This blog post is not based on empirical research but my more than 15 years observations in Employment services. Perhaps one of my blog readers may feel compelled to take this topic up for empirical research.
Career exploration includes taking a battery of assessment tools to measure for interests, abilities, aptitudes, barriers to employment, job search attitude, personality, and other areas determined by the psychometrists, career coach, or trained assessor. Instructions given to the client are that there is no wrong or right answer because the results should give the candidate a good idea regarding career decision options that are in line with the various areas assessed, including the client’s personality and interests . The client is also informed that they can validate the results because they know themselves more than a battery of tests. Assessments and tests are developed by human beings that are not free of bias and therefore validating of results is important.
Assessments are not only limited to career exploration and career decision making. Assessments extend to human resource recruitment, psychological tests, including neuropsychological tests, and intelligence tests. Assessments therefore play a big part in our lives.
Career decision making is valuable for everyone. Visible minorities would most likely benefit from going a step further and researching labour market and hiring trends. Hiring trends for visible minorities in specific industries. In a ideal world free of bias (Everyone is biased), pursuing a career based on a battery of tests and areas of interest would work for everyone, however a good number of people find themselves unemployed for an extended period of time, after investing time and money in areas that are not in demand or areas that are difficult to secure employment.
My observations were before the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 led to changes in the labour market and job loss for many historically marginalized groups including visible minorities. Visible minorities were impacted the most and that means many people will be working on reentering the labour market or looking to make career changes. If considering retraining I would strongly recommend researching your area of interest and realistically assessing if your area of interest will lead to employment. If you are on employment insurance you may consider tapping into second Career training through Employment Ontario. Second Career is a government grant for people looking to go back to a tertiary institution and training in a new field of interest. I would recommend areas of training that require specialized training, if you have the aptitude or if you are willing to put in extra hours of work. Jobs that can not be completed without specialized training, such as nursing normally lead to employment immediately after graduating.
Labour market outlooks are currently good in the health care industry (Nursing, Personal Support Workers, Physicians, Radiographers etc), Information Technology (Business Analysts, Software Developer, Web Developer etc.), Trades (welding, auto mechanic, heavy duty mechanic, plumbers, electricians, millwright, etc), Sales Associate, drivers, General labour, Farm workers, Food services industry, Engineering, Construction, among other areas.
Please feel free to reach out to us if you need assistance with career exploration and Career decision making.
Angela Rudo Marova