Faith in the Workplace: Exploring Canada's Rapidly Changing Employment Landscape

Today at the KPMG building in downtown Toronto, Skills for Change, a settlement agency and TalentOyster partner, will be presenting a conference on culture and faith in the workplace.

Faith and culture are emerging as critical issues for Canadian companies in light of forecasts that call for 100% of job pool growth coming from immigration by 2015. The diversity@work conference is an opportunity to hear from thought-leaders on the front lines of support and integration of new Canadians into society and the workplace.

The conference features a keynote address by Senator Don Meredith, a provocative panel discussion and an opportunity to speak with prominent Canadian employers invested in diversity hiring, including Scotiabank, Home Depot and the University of Toronto.

For more information on this event visit the Diversity@work website at http://www.diversityatwork.org/

Elections and the Ethnic Vote: Numbers Lottery or Political Representation?

This coming Thursday, October 20th from 6 to 8pm, the South Asian Journalists' Association is co-presenting a public discussion at the Munk School of Global Affairs on the "ethnic" vote. The discussion is focused on answering questions like "Is there a South Asian ethnic vote?" and "Are political parties really interested in hearing new voices."

The discussion panel includes MPP-elect Jagmeet Singh (NDP) from Brampton-Gore-Malton, CBC TV's Steve D'Souza, The Agenda's Piya Chattopadhay, Rana Sarkar (former Liberal and federal candidate for Scarborough-Rouge River, and Sunil Rao, editor of South Asian Focus.

For more information or to register to attend this event visit the website at http://webapp.mcis.utoronto.ca/EventDetails.aspx?eventid=11115

Saying hello (again) to a healthcare employer

Mount Sinai Hospital, located in Toronto has been a TalentOyster employer since the early summer of 2010. In their first year they simply used our services to post their healthcare related jobs on our site.

This year though, having seen the value for diverse employees in using TalentOyster they expanded their solution package with us to include an employer profile page.

The profile page for Mount Sinai is a good example of what an employer profile page should be.

It starts by clearly identifying the employer and gives a general idea of what kind of industry and roles the employer is in. Then the profile lists some of the reasons that any candidate, but especially in the TalentOyster case a diverse candidate, would want to work at the employer. In this specific example beyond the basics of compensation and assistance the benefits of an inclusive environment embracing diversity are mentioned. It might seem like an obvious thing but letting diverse candidates know an employer has a diverse workforce and is interested in expanding it is a good thing.

At any rate be sure to check out their new profile page. And if you know someone who is looking for a healthcare related job in the GTA region let them know about all the opportunities they can find on TalentOyster. As an example there have been over 100 healthcare jobs posted on our site in just the past 3 1/2 weeks.

The importance of being truthful

A recent survey by OfficeTeam raises some questions about the level of truth on many resumes. In response to the question "Do you know anyone who misrepresented or exaggerated information on his or her resume?" 44% of respondents said yes. Equally notable in a question put only to managers 47% said that applicants misrepresent or exaggerate information some of or all of the time. All of which suggests that many people do lie on their resumes but that employers "expect" this. At least to a point.

For many people whether or not to lie/spin/misrepresent or exaggerate information in their resume is a difficult question. This can be especially true in an "employers" market, as is the case currently, when the number of job seekers exceeds the number of available positions. It can be difficult to get people to discuss the subject but in most cases it happens because candidates feel that they won't land a job without stretching the truth. And in at least some cases they feel that part of the reason they can't land a job without lying is that their competition for the job is already lying. It's a vicious circle and not a good thing.

But if you do feel that way should you do it? Is it ever justifiable?

In a word no. And here's three reasons why.

First there is the basic moral reason. No matter how you try and justify it lying is wrong. In fact if you do it because you think others are it's almost worse because you are increasing the depth of the problem. It shouldn't be forgotten that good job isn't just a job but part of your career, aka part of your life. There is a personal cost you will pay if you treat cynicism and lack of truthfulness as part of your job. It's simply not part of the recipe of a happy work-life balance.

Second, you stand a good chance of being caught. The increasing power of the internet and the information available and accessible to all and more companies are conducting full background and reference checks on candidates before making offers. Conducting due diligence on candidates is now considered not just a best practice but a required one for many organizations. Another way to think about this is consider would you as an employer rather work for an organization that followed best practices for hiring or not?

Third, it's a small world, at least in Canada. The potential of being caught lying on your resume and the penalties for doing so are greater than you might think they are at first glance. You should consider how being caught in a lie at company A in a given industry may be found out by companies B and C in the same industry. You run the risk of not just blowing your chances with one company but several in the same industry or vertical.

It is also important to remember that the recruiting/hiring and staffing industries in Canada are even more closely knit. A recruiter at one company may be working in a totally different company in a totally different industry the next year. And that's not even taking into consideration the network of people that recruiter may talk to, and with the nature of recruiting that's likely to be a very large network indeed.

The risk of damage to your reputation in your career can be very high for any severely negative employment related incident, including being dishonest on your resume. Simply it isn't a risk worth taking. That's besides the fact that again it's morally wrong and likely to make you unhappy even if you were lucky enough to "get away" with it.

Sign up for our newsletter

If you don't already know about it, we have an email newsletter. This newsletter goes out weekly (on Mondays) and each issue contains 6 or 7 of our hottest or most interesting new jobs, 4 links to diversity related news items that were worth noting from the last week and two or three other smaller "articles".

If you are looking for a job the TalentOyster newsletter is a good resource, especially during this fall as we are currently running a new series of "Quick Tips" for those looking for work from people right in the recruiting and hiring industry. These tips offer small, constructive suggestions on things you can do from your resume to an interview and everything in between to increase your chances of being hired.

You can register for the TalentOyster Newsletter on our website at http://www.talentoyster.com/servlets/en/Newsletter. You can also find past, archived issues of our newsletter on that page, usually 4 to 6 weeks after initial publication.

Celebrating the Best of our Local Communities

Small businesses remain the backbone of our economy and both employ and are owned by many diverse people. But while driven by dedicated entrepreneurs they often lack the resources to brand and promote their business.

To help celebrate and recognize the importance of small local businesses Multimedia Nova, our parent company, as part of its belief in community has launched a program in conjunction with its Vaughan Today community paper called Best in Vaughan.

The 1st Annual Best of Vaughan is where you help us select the best in your neighbourhood. Caterer, restaurant, spa, butcher, flower shop, dry cleaner, come select your favourite local business and help us to celebrate the offers that shopping local offers.

From now through September 12th, you can participate by nominating your favourite businesses in Vaughan on the Vaughan Today website at www.vaughantoday.ca/bestofvaughan. Just by participating, you have the chance to win Dinner for Two at one of these restaurants: That’s Italian Ristorante, Villaggio, or Vicentina.

Job tips for summer

Well here we are in the middle of what has been, for most of Canada, a pretty hot summer and it's not a very good time to find a new job right?

Well not always.

Traditionally summer is usually seen as the slow season for finding hiring and recruiting. Between kids being out of school, multiple long weekends and a popular time for vacations it's true that it can be slow outside of seasonal hiring. But at the same time the summer can be a great time for the proactive candidate to find their next job. Why? There are a few reasons.

• Less competition. Due to the perception of summer time as a slow time for looking for work there is often a drop-off in the number of candidates looking. Less candidates looking means less competition for the jobs that are open and that increases the chances of the proactive candidate to be hired.


• Opportunities are more urgent. While it's true that companies might not wish to fill roles during the summer it doesn't mean that they don't have roles that need to be filled. Jobs posted during the summer months tend to be for positions in which a hire is needed and the sooner the better.


• Get a head start for the fall. While you might not conclude your job search in the summer the proactive candidate has a head start on other seekers who only g in September. You'll know what positions are out there, who is hiring and what they are looking for. You'll have already made some contacts that can get you top of mind for interviews.

So if you're looking for a job right now don't give up because it's the summer. If nothing else you'll position yourself well for the fall and remember, even in the heat, companies are still hiring right now.

Another great new Employer

Have you seen the latest employer on TalentOyster yet?

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company that has been operating in Canada for over 20 years.

As a organization that works with many large organizations, that are already diverse, across Canada diversity and inclusiveness is important to Accenture so they are serious about diversity and looking to hire candidates for excellent careers.

What kinds of jobs will you find?

The Accenture jobs listed on TalentOyster are primarily in the IT space but there are opportunities in various business, financial and supply-chain consulting as well. You can get started looking at the opportunities from Accenture on TalentOyster here.

We've been adding a number of new clients recently, besides Accenture, Trillium Health Centre and the CBC have come on board in just the last few weeks. If you haven't checked out our site in a while be sure to do so to see these new employers, plus all our previous employers and the thousands of great jobs, suitable for diverse candidates, there are on offer.

Why choose a certain employer : How about I sing you some reasons why?

Don't worry, I won't actually sing (and if you know me you'll know why that's a good thing) bu there is a youtube link to a rap video at the end of this post. And it is even related to finding a job, so keep reading and find out more...

If you are looking for work you may sometimes hear terms, used in the recruiting and HR industries, like "employee engagement" and "candidate experience". So what do these mean and how do they apply to you?

Well it may not come as a surprise to learn that companies recognize that they are most successful when their employees are really interested, if not passionate, about the success of the company as a whole and their jobs specifically. If you care about doing well in your work you're simply more likely to do a better job.

This, in short, is what "employee engagement" means. Companies want to make sure that new employees feel welcome and have a positive attitude towards their job and even more that they sustain this feeling going forward.

Part of the process keeping employees engaged starts even before companies hire you and this is where "candidate experience" comes in. Candidate experience is what describes the process by which you learn about a company or organization and decide if you really do want to work there or not. Sometimes it can be as simple as letting you know that the organization exists but it often extends to showing you what your work life would be like if you did work there, what benefits employees of the company enjoy and sometimes what current employees have to say. Diverse candidates can often expect a particular emphasis on efforts by the organization to diversify their workforce, why the company is a good place for a diverse candidate to work, etc.

Once you get beyond the basic elements of adequate compensation and job security what reasons do people have for liking one company over another? There are many reasons that candidates give but one common element is the feeling that candidates have that an employer actually cares about them and their well-being. When candidates and/or employees feel that their employer actually cares about them and their career it's a much healthier and more productive working relationship.

Last year, Trillium Health Centre, one of the newest employers on TalentOyster, launched an employee engagement and candidate experience program called "Our People Promise - You Matter" and held a contest with current employees to promote the idea of working at Trillium Health. The idea being to show potential employees how Trillium Health treats his employers, by soliciting opinions and input from current employees.

The winning contest entry was the rap video you can watch below, all the people in it are Trillium employees. Different people with different ideas and lots of different roles are just some of the points covered in the video.



Does it make you more interested in working at Trillium? If so be sure to check out the Trillium Jobs on TalentOyster. And if it didn't... why not? Let us know what you think about candidate experience and employee engagement programs like this. Do you feel they speak to you as a candidate? Why?

Love to hear your feedback.

Good intentions not always good advice

I recently read about a survey of executives that asked what they considered the most important part of their hiring process, in other words what areas did candidates need to make the best impression to improve their chances of being hired.

The survey indicated, by some margin that the most import aspect of the process is the interview. In fact, reading the results of the survey one would almost think that having good references, a strong resume or even relevant experience are not really important at all, it's really just the interview that matters and that's it. As a job seeker this is information that's really good to know, why waste your time on other parts of your search if all you have to be good at is the interview. Right?

Well as straightforward as the advice gleaned from the survey might appear a better question to ask is, is it true?

One of the hurdles that candidates face when looking for a job is being able to select and use good advice. There lots of advice out there to be sure, but while all of it (or nearly all of it) is well intentioned that doesn't mean that all of it is actually correct. This case is a good example of that, well intentioned and no doubt from the perspective of the executives interviewed it is true, but that point of view is missing some huge gaps in the reality of the process.

Think about where an executive is likely to be part of the hiring process. To begin with do you think they are involved in every hire? No probably not. And of the hires they are involved with do you think they are more likely to be involved in the interview stage or the screening candidates by reading resumes stage?

The short answer is that executives don't think that resumes, or references are as important to the hiring process as the interview because they are only involved in the interview process. By the time an executive sees a candidate their resume was already selected, their experience vetted and their references checked. At that point in the process the opportunity, which may have had hundreds of interested candidates applying has been whittled down to at most 10 candidates (and usually far less) will actually be interviewed. At this point, somewhat obviously, your interview skills are critical to your chances but you can be the best interview in the world and if you're not making the cut from 200 applicants to the 10 interviewed candidates it won't do you any good.

This isn't to say that interviews aren't important. They are, but the same can be said for any step of the job seeking process, they are all important. A strong resume has a better chance of getting you to an interview, better networking improves your chances of getting in the door and the interviewing stage is the final key to the puzzle.

As a candidate when looking for work always keep in mind that while most everyone does want to give you advice that will help you out often times, as in this case, the advice can be flawed. Always ask yourself the obvious questions, how much is the person giving advice actually connected to the hiring process? At what stages in the process are they connected in to?

The answers to those questions can help you to determine the real value of the advice. Is this advice that will actually get you in to the job you want sooner or is it, while well intentioned, just as likely to be counterproductive to your search for employment?

New Employers on TalentOyster

Did you know that a couple more great employers have recently come on board TalentOyster? Well if you didn't know Georgian College and the CBC are now on TalentOyster.

Georgian College is an Ontario College of Applied Arts and Technology with campuses in Barrie, Orillia, Owen Sound, Midland and the surrounding area. Georgian offers a wide variety of programs including some specifically focused on international students.

Georgian is seeking to expand the diversity of their workforce in all areas. Jobs range from administrative to services and even teaching positions. If you're a diverse candidate looking for work in the educational sector be sure to check out the jobs, Georgian College might be the place for you.

We're very excited about adding the CBC as a TalentOyster employer as well. The CBC is Canada's oldest television broadcaster in operation since 1936. Like TalentOyster the CBC offers services in multiple languages, English and French and 8 aboriginal languages in Canada and another 9 languages in international service.

Working for the CBC is a very "Canadian" career and if you'd like to feel more apart of Canada, or would like to contribute in a very real way to the growth and health of Canadian culture there really isn't a better place you could work.

The positions the CBC has vary widely and are across the country. You will find positions in marketing, graphic design, writing and even news-readers among the openings. The CBC is especially interested though in hiring technical persons with previous experience in broadcasting (television or radio). If you or someone you know is a diverse candidate with experience in broadcasting take a look at the opportunities the CBC has on offer.

Get out there and vote

A short but important reminder that with a federal election coming up on Monday, May 2nd it is the responsibility of every Canadian citizen to vote.

Voting is always important, participating in the process is what makes democracy an open, fair and effective thing but it may be even more important this time around. With a minority government previously, and possibly another one coming after this election every race and ever vote counts more than ever.

Canada is a place we all like to call home, even if (or sometimes especially because) it wasn't the first place we called home. With the changing demographics of Canada's population it's vital for all Canadians, but especially new Canadians to make sure they vote and make their voice heard when it comes to the political landscape. Our government, like our country, should be a reflection of the culture and values of the people who live in it, but that only happens if every participates.

So make sure you get out and vote on Monday May 2nd. If you will be unable to vote on that day do note that advance polling will be available on th 22nd, 23rd and 25th of April. For more information on advance polling or other election information (including how to participate) visit the Elections Canada website at http://www.elections.ca/. Elections Canada is an independent (not associated with any political party) agency responsible for conducting elections in Canada and making sure that are conducted fairly and legally.

If you are interested in knowing more about diversity issues in this election please visit TalentOyster Connect and read some related news items like the effect of current government policy on immigrant families, First Nations issues and Guidy Mamann's opinion on the Government's immigration record.

Why the French ban on burqas is bad for everyone (including Canada)

As of today it is no longer legal for women in France to wear full (face covering) burquas. While some may try and argue that this measure is needed for security (which is laughable in itself) the fact that the penalties for being convicted of the "crime" include mandatory citizenship classes point to a different reason, namely forced assimilation of a minority through religious persecution.

Currently the total Muslim population of 6 million in France makes up slightly less than 10% of the population and the number of women this will actually affect will be only a small percentage of that, estimates as low as a couple of thousand have been made. In fact some have claimed that most of the women that this law will affect are tourists and visitors from other countries shopping and visiting France. So the direct effect that this law is most likely to have for France is a hit to GDP.

On the plus side it's not clear how much enforcement of this law is going to really happen. While some protestors have been arrested there is concern among police officers that trying to enforce the law would lead to civil unrest. Patrice Ribeiro, head of the Synergie (national) police union said "The law will be very difficult to apply on certain estates, I can't see police going to book dozens of veiled women doing their shopping in Venissieux or in Trappes."

All the same persecution of religious minorities (and that is what this is), is shameful. I personally don't understand, or agree with, a culture, religion or set of beliefs that feels women should be covered in public but, I do believe people should be free to live their lives in accordance with their religious beliefs. That is why, preventing freedom of religious expression, especially in a "Western" democratic country is a bad thing for all of us. If the standards of an open democracy include laws that discriminate against a minority then there is one less moral barrier to other countries, including Canada, having laws that also discriminate against their own minorities.

Besides the "slippery slope" problem there is an additional threat to Canada and other countries as a result of this action and it concerns France's involvement in foreign affairs including Afghanistan and Libya. France has a presence of 4,000 soldiers in Afghanistan (more than Canada) and led efforts to establish no-fly zones over Libya. In both of these cases, Canada and other involved nations have been involved in the name of establishing (hopefully) peaceful democracies rather than militaristic-pseudo religious dictatorships.

Whether this effort is working or not or will eventually be effective or not the idea of being involved in these actions to bring peace and freedoms to the peoples of these countries is a moral high ground that one can argue from against those who might claim that these efforts are really about western "Christian" countries engaged in a modern crusade against Islam. This French law damages the moral high ground around these actions because it call into question the very nature of why western countries are in these countries.

In what should not be a great surprise Al-Queda has already threatened action against France for the passing and enforcement of this law. While this group is certainly the epitome of extremist views it wouldn't be surprising, or even difficult to understand if Muslim citizens in France, Afghanistan or Libya questioned what the real purpose of western involvement in these countries is. Like the law itself it's a shame and worse may expose Canadian soldiers and citizens to greater risks because of it.

If there is one thing that the global age has taught us so far it's that we are all, for better or worse, in this together. What happens in one country will affect us when we go abroad and more importantly sometimes here in our country as well. As a fellow member of a group of countries that claim to stand for freedom, peace and liberty Canada should implore France to remove this odious law as quickly as possible. For the good of France, for the good of Canada, for the good of everyone.

Recognizing Committed Employers

At TalentOyster we think that recognizing when companies are making real commitments to diversity is a good thing. Positive reinforcement is always a good thing but more it sets a good example and high bar for what companies should and can be doing.

In this light we're pleased to note that on Wednesday March 30th COSTI Immigrant Services (a TalentOyster partner) will be holding a recognition breakfast in Vaughan for some of the employee participants of their enhanced language training program.

COSTI's enhanced language training program is a program, funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, that is aimed at internationally trained professionals who have previous experience in Accounting, Administration, Customer service or Childcare fields.

The program helps newcomers overcome two common barriers to employment: English language training at the higher levels needed to achieve the language proficiency required in order to fully participate in their community and work environment, industry and occupational field; and labour market orientation and opportunities to acquire some Canadian work experience through job placements, internships and mentoring.

So on Wednesday March 30th at 8am at the Novotel Toronto Vaughan Centre in Vaughan COSTI will be recognizing some of the employer participants in this program and we applaud both COSTI and the employers who will be recognized at this event.

There's still a lot of work to be done when it comes to breaking down barriers and making all of our organizations as diverse as our country, but sometimes it is good to stop and recognize those who do "get it" and are making real efforts to integrate diversity into their workforce culture.

Introducing OCEAN, the TalentOyster API

We're pretty excited today to be launching OCEAN a REST based API for TalentOyster. TalentOyster OCEAN lets you embed job search functionality and content from TalentOyster right into your website.

Here is an example of OCEAN in action on another site.


Our API supports both our jobs and our Connect content. That means you can add job searching functionality and display teasers of TalentOyster Connect content right from your site. The API is fairly simple, using simple HTTP GET requests and returning XML (custom or RSS) in response.

To make OCEAN even easier to use there is a PHP library available as well. This PHP class handles the connectivity and response handling aspects of the API so that you can easily add some TalentOyster functionality to your own site.

Check it out and let us know what you think. If you want to get started just request your free application key by emailing us here.

Introducing Correo Jobs

We are pleased today to introduce another site in the TalentOyster white label network, Correo Jobs, or alternatively Empleos Correo.

This white label operates in English and Spanish and is associated with Correo Canadiense the leading Spanish language newspaper in Canada for Hispanic and Latino news from Canada and around the world.

The site features jobs from TalentOyster as well as jobs unique to Correo Jobs. If you know someone looking for a job who could use this site be sure to let them know. Additionally if you are looking to post a single job ad specifically at the Hispanic Canadian community you can purchase posts online on the site.

We continue to develop additional white labels for other cultural communities but if you, or your organization would be interested in exploring white label opportunities with TalentOyster then get in touch with us.

TalentOyster employers named "Best for Diversity"

This past week four different TalentOyster employers (three of them original TalentOyster employers) were named as one of Canada's top 45 "Best Employers for Diversity" by Mediacorp Canada. Loblaw Companies Limited, Mount Sinai Hospital, Xerox Canada and Telus all made this exclusive list for 2011.

Congratulations to all these organizations for winning recognition for their efforts to improve the diversity of their workforces in the past year and commitment to continuing in the year ahead.

Recognition of organizations making a real effort on diversity is a good thing, if, for no other reason then it helps get the message on the importance of diversity into the mainstream media and consciousness. But positive recognition is also good because it encourages all companies to evaluate their own efforts in order to compete with others.

With our countries demographics being what they are, and with the economy continuing to rebound, expanding the diversity of your workforce becomes less about doing the "right thing" and more about doing what must be done. Progressive employers, like the ones on TalentOyster, know that if they want to actually hire the best candidates available they must include diversity groups as part of their candidate search. Those companies, like the ones listed as Canada's best diversity employers are well positioned to continue to be successful because they are simply more committed to diversity, the only real source of future labour force growth in Canada.

To read more about "Canada's Best Diversity Employers" check out the story in the Globe and Mails Report on Business here

Big year for Canadian Immigration but...

Some big news this past week with the announcement that in 2010 Canada took in more immigrants, over 280 thousand, than in any other year since 1960. Good news which was made even better by the stated government position on immigration as given by Federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

"Canada's post-recession economy demands a high level of economic immigration to keep our economy strong."

As RBC president Gord Nixon said last November newcomers are "one of Canada's great competitive advantages". So it's good to see the government getting on board with what various business leaders and think-tank groups have been saying for years.

But will the immigrants who do come, be happy enough to stay?

Coming on the heels of December's slashing of grants to some settlement agencies it appears as if the quota of reunification visas (visas issued to family members of those currently in Canada) will be cut from 15,000 to 11,000 for 2011 and that's a policy that concerns more than a few people. Liberal immigration critic Justin Trudeau has accused the government of not being "up front with new Canadians", saying

"They enticed skilled workers to come to Canada with a promise their parents and grandparents will soon be able to follow. They’ve cut funding for the settlement services that provide supports, and now they’re cutting the family support system along with it."

These are serious and valid concernns because as implied, immigrants who don't stay in Canada won't be contributing to our labour force or helping our companies stay diverse and vibrant. In fact, immigrants who leave after a couple of years are the very worst case scenario because the sunk costs of settlement and integration into the social and employment fabric have already been spent.

Increasing immigration is one the key ways for Canada to continue to avoid the economic meltdown that has spread across Europe these past few years, shrinking and stagnant economies exactly the kinds of problems that increased immigration prevents. 2010 was overall a good year for immigration to Canada, the numbers don't lie but we need to be doing more to make sure new immigrants to Canada make this their permanent home. And it seems on that front there is still plenty of room for improvement.

New and Improved TalentOyster with added Vitamin ®

So today as the final chapter of a lengthy legal process (perhaps lengthy is a tautology but nevertheless) TalentOyster is now an official registered trademark. The registration even came with this fancy document suitable for framing.



As I recently discovered what this means is that you can (and should) use ® instead of ™ after the name in question. So now it's TalentOyster ®

Pretty cool huh? I think so. It's kind of another sign that we've "arrived" I think. When you start a new business, even with the infrastucture of an existing business supporting you, and you have success with that business there comes a point where it becomes "real". I think anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit will appreciate that but if that's not you it's a sense of of pride in building something from the ground up.

This is just one of those little moments, a reminder of how far we have come over the past 18 months. There is still lots of work to do, improvements to make, conversations to have and roles to fill, but it feels today that we're one step closer to making TalentOyster into what we envision it to be. And that's a feeling that seemed worth sharing.

TalentOyster at HRPA 2011

TalentOyster will be attending the HRPA 2011 Annual Conference and tradeshow that takes place February 2nd through 4th 2011 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (map here). This is the premiere HR/recruiting industry tradeshow and it will be our first time exhibiting along with other leaders in the field. General admission to the trade show is free and requires no pre-registration.

The conference is an opportunity for HR professionals to share ideas and experiences on HR trends and issues like expanding workforce diversity. We'll be talking mainly about our new Diversity 360 offering (more on this during and after the show) which connects progressive employers with Canada's Hidden Talent Market. We're excited about this concept which we developed with Tamm Communications (a full-service advertising agency specializing in employer branding) and CareerBridge (a paid internship program for internationally qualified professionals).

At the conference we will also be inviting those interested in diversity and employment related issues to a special event later in the Spring. If you do attend the show please come by and say hello to us, we'd love to meet you.