help keep others’ spirits up and encourage them to do their best.
Service Customers: Be friendly, patient and polite with customers and try your best to
service their needs/wants.
Dependable: Can be counted on to do what you said you would do (i.e. show up for work on
time, do your job duties well, etc.).
Flexible: Can carry out many different responsibilities, sometimes with very little
advanced notice.
Self-assured: Feel very confident and positive about yourself and your abilities.
Supervise: Watch others to make sure that everything is ok and/or that they are doing
their jobs well.
Time Management: Plan your time so that you don’t forget to do things, you’re almost
always/always on time, and you know how to prioritize and give yourself enough time to do
the things that you need to do.
Trouble-shoot: Figure out what the problem is, why there is a problem, or prevent a problem
before it happens.
Handle Complaints: Deal effectively with complaints made by customers or constructive
criticism from your employer.
Listen: Listen/pay attention to what others are saying, without daydreaming or forming
judgement about them.
Considerate: Always think about how others may feel about things, especially before you say
or do things that my affect them.
Punctual: Always on time for things.
Loyal: Committed and devoted to things/people that mean a lot to you (i.e. your best friend,
your job/supervisor).
Precise: Make sure that things are done accurately, correctly and exactly.
Resourceful: Thing of new, creative and different ways to do things when there are no obvious
solutions available.
Strategic: Big picture thinker. You anticipate, think critically, question prevailing assumptions
and test multiple hypotheses simultaneously, and you encourage and exemplify honest,
rigorous debriefs to extract lessons.
Relator: Forge deep genuine relationships.
Career Boost 2017 | 13
On-Campus Food and Coffee Options
The Market
Located on the second floor of South Campus, The Market offers a variety of freshly
prepared meals including breakfast hot off the grill to start your day. The Market has
a wide selection of lunchtime entrees such as freshly made pizza, pasta, panini-style
sandwiches, grill features and a WOK feature that rotates weekly. The Market also
hosts a chef’s table that offers daily features.
Location: South Campus, 2nd Floor
Hours: Monday to Friday 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Riverwalk Café
Located on the first floor of North Campus, enjoy a selection of Starbucks proudlybrew specialty hot and cold beverages. Riverwalk Café also offers freshly made
smoothies, sandwiches, pastries and snacks for on-the-go.
Location: North Campus, 1st Floor Hours: Monday to Friday 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Tim Hortons
Conveniently located on the first floor of South Campus, in front of the City Hall
C-Train station. Bow Valley College features a full-service Tim Hortons. Pick up a hot
beverage, your favorite sweet treat or one of Tim Horton’s delicious combo deals.
Location: South Campus, 1st Floor Hours: Monday to Thursday: 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. | Friday: 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
14 | Career Boost 2017
Thank you
Special thanks to our guest speakers, moderators and panelists.
This event was made possible through funding by The Government of Alberta,
Ministry of Community and Social Services.
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Career Connection is operated by Bow Valley College.
Career Connection is a career and employment
information service centre.
Drop by to use our self-directed resource centre or schedule
an appointment with a career coach.
Career Connection
Bow Valley College West Campus
300 – 6th Avenue SE
Calgary, Alberta
T: 403.410.3203
To learn more, visit mycareerconnection.ca