By KELLY LOUISEIZE
A new joint venture between Diversity Canada Foundation and Maplejobs Inc. has brought about a revolutionary new website tool for Northern employers to find prospective employees.
Cutting edge technology makes it easier for job seekers to find a job on www.NorthONJobs.com .
The search engine is similar to Google or Yahoo! A search enquiry will scan websites of employers across the North and take the user to relevant web pages.
“The purpose is to make information about jobs readily and easily accessible to youth in any part of Northern Ontario,” says Celia Sankar, director of Diversity Canada.
Job seekers in Timmins, for example, will be able to see the job opportunities in Thunder Bay.
Diversity Canada says more companies are looking for employees on the web.
“Close to one-fifth of those hired through the Internet were sourced from niche sites,” Sankar says.
Regional employers stand to benefit, since the site is designed to drive job seekers to employers ‘ websites.
In addition to the website, Diversity Canada will be releasing a career handbook entitled Employers Want You. Due out in January, the handbook will include advice gathered from employers around the north and beyond on how job candidates can best prepare for success in the interview, and on the job.
Three crucial factors appear to determine if a candidate was the right fit for the job, Sankar says.
The first is appearance. The response from the open-ended question seemed to be a “universal factor, and that surprised us.”
The job seekers’ choice of clothing turned out to be the most often cited determining factor, she says.
“It may be an obvious point, but the managers indicated a significant number of people they interviewed over the years have torpedoed their chances by showing up in jeans, in soiled rumpled clothes or with too trendy a hairstyle.”
The second was job preparedness. When employers screen candidates they often have to do some research to ensure the candidate is a good fit for the job. Equally, more companies demand employees know a little about the company they have applied to.
The third factor is for the candidate to be fully aware of what is expected on the job. There is nothing more futile than to hire a new employee and find they have no experience in the area for which they were hired.
“This then becomes a lesson in time wasting.”
The website is funded by employers who pay to post. No fee is asked of the job seekers.
