Simcoe Campus Offers One-Stop Access to Employment Programs

Fanshawe College has offered employment services to Norfolk County for more than 25 years through its Community Career and Employment Services department.

As of August 1, 2010, a new delivery of service contract with Employment Ontario will come into effect. "Employment Ontario Employment Services delivered by Fanshawe College will provide you with one-stop access to employment programs and services," said Wanda Jacobs, Simcoe Campus manager of career and support services.

Wanda Jacobs is the manager of career and support services with Fanshawe's Simcoe Campus and manages Employment Ontario Employment Services at
5 Queensway East in Simcoe.

"It's exciting times for Fanshawe, Employment Ontario and Norfolk County," said Jacobs. "Now we have a full suite of services that allows us to be flexible and put energies to what's needed in the community at that time."

Fanshawe Will Offer all Five Service Components of Employment Services:

• Client service planning and coordination offered through one-on-one consultation through employment consultants and at the information centre and resource areas in Simcoe, Delhi, Waterford, Port Dover and Port Rowan.
  
  
• Resource and information includes free access to computers, resumé templates and software to prepare for interviews, job postings and job descriptions.
  
  
• More flexible job search workshops changed to a maximum of one or two days to help individuals access only the training they need.
  
  
• Job matching, placement and incentives.
  
  
• Job training and retention.

Jacobs said the job search workshops were previously four-day sessions that clients found inconvenient. "Now they are broken down into one-day modules," she said. "It is challenging to deliver in this format , but it's what the people need. It gives them flexibility to meet their schedules in their best timelines."

To help the screening process for both job seekers and employers, there are job readiness assessment tools which can be worked through with the assistance of an employment consultant.

"We will also be looking at web-based self-directed employment assessment tools," Jacobs said. "Individuals will be able to work through the assessment tools independently and from their home or other locations."

"We will open our minds to the fact that we can continue to work with individuals face-to-face, by phone or e-mail, but will also be able to work with them through other tools, such as online meetings," she added.

Being a predominantly rural area where transportation can be an issue, Jacobs said people comfortable with the new technology will be able to access their services more easily.

The job readiness assessment tells if the individual is ready to be hired or if they need additional skills to be able to perform the job successfully. The assessment will also tell the individual what areas they are highly skilled in and in what areas they may need to improve.

Jacobs said subsidies are available for training by employers and they are developing a "mentorship bank" where retired people with a knowledge of a job, or people with specific skills, can coach clients.

As part of the affiliation with the College Sector Employment Services network, a customer satisfaction service charter has been adopted that requires an evaluation of the services provided. "We're accountable too," Jacobs said.

Locally, Fanshawe's Simcoe Campus Community Career and Employment services team consists of 19 full and part time staff. They partner with other agencies including Ontario Works, Norfolk District Business Development Corporation, Norfolk Association for Community Living, Literacy, Simcoe and District Chamber of Commerce and with many employers in the area.

Last year, the activity level of the Simcoe Employment Services department totaled about 16,000 visits, including 8,500 visits to the career resources centres and more than 500 workshops held both in-house and at outreach locations. The Job Connect program worked one-on-one with 360 clients and over 200 were placed in jobs. The summer job service was used by 297 students.

For more information, view the ad (PDF) or visit the Simcoe Campus website.