Amid all of the challenges of COVID-19, the abundance of virtual learning opportunities presents a small silver lining. Many organizations are developing webinars to help career professionals and jobseekers navigate the current moment. Some are converting planned workshops to virtual opportunities. For those who have the required technology, professional development may seem more accessible than ever before – especially considering many organizations are offering discounted or free learning opportunities right now.
Check back for the latest webinars – this article will be updated as more e-learning opportunities are announced throughout May.
Note: Visit the CERIC website to access recordings for free of recent webinars on “Thriving through chaos: How to manage your mental and emotional well-being and help your clients do the same” and
Career Theories and Models at Work (CERIC)
May 1 | 12:00-1:00 p.m. ET
In this free webinar, David L. Blustein will share an overview of the Psychology of Working Theory and present the cutting-edge implications for practice and systems change, based on his chapter in CERIC’s Career Theories and Models at Work: Ideas for Practice book. The implications of the changing workforce, as detailed in his recently published book The Importance of Work in an Age of Uncertainty: The Eroding Work Experience in America, will also be reviewed as an illustration of psychology of working theory in relation to real-world problems. This is the final webinar in a free four-part series hosted by CERIC; recordings of the webinars are available at ceric.ca/webinars.
Deepening our practice regarding white fragility and social justice (CCPA)
May 1 | 3:00-4:00 p.m. ET
Racial equity is possible, but it takes a willingness to transform our colonial conditioning and notice and disrupt the systems that keep racism alive. This session will focus on definitions and understandings of racism through the research of Robin DiAngelo, Jaqueline Battalora and Resmaa Menakem.
Learning & Developing in the Remote World (CPHR Alberta)
May 5 | 1:00-2:00 p.m.
This panel & forum discussion will focus on addressing the following questions:
- How are working, learning and living affected when we’re relating to others through a screen?
- What new and improved L&D opportunities can we take advantage of in a remote work paradigm?
- With a high number of distractions in many remote work environments, how do we ensure participants engage well during training sessions?
- How can HR professionals personally model relationship development in the new paradigm?
- How do we work together effectively as a L&D community to quickly evolve best practices?
Scenario planning and cash flow management in uncertain times (Ontario Nonprofit Network)
May 7 | 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Cash flow management and financial scenario planning can be challenging in the best of times, and especially during uncertain times. Join Finance and Strategy Transformation Strategist Betty Ferreira FCPA, FCMA to gain tips and tools that can help your non-profit improve cash flow management and financial scenario planning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Career Engagement in the COVID-19 Context
May 7 | 1:00-2:00 p.m.
Achieving and sustaining an optimal level of engagement, at work and in other life roles, simply involves matching levels of challenge and capacity (both individual and contextual). However, what happens when challenges such as the COVID-19 crisis impact your day-to-day activities? Join Drs Roberta Neault and Deirdre Pickerell as they discuss how to stabilize your career engagement during chaotic times.
Building career resilience and rejuvenation in the time of COVID-19 (APCDA)
May 10/May 11 | Check your local time zone
Career service professionals have helped clients begin to cope with unprecedented uncertainty, yet many feel unprepared to build career resiliency for the long term. This webinar will use two essential questions to orient clients to their circumstances, build career resiliency and rejuvenate themselves for an unknown future world-of-work.
Networking, Job Hunting & Getting Hired Remotely (ACCES Employment)
May 11 | 12:00-1:00 p.m. ET
This webinar is geared toward jobseekers. Laura Kirsch shares job search strategies, tools and readiness in this environment, using proven methods that may help jobseekers increase chances of getting a job by up to 6x.
How to move your career practice online (ASPECT BC)
May 12 | 10:00 a.m.
As we pivot into our new online reality of online and virtual services, we stand either ready to engage, unsure of how to proceed, or stuck in place with fear. With pandemics such as COVID-19 and availability of modern technology as a service-delivery tool, it is essential that Career Professionals have the support and tools they need to work effectively in this reality.
Going remote with experiential learning and work-integrated learning: a practical outcome-based approach (CERIC)
May 13 | 12:00-1:00 p.m. ET
In this free webinar, presenters Lorraine Godden (Carleton University) and Carolyn Hoessler (Higher Education & Beyond) will discuss the Outcome-Based Experiential Learning (OBEL) Framework, which is a concise systematic set of outcomes, design factors and planning template for an overall aligned experiential learning design and implementation plan. They will also explore how this framework can be applied to remote EL and WIL and help career practitioners answer the questions of what will be a good EL option for post-secondary institutions and community organizations in our current time.
Coping with COVID-19: How self-isolation can impact your body, and the role of diet and exercise (The Conference Board of Canada)
May 13 | 2 p.m. ET
Join Wello’s Performance Dietitian, Kelly Anne Erdman, and INLIV’s General Manager of Fitness and Movement Medicine, Jamie Wilkins, while they present strategies for managing your diet, nutrition and fitness activities while you are working remotely, being in isolation and managing the family.
Rising Stronger: Preparing Canada’s Post-Pandemic Workforce (Workforce Central Canada)
Moderator Ron Painter will be joined by panelists Steven Tobin, Trudy Parsons, Gladys Okine, Sarah Watts-Rynard and Jake Hirsh-Allen for an interactive conversation to examine priorities and strategies that reflect the early and essential efforts of those working at the intersection of workforce and economic development.
How to positively transform your fears (BCCDA)
May 13 | 12 p.m.-1:00 p.m. PT
Do you feel anxious, worried or scared in these challenging times? You are not alone! Certified coach Julia James will facilitate an interactive, experiential webinar to help you learn how to:
- Recognize and externalize your fears
- Become a compassionate witness
- Positively transform your fears
Informational webinar on workers’ rights during COVID-19 (Fight for $15 & Fairness Campaign)
May 14 | 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. ET
This webinar will provide participants up-to-date information on workers’ rights, as well as how workers can organize and advocate for their rights. Front-line workers will share first-hand experience on how COVID-19 is affecting their workplace and how to fight back against bad bosses and laws.
Gap years as an answer to educational disruption: Tools and ideas for professionals and parents (CERIC)
May 15 | 12:00-1:00 p.m. ET
Whether you are a parent or a career practitioner working with students, in this free webinar – presented by educator and youth advocate Michelle Dittmer – you will equip yourself with up-to-date data, ideas and tools for supporting your clients and families through deciding if a gap year is the right fit, its benefits and disadvantages in current times. BONUS: Get some examples of gap year-like activities that can be done NOW.
Making Sense of Career Research 2020 (Career Development Association of Australia)
May 20 | Check your local time zone
In this webinar, Dr Lizzie Knight, Jason Brown and Michael Healy will discuss contemporary career research and propose how to use it in practice.
Roles of the Job Developer, Assistive Tech Specialist and the Employer in Accommodation (Neil Squire Society)
May 26 | 10:00 a.m. PDT
Employers may be fearful that accommodating someone with a disability will be costly, that it will cause hardship to them and their other staff and that the employee will become a burden. This webinar will highlight how the job developer, assistive tech specialist and the employer can work together to simplify the road to accommodation and how easy the process is with the needed supports in place.
Neil Squire is also offering webinars on assistive technology, ergonomic safety and stress management in May.
Helping your NFP organization weather the economic storm (CharityVillage)
May 28 | 1 p.m. ET
The global health crisis has placed world markets in a precarious position with no end in sight. In this time of uncertainty, we’ve seen many not-for-profit organizations across Canada struggle to retain donors and stay afloat. So, what can you do to keep your organization financially and operationally strong during these challenging times? This webinar will discuss the common issues that non-profits tend to face during a recession, as well as immediate measures and long term strategies that organizations can put in place to weather the economic storm.
Supporting frontline and essential workers: The importance of decent work during a crisis (Ontario Nonprofit Network)
May 28 | 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
From physical distancing to managing emotional and physical stress, frontline and essential workers are facing increasing challenges as they support communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has raised the curtain on how these workers and their work are under-valued. How can we support these workers during and after the crisis? By implementing and advocating for decent work.
Ethical case note writing (Career Professionals of Canada)
Free replay available for all of May
Clients, funders and other stakeholders may have access to case note files. Would your notes withstand scrutiny? If your notes were subpoenaed to court, would they be considered “professional?” How well you record your client interactions can have significant impacts. Your notes may affect your client’s progress and, if you work in the funded model, your agency’s continued funding. This webinar will help you strengthen your ability to write ethical case notes.
