It’s been a challenging week for many within the employment services sector as they are learning the fate of their own employment future. I have been reassured by several of the new WorkBC contractors that they will be reaching out to you, if they haven’t already. Being one who is uncomfortable when things are left up in the air, I empathize with your situation. There continues to be a need for career developers outside of the WorkBC contracts; check out our ever-growing list of job postings for new and exciting opportunities. It is my hope that those currently working within the sector will be able to stay here.

Building expertise in the sector continues to be a focus for ASPECT and this week I met with Dr. Roberta Neault to discuss developing an affordable yet high-quality leadership training path for those who are already leaders and those who are looking toward leadership positions in the near future. We hope to have the details sorted by the beginning of January. 

You may remember from our last week’s Aspectives news, we also have created a two-day RFP workshop in Vancouver providing skills to those who would like to respond to opportunities through BC Bid. Similar to what we offered last year, we are providing more time for learning the process, evaluation and RFP writing skills. Again, Liz Busch, Director, Outreach and User Experience

Strategic Business and Procurement Transformation Branch will be facilitating the workshop. It is amazing to me how she is able to take a fairly dry topic (for me) and make it fascinating. We are delighted that she has agreed to help us out again.

Finally, we are in the process of developing free or economical webinars for those who did not have the opportunity to attend last November’s ASPECT Conference. We are reaching out to conference presenters to see if they would like to present again in a webinar format. The feedback we received from this year’s ASPECT Conference has been the best yet! We want to ensure that everyone has access to the valuable learning available within the sector.

Now that the contract announcements have been made, we can move forward with the advisory committee for the ASPECT Employer-Service Provider Summit which is scheduled for June 4 & 5, 2019 in Richmond. I already have a list of senior practitioners and employment service leaders, but if you are interested and have not told me already, please let me know if you would like to attend our virtual meeting.