July 28, 2005
Volume 6  Issue 7
Circulation 6,778 Subscribers

Skills for Change (SfC) is a non-profit agency based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Our mandate is to provide learning and training opportunities for immigrants and refugees so that they can participate in the workplace and wider community.

Download our
Programs and Services Calendar

In this edition...

'Riding the Waves of Change' Cruise
ESL Classes - Register Now for September
Retail Program Starts September 6
'Salsa on St. Clair' Street Festival
New Pioneers Awards Nominations
SAS Volunteers Time with SfC Clients
CMA Donates Computer Equipment
Testing Your Microsoft Office Skills
Human Resource Services for Employers
Let OPTIONS Show You The Way!
Clerical, Office and Retail Workshops for August
TechSkills
Guest Speakers for August
SfC Changes
Programs and Services Directory

'Riding the Waves of Change' Cruise

Skills for Change (SfC) invites you to its first annual fund raising cruise to be held Thursday, September 8, 2005. The cruise will include dinner, dance and music.

Boarding time is 6:30 p.m., sailing 7:00 p.m. and docking time at Queen's Quay Harbourfront 10:30 p.m.

Tickets are $100.00 per person. Ticket purchasers will
receive a tax receipt of $45.00 per ticket.

Tickets can be purchased by contacting Corina Carvallo at 416-658-3101 ext. 237, or by email.
 

ESL Classes - Register Now for September

Starting September 6:
n ESL/Accounting and Computer Skills for Immigrant Women NEW!
n ESL/Communicating Clearly
n ESL/Customer Service Program
n ESL/Intensive English

Starting September 7:
n ESL/Advanced Communication in the Workplace for Working People
n ESL/Keyboarding

Starting September 10:
n ESL/Bookkeeping (Intermediate)
n ESL/Introductory Bookkeeping
n ESL/Keyboarding
n ESL/Medical Terminology

Starting September 12:
n ESL/English for Academic Purposes NEW!
n TOEFL Level 7+

Starting September 13:
n ESL/Introductory Bookkeeping

More information and registration procedure here.

Retail Program Starts September 6

EPRS is offered in partnership with...

Employment Preparation for Retail Services (EPRS) is designed for those who are interested in starting or continuing a career in the retail sector.

Participants will acquire retail and corporate terminology, learn retail skills and improve workplace communication skills as well as conflict resolution.

They will also gain Canadian work experience.

This program is 15 weeks long and it includes 6 weeks of placement at the Bay.
 

'Salsa on St. Clair' Street Festival

New Pioneers Awards Nominations

SAS Canada Volunteers Time with SfC Clients

As part of their campaign to raise awareness of the United Way of Greater Toronto, eleven staff members of SAS Canada visited SfC on July 22,  They donated their time working with SfC clients with IT, finance, teaching and administrative support backgrounds.

SAS is the world’s leader in business analytics software and its solutions are used at more than 40,000 sites – including 96 of the top 100 companies in the Fortune Global 500®.

Over 80 clients from current and past SfC programs (Finance and Office Assistant, Clerical Accounting for Immigrant Women, Teach in Ontario, Clerical Employment Services, and STIC) attended SAS workshops on getting hired and working in the IT sector, participated in mock panel interviews or had their resumes critiqued.

Skills for Change thanks SAS Canada, their coordinators for the volunteer day – Alison Shroeder and Lia Grimanis, and to the full SAS volunteer team:

Seema Iyer – Human Resources Programming Manager
Jasmine Fillmore – Human Resources Assistant
David Salom – Academic Program Intern
Kitty Kwan – Corporate Controller
Anthony Fernandes – Customer Service Representative
Stephen Keelan – Senior Manager, Education
Alison Shroeder - Public Course Sales Specialist
Rupinder Dhillon – Customer Value Consultant
Alex Tran – Application Developer
Pil Kim – Application Developer
Ewan Dunderdale – Consultant, Project Manager

Congratulations to SfC staff Corina Carvallo and Farida Zuberi for their leadership in planning and managing the day’s events.
 

CMA Donates Computer Equipment

The Society of Certified Management Accountants of Ontario (CMA Ontario) recently donated 20 computer monitors to Skills for Change.

The organization, which represents the interests of 19,000 management accountants throughout the province, passed along the 17-inch computer monitors last week. They will be used by Skills for Change staff members and clients.

Bryan Jacobs, CMA’s Director of Employer Relations, is a frequent visitor to Skills for Change where he provides ongoing information seminars to clients considering a Canadian accounting designation.

“CMA Ontario was pleased to donate the hardware to Skills for Change,” Mr. Jacobs said. “We’re very supportive of the agency, its objectives and the clients who seek its services. Assisting internationally trained individuals is something CMA Ontario takes very seriously.”
 

Testing Your Microsoft Office Skills

Skills for Change makes available to you state-of-the-art testing software to assess your ability in today's most popular desktop software, Microsoft Office.

Using SkillCheck, you perform tasks in any way the actual office software allows, giving you the most realistic view of your capabilities.

Testing is important for several reasons.

Using SkillCheck prepares you for testing required by temporary employment agencies. Temp agencies usually evaluate your skills with a series of tests. The minimum score expected by many temp agencies is 80%.

Testing helps you decide if you are ready for an office position and to evaluate your need to upgrade computer skills in order to meet employers’ expectations.

After each test, you will receive a printed report with your scores. Share this with employers during interviews to sell your skills with confidence, specifically for clerical, accounting and finance positions.

Tests available:

Starts August 15, 2005!

More information, click here.
 

Human Resource Services for Employers

Our Human Resource Services can help your company tap into the rich pool of skilled, professionally trained and experienced newcomers.

From recruiting to integration into the workplace, Skills for Change is a leader in making diversity a corporate asset.

Human Resource Services include:
 

Recruitment Services On-site Recruiting at Skills for Change Employment Preparation for Retail Services Professional Development Mentoring for the Workplace On-site Language Classes Work Experience Programs Consulting Service

Let OPTIONS Show You The Way    NEW!

 

Free Information Sessions at Skills for Change: Thurs, Aug 4 (7 pm) Thurs, Aug 11 (7 pm) Thurs, Aug 25 (7 pm) Free Information Sessions at CET: Wed, Aug 3 (10 am) Wed, Aug 10 (10 am) Wed, Aug 17 (10 am) Wed, Aug 24 (6 pm) Wed, Aug 31 (10 am) To register for information sessions at Skills for Change, email sfc@skillforchange.org or call 416 658-7090 between 1 – 3 pm, Monday – Friday.

Clerical, Office and Retail Workshops for August

Clerical Employment Services (CES) is an employment preparation program for persons looking for jobs in the clerical, office, retail and customer service fields.

The program consists of a two-week workshop on the Toronto Labour Market, resume and cover letter preparation, cold calling, employer research and interview skills. In addition, individual counselling to create an action to employment plan and job development support is offered. The program’s job developer provides some assistance to graduates, and with finding paid employment.

The CES next start dates are August 2, August 15, and August 29.

More information, click here.

TechSkills  

TechSkills specializes in hands-on, instructor-led training in the latest software applications. We offer instructors with years of real-world expertise in a fun informal setting, teaching everything from basic web site development to more advanced accounting and database design.

Our courses are structured to encourage beginners and professionals to start at the level that matches their skills and to lead them progressively to more advanced topics. Because our classes are limited in size, students have more hands-on interaction with the instructor.

· Experienced professional instructors
· Small class sizes
· Quality training materials
· Competitive pricing

Registration
By phone - 416 658-3101 ext. 700
On-line - www.skillsforchange.org/register
Complete course listing - www.skillsforchange.org/techskills

Tuition tax credit forms will be issued. Some classes are held at another location. Additional materials or textbook fees may be charged for some courses. EI recipients welcomed.
 

Guest Speakers for August at DERC

SfC Changes

Manoj K. Paul joins SfC as Manager of Accounting and Financial Reporting. Bringing with him a Master of Commerce in Accounting and years of experience in the corporate world, Manoj arrived in Toronto in September, 2003. He quickly found out about, and registered for, the STIC for Accountants program at Skills for Change. Upon graduation, he acquired experience in the non-profit sector as Accountant for the Social Housing Services Corporation in Toronto.

Natalia Tsirulnikov SfC Accounts Administrator since 2001, leaves to join Yorktown Family Services. We wish her every success in her new position.
 

Programs and Services Directory

Download our
Programs and Services Calendar
 

Bridge to Success for Trades

Clerical Employment Services (CES)

Employment Preparation for Retail Services (EPRS)

Employment Resource Centre (ERC)

ESL Courses

Human Resource Services

Job Search Workshop (JSW)

Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC)

Mentoring for Employment

one2one COACHING

Ontario Network for Internationally-training Professionals Online (ONIP)

New Pioneers Awards (NPA)

Sector-specific Information Sessions

Sector Terminology, Information and Counselling (STIC)

Settlement Services for Newcomers

Teach In Ontario

TechSkills

Workplace Language Coaching for Working People

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