Rural Workshops

Live in the surrounding areas of City of Kawartha Lakes. We have many workshops lined up to help you find that summer job. Click here for information and for the July calendar click here and here for August.

VCCS hosting Open House for Student Centre

VCCS Employment Student Centre is having their open house July 14, 2011. Click here.

July Employer Presentations

Register for our FREE employer presentations. Call 705-328-0180 or e-mail scolville@careerservices.org

Learn about employment and career opportunities.

Total Cable Inc. July 19, 2011
RCMP July 25, 2011

Can social media really help you find a job?

More and more social media is entering our lives, our workplaces and our homes. Enquiries to "join my network" pop into our inboxes everyday. But can social networking really help in your job search? More than ever businesses and workplaces are tweeting, linking in and setting up facebook pages as ways of marketing their services. For the job seeker this can provide a wealth of information. What is the company's social media presence, what topics are they presenting and how current are their posts. Having a good understanding of a company gives you valuable information that you can use in your job search. It can help you target who to contact for informational interviews and identify a company's mission, beliefs and values that can help you tailor your resume and coverletter. How to use social media in your job search efforts is just one way that VCCS can help you. Come in and see us to find out more.

RCMP Employer Presentation!

VCCS will be holding an employer presentation from the RCMP on July 25^th at 10am. Be sure to check out this great opportunity! You will learn about career opportunities, basic requirements, the recruiting process, cadet training pay and will be able to meet the recruiter for the Central Region! Please call 705-328-0180 or visit VCCS Employment Services at 370 Kent St. West in Lindsay to register.

3 Tips for Getting a Job in the Arts

Maybe you want to make a living as a photographer, web designer, watercolour artist, or jewellery designer, and have noticed the distinct lack of postings for those jobs in the newspaper? Maybe your résumé is filled with your day-job experiences, but doesn’t show your creative side. Maybe you just completed a college or university degree in the arts and don’t want to be stuck in an unrelated 9-to-5 job.

Here are some tips to help you transition into getting paid for your art:

1) Make One New Thing Every Day & Share It
It doesn’t have to be a big thing, but it does have to be complete. Don’t spend half the day on it, either. Just a sketch will do. Give yourself an hour, make something cool and share it.

You might think you’ll run out of ideas, but you’re wrong. Generating one new thing each day (one sketch, one hair clip, one song, one poem, one photo, etc), primes the pump on the well of creativity. One small idea will lead to bigger ideas. Your imagination will stretch and grow. Running out of ideas is a myth. You’ll soon find you have more ideas than you have time for.

One new thing each day gives you the chance to practice, practice, practice, and improve your skills. It also builds your portfolio. Think of it: you’ll have 365 new things each year. Hopefully, you’ll have improved and learned a few new skills, too.

Creating one new thing each day proves your commitment to your art. It establishes discipline.

But creating one new thing each day is only half the job. You also have to share it. Sharing your art gives you the opportunity to receive feedback, and this is vital if you expect to make a living off your art. An easy way to do this is to get a blog, post pictures of your art and share it with the world. Let your friends know what you’re doing and invite them to take a look.

Sharing is vital to art. You should always create your art to please yourself, but you need to share it, too. Showing your art transforms it. Actors know this. Dress rehearsals are notorious for being a mess, while opening night goes off without a hitch. All art requires an audience.

You can also share your art by joining a community.

2) Join a Community
There are lots of local art communities in your area. Take a look. Volunteer at the art gallery. Help out at the library’s book sale. Offer your paintings for non-profit organizations to hang on their office walls. Look for free opportunities to share your work, while getting to know more people with the same interests.

You might view other artists as competition. Don’t. Every individual is unique. No one will make the same art, even when given the same subject. Other artists are valuable resources. They might know of opportunities that are not right for them, but might be right for you. Other artists can help you learn new techniques, expand your art skills. They can give you suggestions for improvement. They can talk in the language of your art. They can commiserate, celebrate and sympathize.

Opportunities around & near Kawartha Lakes:

• http://fourinfo.cioc.ca/bresults.asp?STerms=art%2C+heritage&SType=A&CMType=L&PBID=&NUM=
• http://www.city.kawarthalakes.on.ca/residents/parks-recreation-culture/arts-culture-heritage/arts-culture

If you are really in a remote area and don’t have local art communities, you could join an online community. Here are a few to get you thinking:

• http://www.deviantart.com/
• http://500px.com/
• http://www.starvingjewelryartists.com/

3) Deadlines
“Goals are dreams with deadlines” – Diana Scharf Hunt
Deadlines are an artist’s best friends. Simply defined, deadlines are time limits. Without a deadline, you could potentially work on the same piece of art forever. Without a deadline, how do you know when to stop? How do you know if you’ve grown? Deadlines are a vital part of the artist-customer relationship. If you cannot produce a piece of art on time for a customer, then that customer will find an artist who can. Art shows and craft sales also make great deadlines— reserve a booth today!

Be sure to give your art, whatever it may be, an audience and an opening night, then watch your art soar.

For more great ideas on getting a job in the arts, check out this video:

Nick Campbell - The Creative Gap: Becoming Better Than Most from Nick Campbell on Vimeo.

Additional Resources:

• http://www.communityartsontario.ca/
• http://canadaartsconnect.com/
• http://www.womensharingart.org/
• http://canadaartsconnect.com/2010/07/canadian-arts-jobs-from-around-the-web-mon-july-12-2010/
• http://www.artcareersinfo.com/finding-an-art-job.html
• http://www.suite101.com/content/findingwork-a1029
• http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2011-05-03-inside-higher-ed-arts-programs-college_n.htm

Photo Sources

1) "copper Maple Tree" by Paul Williams

2) Coloured Pencils

3) "Kennisis" by Bill Lishman

Essential Skills

Essential Skills are skills needed to carry out tasks on a daily basis to successfully function in the workforce. All nine skills are required in every job. These nine essential skills are: Reading, Document Use, Numeracy, Writing, World Communications, Working With Others, Thinking Skills, Computer Use and Continuous Learning. All nine are used in different combinations, in different applications, in every occupation.

Use these tools to:

• better understand essential skills needed for the job you are applying;
• help identify essential skills strengths and areas to consider for improvement;
• ensure you have the essential skills to get the job done; and
• make informed training and career decisions

For more information call us at 705.328.0180 or come into VCCS at 370 Kent Street, West, Whitney Town Centre, for more information.

For more information: http://www.tcu.gov.on.ca/pepg/audiences/colleges/progstan/essential.html