Canadian Occupational Safety

April/May 2016 9 Focus on PD in uncertain economy Never stop networking, building your brand even when times are tough T he price of oil has fallen below $30 a barrel and the Canadian dollar dipped below $0.70 US. This is the lowest these two economic markers have been in more than 13 years. The Canadian economy is stagnant and job losses are mounting. The oil industry — and the safety professionals whose work was in support of it — has been hit hard. Employers in many indirect industries are also facing increased fi nancial pressures. Employed or not in uncertain times — and really in any economic situa- tion — there are a number of things you can do to stay focused on your career and protect your job. Accord- ing to Randall Hanson, founder of Quintessential Careers, the follow- ing four techniques are helpful hints for building your brand and overall employability. GET OUT THERE AND NETWORK The grapevine is always transmitting information about jobs and prospects. When times are good, people turn down the volume on the grapevine or they tune it out altogether. Now is the time to turn up the volume. Network- ing is one of the fundamental rules of career development. You should never stop growing and expanding your net- work of contacts. Many folks think that networking is only for when you're actively job-hunting or about to be actively job-hunting. The truth is once you start networking, you should never stop. During times when it's not "what you know" but "who you know," your network may be the main source of job opportunities. Now is the time to expand your association network reach and look for new ways to con- nect with allied professionals. Besides keeping in regular touch with your network, you should also be looking for ways to build your network, such as by attending trade shows or conferences and mingling. It is imperative these days to have an online professional network on LinkedIn. The time to do this is before you are looking for a job. Building a reasonable network that you will be able to make use of when job-hunting could take you a year. All too often people begin to reach out through LinkedIn when their job status has been changed to "Looking for a new career opportunity." The time is now for developing this network. KEEP YOUR RESUMÉS READY This may sound obvious but at no time in your career — except for when you are about to retire — should your resumés be out-of-date. That's right your resumés — plural. What you really need is a current framework for your resumé that lists all of your basic accomplishments such as university or college education, professional accreditations or certifi cations and work experience. Make sure you list specifi c skills and attributes using general industry language highlight- ing your transferrable skills. This framework resumé can then be modifi ed, just-in-time, to fi t any situation, employer or opportunity. It may sound like more work to use this strategy but it will ensure your resumé gets customized to the opportunity — which may be just what you need to catch a prospective employer's eye. If it's been a while since you've updated your resumé, get to it now. PRIORITIZE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT In today's economy, lifelong learn- ers have the greatest opportunities and their educational accomplish- ments are most up-to-date. Many of your educational accomplishments of yesterday have a "best before date." I don't mean an undergraduate or advanced university degree, rather many of the ongoing professional development courses you have taken. A one-day course in business commu- nication taken 10 years ago has little currency today. From universities and colleges to associations and industry bodies, there is a wide range of pro- fessional development opportunities available. Continuing education is a basic requirement in an emerging fi eld like safety, which is constantly changing. Professional development is truly vital to your professional growth and suc- cess — and not just for trying to save this job, but for future jobs as well. BUILD YOUR BRAND Personal brand development may be a somewhat foreign concept to many. Your brand is your identifi able trade- mark and is a refl ection of the impact you have had on your profession as defi ned by the professional commu- nity. Ideally, you have already been implementing a conscious brand devel- opment strategy well before you need a new job. A brand development strategy is needed to make you distinctive and hopefully indispensable. If the idea of brand development is new to you, it's time to take action. Your goal in building a brand has two major objectives. You want to be seen as the go-to person for vital projects and you want to carefully (and tact- fully) showcase your accomplishments to ensure management and the rest of your profession understand your value to the organization. Be proactive in accepting work assignments rather than simply doing your job. Be ready to start the conversation about new and impor- tant projects with your boss. Be the fi rst to volunteer when the organization seeks people for new assignments, task forces, cross-functional teams — espe- cially for situations in which the result could be an increased revenue stream or substantial cost-savings for the orga- nization. Don't be afraid to take on more work. Hard work is part of the brand-building process. Brand development doesn't just happen at work. Seek out volunteer opportunities in the safety commu- nity around you. Action is noticed and rewarded. There are numerous vol- unteer opportunities to get involved, make a difference and have your name stand out in the crowd. Glyn Jones is a partner at EHS Partnerships in Calgary and the regional vice-president of Alberta, Northwest Territories and Nunavut for the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering. He teaches occupational health and safety at the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary and the University of New Brunswick. He can be reached at gjones@ehsp.ca. PEOPLE&PLACES GLYN JONES TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT GLYN JONES DEVELOPMENT PEOPLE&PLACES Congratulations to the following OHS professionals who have recently been granted the Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) ® Professionnel en sécurité agréé du Canada (PSAC) ® designation. The BCRSP is a self-regulating, self-governing organization accredited by the Standards Council of Canada to ISO 17024 (Personnel Certification Body) and by BSI Management Systems to ISO 9001(Quality Management System). Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals/Conseil canadien des professionnels en sécurité agréés 6700 Century Avenue, Suite 100, Mississauga, ON L5N 6A4 905-567-7198, 1-888-279-2777, www.bcrsp.ca Sarah Adams CRSP Christl Aggus CRSP Ehikilen Aikhomu CRSP Amber Almon CRSP Matthew Antongiovanni CRSP Joseph Ayeni CRSP Warren Babiak CRSP Tracy Bader CRSP Chase Bennett CRSP Christopher Benotto CRSP Brian Binning CRSP Lynnette Bosch CRSP Lonnie Brown CRSP Corey Canham CRSP Chad Carlson CRSP Darcy Carriveau CRSP Joseph Cartwright CRSP Lik Heng Duncan Chan CRSP Cory Chubbs CRSP Wendy Clausen CRSP Deron Colegrave CRSP Jody Coleman CRSP Peter Collins CRSP Robyn Coquelle CRSP Timothy Cosh CRSP Todd Cyre CRSP Michael Daley CRSP Kwame Abiam Danso CRSP Brian Delaney CRSP Stefan Dobrostanski CRSP Dwight Doell CRSP Brad Elder CRSP Karl Fandrich CRSP Linda Farmer CRSP Scott Freeman CRSP Andrew Fundytus CRSP Earl Galavan CRSP Sandra Galeteanu CRSP Lynda Graham CRSP Karen Gregory-Gillett CRSP Marcus Gwozdz CRSP Amanda Hagan CRSP Jamie Hall CRSP Nicholas Hammond CRSP Steven Henry CRSP Katrina Hickey CRSP Dana Johnson CRSP Troy Jones CRSP Dwayne Keichinger CRSP Angie Keresturi CRSP Mark Klein-Geltink CRSP Randi Kozak CRSP Samantha Kruse CRSP Stephanie Lehr CRSP Penny Loyer CRSP Michael MacKenzie CRSP Craig Macklem CRSP Enrico Madrid CRSP Narmana Majumder CRSP Elaine Marshall CRSP Francis Mathieu-Paradis CRSP Jeremy Matthews CRSP Kelly McEwen CRSP Douglas McNeil CRSP Ewa McNulty CRSP Maryse Mercier CRSP Breen Merriam CRSP Gerard Messier CRSP Cam Mitchell CRSP Bhaveshkumar Mody CRSP Ali Mohsin CRSP Nathan Muhly CRSP Laura Murphy CRSP David Murray CRSP Brad Nelson CRSP Michael Ngedi CRSP Colin Noble CRSP Trula Normandeau CRSP Reza Nour CRSP Celestine Chidi Ogbonna CRSP Babajide Ogunjimi CRSP Emmanuel Omeike CRSP Brent Pahl CRSP Dana Pallesen CRSP Jessica Pane CRSP Matthew Parsons CRSP Trina Pharand CRSP Tirumala Srinivas Prativadi Bhayankara CRSP John Price CRSP Sheldon Price CRSP Steven Primeau CRSP Derek Razzell CRSP Dennis Ricard CRSP Sara Robinson CRSP Jagdeep Sarao CRSP Michael Schaap CRSP Lorne Schatz CRSP Dailaan Shaffer CRSP Varun Sharma CRSP Jonathan Sherman CRSP Marc Smith CRSP L.Shaun Snell CRSP Anthony Sorensen CRSP Oscar Spencer CRSP Michael Taniguchi CRSP Corinne Thiessen CRSP Terry Thomas CRSP Melissa Thompson CRSP Gary Thomson CRSP Christopher Topolniski CRSP Jason Trabucco CRSP Virginie Tremblay CRSP Brian Umali CRSP Riaz Usman CRSP Pieter Van Wouw CRSP Tyler Vollman CRSP Jeremy Waddell CRSP Kimberley Waring CRSP Christa Warren CRSP Daniel Westerby CRSP Brent Whiteway CRSP Kory Wilk CRSP Frederick Winson CRSP Randi Zurowski CRSP Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals BCRSP_NewCRSPAnnouncment_October2015Examination_COS Magazine.indd 1 1/18/2016 9:03:11 AM

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