Programs act as springboard to jobs of today
The recession has left many unemployed and lacking recent education for their resumes
In today’s economy, five years is a lifetime and skill sets become obsolete quickly.
At least that’s what Judi Levita found when she decided to re-enter the workforce after five years away from it raising a child and looking after aging parents.
Levita had worked in public relations and corporate communications since the mid-1980s. But the environment she’d left was quite different from the current tech-driven communications industry.
“I felt a bit like a dinosaur — while I was out, digital communication and social media took off,” says Levita. “When I started thinking about going back to work, I realized that was going to be a serious impediment if I didn’t get up to speed, not to mention the fact that I’m over 50 and had concerns about the likelihood of being hired at my age.”
So Levita decided to take a course on social media and strategic digital communications offered by the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies.
“I did it rather reluctantly; it was purely because I wanted to go back and do what I had been doing,” she says. “Much to my surprise I discovered I really loved working in digital communications.”
Levita points to the certificate as a springboard for her being recently hired as senior manager of digital communications at Interac.
But she’s not alone; continuing education programs across the country are launching new courses and certificates directly linked to the changing demands of the workforce — from certificates in project management and social media to courses on conflict resolution.
Carolyn Young, director of continuing studies at Western University, says the courses are picking up momentum, partly because of new opportunities offered by online learning and partly because the recession has left many people unemployed without recent education to bolster their resumes.
“There’s no doubt you can do a lot of important learning on the job but to take that outside and go into a classroom and try to formalize that with a certificate signifies a person’s willingness to grow and recognize the changing industry,” says Young.
Over the past year, Western has seen a 24-percent increase in enrolment in its courses, which includes individuals taking multiple courses.
“In online learning, we added five courses last year and saw enrolment increase by 81 per cent online,” adds Young. “The current in-demand occupations did not exist 10 or 20 years ago.”
According to Young, the average Cana-
“I felt a bit like a dinosaur — while I was out, digital communication and social media took off.” JUDI LEVITA
dian will hold eight jobs over his lifetime. And many of these positions will be highly specialized.
“If a company wants to downsize, the first it will get rid of are the generalists — the specialists are the last to go,” says Art Noordeh, director of continuing education at York University.
The universities and colleges recognize this, says Noordeh, and have taken to creating courses to fill the gaps.
The classes have also become a launch pad for recently unemployed people looking to get a jump on the competition.
Jeff Froude worked at the Ford assembly plant in St. Thomas, Ont., for nearly10 years. When it shuttered in 2011, he took advantage of the closure by making a career change and taking a course in conflict management at Western.
“Not only did it beef up my resume, but it showed employers I’m trying to actively learn and make myself a better candidate for that position at that time,” says Froude who now works in conflict mediation with the Thames Valley School Board. “Plus it exposed me to new people I might not have met.”