Applying for a real job

Shane graduates high school this year, and now we are starting to look for a real job. His interest is in working in a day care centre, based on how good he was and how much fun he had last summer as a volunteer for 2 weeks at a kids' day camp.

The plan for today is to cold call some places in the area, meaning we don't have appointments but we will go to the places we like and just ask if they have any opportunities. Shane will need to be able to get to work either by walking or using public transit. That is the first consideration. I searched on Canada411.com for "Child Day Care" and put in our postal code. That gave me about 5 places he could walk to. I then googled the same thing, and that revealed another 2 potential places. I've made a list of addresses and wrote down the phone numbers.

The next step is making sure his resume is up to date, and I've printed off 5 clean copies. Resume writing is a real skill. I happen to have experience as a recruiter, so I am confident that Shane has a great resume. If you are not confident, and you can afford it, it would be worth-while to pay for a professional to write your resume, or at the least, get a trusted friend, who is good in English, or a teacher, to check your resume.

We also have an email from his supervisor of the day camp from last summer, giving feedback on Shane's performance. I have made copies of this and will attach it to the resume.

Today, we will go to the furthest places first. That way, we get some practice in with perhaps places we don't care as much about, and if we don't do well, it won't be as disappointing. We can also use these places as a test to see what their needs are, and maybe address some of these before we go to the better places. Shane does not have a current Police Record Check, for example, but that's an easy thing to get. We might also find out that our expectations about "helping out" in a day care centre is just not feasible, and we might have to re-adjust. Hopefully not, but we won't know until we try!

Wish us luck!
Lisa