Career Change

CARS is pleased to announce that the career information resources are now completed! Work has now begun to get these resources into the hands of students and educators to show them the wide variety of technical and non-technical occupations (many they may never have thought of!) and the skills and training required.

Our industry occupations have battled a perception of being a “secondary” career choice for too long.We know that’s not the case and now is the time to present the industry as an equal career option to any other.In fact, industry careers are a challenging, highly skilled option.

Now to get the message out…

Distribution to Schools

CARS is in the process of contacting every province and territory to work with the Ministries of Education and the processes and protocols required to approve the CARS Career Information Kit for distribution to middle and/or secondary schools across Canada. One complementary kit will be sent to schools by mid-October.

In addition, some provinces upon their review of the kit, have requested distribution to youth centres, labour market information centres and employment centres. These additional distribution networks will indeed help increase awareness.

CARS would like to take this opportunity to thank the provincial ministries and their review committees for helping to get this important career information to young people.

Industry Connections

Some provinces have requested that educators in their province be provided with contact information for local repair and service businesses. It was felt that educators may be more likely to reach out to industry to request a presentation to students if they had a local contact point. Several industry associations have stepped up and agreed to provide their contact information in the covering letter to accompany each kit.

Thank you to the following organizations for offering to provide this important link to schools:

Automotive Industries Association

British Columbia Automotive Retailers Association

Alberta Automotive Service and Repair Association

Saskatchewan Association of Automotive Repairers Inc.

Automotive Aftermarket Retailers of Ontario

Nova Scotia Automotive Human Resources Sector Council

CARS is also very pleased to announce that General Motors of Canada Ltd. reviewed the career information kit and has endorsed the kit for distribution to their dealerships across Canada. This will also provide an excellent contact point for schools when organizing presentations about industry careers.

Of course, any shop across Canada who would be interested in providing information to students about the industry and its occupations are encouraged to do so! Industry presentation information is available on the web site including overhead presentation slides that can be easily downloaded, www.carsyouth.ca

If you would like to receive a copy of the Industry Presentation Guide, please contact CARS (613) 798-0500.

Promotion

Sending the career information kits out to the schools is a great start but cannot end there. The schools, teachers and counsellors have to be reminded that the kit has arrived and is available to them.

Just as importantly, those who influence young people’s career decisions have to start thinking about the industry in an updated light. They need to start thinking about industry careers as an equal choice to those in other industries.

CARS has been presenting the career resources to education-related conferences over the past several months, such as the Canadian School Board Association National Conference, a Canadian Career Information Association Professional Development Workshop, Skills Canada National Competition, Canadian Apprenticeship Forum National Apprenticeship Conference and the Ontario Network of Skills Employment Training Projects (ONESTEP) Workshop. More presentations are now being organized for this fall.

The resources have also been presented at several industry-related events such as the Canadian International Automotive Show, Automotive Trades Association Atlantic Canada Conference and a meeting of the Canada Collision Industry Forum.

An official launch of the career information resources is also being planned and will be scheduled this fall. Representatives from industry, education, provincial and federal governments and the media will be invited.

Media Blitz

As well, a multifaceted media campaign is now being implemented to bring more attention to industry careers. Advertisements about the career information kit have been placed in counseling and education-related professional publications. Already, we are receiving responses to this ad!