By Sharon Bishin, Corporate & Employability Trainer

My colleagues and I just returned from the Cannexus 14 National Career Development Conference in Ottawa which was attended by more than 750 participants.One message was very clear: job search in the future will look different. Job seekers – particularly the more mature ones – will have to reframe their ideas of the workplace. They will not be able to assume stability, pension plans or static competencies. Instead, all forms of technology and social media will continue to grow – relationships, connections and change are paramount. Also, while many jobs we might have held in the past will disappear, so will new jobs emerge that we may not even be able to imagine today.

Two other themes also stood out for me. The first related to accepting the trajectory of a career, even if it is unexpected, often random and certainly not smoothly straight. This idea was supported by keynoters Journalist Valerie Pringle and Educator Rich Feller and was articulated in Social Media guru Mitch Joel’s book Ctrl Alt Delete. As Joel notes in the book, “Why should your career today be based on a decision you made at age 16 with your high school guidance counselor?” Our career paths look more different and are less linear now — they squiggle instead! We need to embrace this in our lives.”

The second concept was about “Stories”and “Spark”, presented by UBC’s Norm Amundson. It reminded me that those of us who are facilitators need to help our clients validate their journeys – or stories. And we need to make sure we keep our own energy – or spark – high enough to inspire those around us.

Today, it is becoming more and more commonplace to use blogging to reflect on these concepts as well as for expression, connection and promotion. You are responsible to fully articulate what value you bring to the table; some marketers call that developing your “Me, Inc” profile. Perhaps blogging is one way to get there. We know it is an important tool so we have added two levels (1 & 2) of Blogging instruction to our February Ometz calendar: http://bit.ly/1aSgHE9 and http://bit.ly/19xeTSq.

Check them out. Jump on tomorrow’s wagon. Embrace the day.