Celebrating 20 years of providing employment services

by Ruby Arsenault, Employment Coach/Facilitator with the Tignish Employment Resources (ER)Centre

The Tignish Employment Resource (ER) Centre is located in the heart of Tignish at 211 Phillip Street. It is part of Rural Community Learning Inc.

Twenty years ago, I started working in a small space at the Tignish Library. It began with 20 hours a week for a one-year contract to see if there was a demand for employment assistance services in the community. The demand grew and soon the centre expanded to full-time hours Monday to Fridays year-round.

Now we have our own spacious location where on September 9th I hosted an open house to celebrate 20 years. It was a fun day with many people stopping by to express their thanks for the services offered during the years.

As the Facilitator of the centre, I obtained extensive training to better equip myself to assist others. Some of the training included Career Development Theories, Choice Theory & Reality Theory Certificate, Administrative Professional Development Certificate, Human Resources Management I & II, Career Employment Coach Career Planning, Job Search Coach, Resumé Development/Interview Skills Coach, True Colors/Personality Dimensions Facilitator, Life Skills Coach Training Phase I & II, along with a post-secondary college diploma.

Each year brought in new trends and new clients. I have assisted many job seekers who travelled out of province for employment in the oil patch or to wind turbine farms. One of the first employers that visited the centre was a fishing company from Newfoundland that owned and operated a huge shrimp vessel off Labrador. Local fishers who worked on the ship were flown to Newfoundland and then boarded the ship and headed out to sea. These jobs offered off-season employment to many locals.

And of course, there were years of assisting people to apply for local job opportunities, make career or job changes, and apply for post-secondary education. When I look back through old files, I am happy to see how many people accessed the services and then went on to become RCWs, LPNs, and Power Engineers, just to name a few.

Free and confidential services offered to clients at the centre

• Job search
• Resumés & cover letters
• Job applications
• Interview tips
• Training such as employability skills, personality assessments, basic computers, essential skills, and more
• Faxing, printing & photocopier
• Resources
• High speed Internet
• Job coaching
• Employability/life skills workshops/training sessions/recruitment sessions/presentations
• Monthly job club
• Tours of various industries
• Knowledge and contact info for local employers who are hiring
• One-on-one coaching appointments

Over the last few years, a huge change has come to the labour market. All sectors and fields of employment are struggling to find employees. The centre began to assist local employers not only to create and post eye-catching job postings, but to also think outside the box to attract and retain staff.

Services offered to employers

• Assist in creating and posting job opportunities
• Assist in coaching employers/organizations with recruiting staff
• Direct employers on hiring processes
• Provide supports in the hiring process

I have enjoyed each day of the past 20 years, and I look forward to at least 10 more years of assisting locals to the best of my ability. I love working in the town where my family lives close by and I love spring lunches sitting at the harbour watching the boats sail out to sea.

Funded by the Department of Workforce, Advance Learning and Population through the Canada-PEI Labour Market Agreements.