At the Trenton Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC), we have been supporting military spouses to figure out their next best career step for over a decade with our portfolio development course. But when the pandemic hit, we had the opportunity to shift our programming online in partnership with Military Family Services (MFS), unlocking an opportunity to support our clients in new and impactful ways. Here are some of our key learnings from our program transition that enabled us not only to connect with our local families but with military families all over the world.
1. Go live
We strive to provide real-time facilitation, making each session exclusive to those who attend. This means we do not record these sessions and do not offer playback videos. If someone misses a session, they can reach out to us directly to get caught up. This practice has proven to increase the group “gelling” process and the ability to have deep, meaningful and non-judgmental discussions in a safe space.
2. Support mental health
Many CDPs understand the direct correlation between employment and mental health.
Portfolio development is a personal, holistic and profound process. We ask participants to dig deep into their background to unearth their prior learning and the activity that brought that learning on. As you can imagine, this process can be very emotional and requires a facilitator who has been trained in this process.
We are lucky that many MFRCs are ecosystems with in-house support including mental health teams and programs specific to the unique challenges of military lifestyle. I have a social service worker diploma and work hard to have strong connections to our local community resources such as the Enrichment Centre in Belleville, ON (which I featured in a podcast episode on psychological safety). I also stay in tune to resources such as the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services Mental Health supports.
Elizabeth Nicholas will be presenting a session on “Empowering Military Spouses’ Employment and Economic Opportunities” at CERIC’s Cannexus24 conference, taking place virtually and in-person in Ottawa from Jan. 29-31, 2024. Learn more and register at cannexus.ceric.ca.
3. Create comfort through communications
While curriculum-based, each session includes the chance to provide verbal comments, write in the chat and participate in interactive activities. I welcome questions as we go, asking participants to communicate to their comfort level. Some people want to send direct messages to the facilitators while others are comfortable unmuting and asking questions directly to the group. Meeting people where they are is critical to the process.
4. Capture key learnings
We assign participants weekly homework. The homework scaffolds to ensure a complete portfolio is created as the course progresses. The program is fast-paced and can bring up many key questions; the homework helps participants to focus on key areas while having the option to capture thoughts and ideas to explore later.
5. Leave room for exploration
There is nothing better than a great question, and with the years of experience I have, I love asking key questions. I enjoy inspiring people to look deeper, have faith in their aspirations and dig deep. In doing so, we are often faced with the need to cover other career development topics that are not embedded into the program curriculum. This is where working sessions shine. Each week, I offer participants the option to vote on a topic and/or ask questions pertaining to their specific needs during a one-hour virtual group meeting.
Meeting people where they are is important. We also offer participants the opportunity to have one-on-one virtual meetings tailored to their needs.
6. Fortify your networks
I continue to work hard to build strong connections in the Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) community to advance my learning and better support my clients. For instance, I sit on the Board of the Canadian Association of Prior Learning Assessment (CAPLA) and participate in committee work. For any CDP interested in learning more about PLAR, CAPLA’s Community of Learning welcomes everyone (members and non-members) to join for free.
I also work hard to build my network on LinkedIn, connecting to my CDP and HR peers. As portfolio development covers many angles (e.g. employment, entrepreneurship, education and self-discovery), having strong connections to which I can make warm referrals is critical to my client’s success.
7. Evaluate success
Registration and evaluation surveys focus on collecting pertinent data including participants’ connection to the military community, current employment status and what they are hoping to learn. We also ask about their level of knowledge and confidence before and after the session, in addition to seeking their feedback on what they enjoyed the most and least. This gives us the ability to pivot our programming as needed.
8. Get the word out
Members of the Employment and Entrepreneurship Program team do the bulk of the promotion for this program on a national level using their strategic marketing plan. The program has a dedicated webpage in English and French. I also share the information in my networks and on LinkedIn, and our Communications Specialist at the Trenton MFRC makes sure it is shared on a local level as well.
Prior to the pandemic, it was just a dream to have the portfolio development course reach further than our base in Trenton. Now, I enjoy sharing the gift of PLAR with military and veteran spouses located all over the world as our partnership with MFS continues to. It’s exciting to help people across Canada, and around the world, connect and create community as they build their portfolio toward their next great step!
