Career Counsellor

**Career Counsellor - Limited Term**

**Tracking Code: req783**

**Faculty/Department**: Office of Student Life

**Number of Positions**:1

**Appointment Type**: Limited Term 16 months

**Hours of Work**: 35 hours per week

**Salary Range**:Level 9 - Starting Salary, Step 1 $70,765

**Posting Date**:August 3, 2023

**Closing Date**: August 17, 2023

**Job Summary**:
***The Career Counsellor promotes the academic, personal and professional development of students and alumni at Ontario Tech University with focus on career planning, employment preparation, and the transition to full time employment.

**Nature of work**:
Reporting to the Manager, Career Centre, the Counsellor is responsible for providing counseling for students and alumni as well as contributing to broader career development programming that promotes student success at the University. The Career Counsellor is also responsible for liaising and building relationships with staff and faculty, student organizations, colleagues within other student service areas, as well as external community partners and social organizations to develop and implement appropriate service levels for the counselling service and to facilitate ongoing support for university students.

The incumbent is also considered a key player who fosters an overall culture of learning, leadership, involvement and service among University students.

**Responsibilities/accountabilities**:
**Student Counselling**
- Provides individual and group counselling and support for all students and recent graduates and develops and implements career development supports. This includes:_
- Counselling students (undergraduate, graduate and alumni) and using motivational interviewing skills to identify their academic strengths and weaknesses by assessing their skills, values and interests and understanding how they relate to academic and co-curricular options and career opportunities
- Educating students on the career development process and supporting them in making decisions about careers and employment through individual counselling, drop-in sessions, workshops, resource development and other services.
- Assisting students and recent graduates with the acquisition of relevant and current information (print and electronic) about careers and the labor market and models techniques to aid students in developing their work search knowledge, skills and strategies.
- Administering and interpreting self-assessment exercises as required.
- Referring students to other counselling and resource agencies if assistance is needed beyond the scope of the career counselling position
- Maintaining student files and tracking usage for reporting purposes

**Career Development Programming**
- Leads in the design, development and implementation of career development programming for students that is grounded in theory and research. This includes:_
- Developing and delivering career development programming that utilizes theoretical approaches and best practices grounded in labour market research for students, including experiential learning transition programs, career development workshops, and discussion groups
- Collaborating with student groups to organize and facilitate career exploration panels, and to take advantage of career services as early as possible in their academic programs
- Developing information sessions and workshops for students in collaboration with faculty on strategies to support career development initiatives in courses and programs
- Developing and facilitating small group workshops and seminars focusing on career and employment topics that are tailored to specific academic programs, career areas, and/or specific needs
- Assisting with departmental projects and other duties as assigned and representing the Career Centre on campus committees and events

**Resource Development**
- Leads in the development and production of online resources to support career development by:_
- Developing resources, exercises and processes for students to support career development/exploration, in collaboration with other Student Life staff, including printed materials, multi-media presentations, online learning activities, tutorials and videos
- Liaising with Ontario Tech University faculty to ensure appropriate resources are available for students
- Liaising with Ontario Tech University library to understand available library resources
- Undertaking to continuous professional learning and development

**Assessment**
- Formulates program outcomes and metrics to measure learning and development among students and to demonstrate program effectiveness and success by:_
- Working with colleagues and campus partners to articulate program outcomes for specific projects and assessing progress toward those outcomes
- Engaging students, faculty, and student affairs professionals in collaborative assessment, both informal and formal
- Evaluating and reporting on initiatives to determine whether efforts are meeting student needs