Career Counsellor

**Ballad Group**

Ballad Group is seeking to hire **Career Counsellor **in Red Deer who is passionate about teaching, connecting, and changing the lives of those who pass through the Work Employment Readiness and Connections Program. We know that’s a mouth full, so you can call it the Red Deer WERC program. We invite those who love working as employment counsellor with extraordinary organizational skills to join our team.

But who is Ballad Group? Well, our training programs have built capacity in diverse areas including entrepreneurship, insurance, information and computer technology, construction, French language acquisition, hospitality, supply chain management, and more. We have delivered unique training programs for a variety of organizations, Indigenous Communities and on behalf of the Ministry of Jobs, Economy and Northern Development and Ministry of Seniors, Community & Social Services and Social Development Canada.

But what about the WERC program? Well, the goal of the WERC program is to develop and administer individually focused direct skill enhancement training and job placement to enable multi-barriered Albertans find and maintain employment.

**The Opportunity**

The **Career Counselor **will utilize excellent judgment to develop credible and meaningful relationships with program participants and collaborate with program team members to ensure program delivery success Excellent communication skills, prioritization, and organization will be a necessity for this role.

This position is in Red Deer and will work out of Ballad’s Red Deer Training Centre.

This position works closely with the Red Deer WERC Program Team and reports to the Red Deer WERC Program Coordinator.

**Key Responsibilities**

**Program Development**:

- Collaborate with program team members to develop new program material for workshop delivery
- Ensure all instructional all materials and activities are relevant and align with WERC and industry standards
- Upon intake, assess individual needs from an employment lens and provide input for the individualized active service delivery plan

**Program Delivery**:

- Facilitate all workshops which include Life Management Workshops, Employability Workshops and Career Planning and Job Search Workshops
- Lead participants to success by creating a personalized service plan which identifies the required workshops to facilitate
- Collaborate with the Employment Specialist in finding job placement for WERC participants
- Professionally liaise with internal staff & external clients
- Creatively find solutions to ensure participant success
- Interview participants to obtain employment history, educational background and career goals
- Identify barriers to employment and assist clients with such matters as job readiness skills, job search strategies, writing résumés and preparing for job interviews
- Provide participants with information and strategies for gaining and maintaining a job and adjusting to workplace transitions

**Program Reporting**:

- Prepare and submit required program reports to the WERC Program Coordinator

**Business Development**
- Positively represent the program to Ballad staff and sector stakeholders
- Promote program activities internally and externally through positive communication
- Actively seek out positive solutions to solve challenges amongst staff, participants, and partners.
- Actively seek out external events to support recruitment, work experience and job placement opportunities

**Support Work**
- Administration including maintenance of participant files, data entry, responding to incoming inquiries, preparation of materials
- Other duties that may arise from time to time and as may be assigned

**Experience**

The position requires the following skills, experiences and abilities:
A professional with proven experience collaborating with unemployed individuals and groups, building and maintaining relationships with staff and external community members, and recruiting participants from Grande Prairie and area.
- A bachelor's degree or college diploma in employment counselling or education is required
- 1 to 3 years’ experience working in a related role
- Experience with pre-employment strategies and knowledge of the local labour market are considered assets
- Highly engaged with the Red Deer community and agencies will be considered an asset but not required
- Public speaking or group facilitation within a formal environment or on the job required.
- Proven intermediate skill level in Microsoft Office and online database tools (Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel)
- Proven experience in the development and customization of employment and life management workshops
- Exemplary verbal and written communication skills
- A genuine desire to build relationships with various population groups, employers, and internal/external stakeholders
- Highly professional, driven, charismatic, reliable, and confident individual who thrives under pressure
- Exposure to div