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Career Development Program
Purpose
The Career Development Program at Trent University is designed to assist regular and recurring OPSEU
employees who are seeking opportunities for career growth but are unclear as to how to obtain the
necessary skills and qualifications. By connecting staff in the career development program with the services
of an experienced career counselor, employees can confidentially discover how to meet their career goals.
The program requires time and effort on the part of the employee. Participation in the program does not
guarantee the employee a new position at Trent nor should anyone currently applying for a position enroll
with the expectation that being enrolled in the program will help them obtain a new position. In general,
counseling sessions are one hour in duration, as arranged by the career counselor with the total number of
hours being thirteen (13).
By engaging in discussion, exercises, activities and independent assignments, the career counselor will
provide support, guidance and information that will lead each participant towards the development of a
personalized career action plan, which shall include further education or skill development.
The end result will be a record of work, education, training, skills and experience acquired through the
assistance of the career counselor. This information will provide a base for producing a Career Action Plan
which will be placed in the employee’s Career Development Program file in Human Resources.
The Role of the Career Counselor
The role of a Career Counselor is not to find individuals jobs but rather to assist people to explore, pursue
and attain their career goals by helping individuals to gain greater self-awareness in areas such as their
interests, values, skills and abilities, and personality style. Career counselors provide a wide range of
services which include individual and group career counseling, career assessment and evaluation, job
search training, interview coaching, resume writing, career coaching and career management counseling.
What to expect when you meet with your Career Counselor
The Career Counselor will work with you on a one to one basis to determine a realistic career goal based on
your interests and skills and abilities. This may be determined through a variety of ways i.e. discussion,
interests and aptitude testing and career research. It is expected that you will attend your scheduled
sessions or provide 24 hour notice to your Career Counselor if you need to cancel. You are also expected to
take an active role in action planning and complete any assigned work or tasks on the opposite weeks of
your meetings with your Counselor.
Once your career goal has been established you will work with your Counselor to determine the steps
necessary to achieve your goal. This may include additional courses or training, career research, various
types of testing, resume/cover letter development, practice interviews and other job search training, referrals
to community services and resources etc. Once the steps of your plan have been completed to the
agreement of the Career Counselor your plan will be signed and you will take your completed plan to Human
Resources. Once a completed plan is on file, you will have the opportunity to be considered for contract
positions within the Bargaining Unit in line with your career plan. Since there are many employees in the
program and all eligible contract positions are posted, it is your responsibility to contact Human
Resources if you are interested in a contract position.
CHECKLIST
1. Counselor – the professional career counselor you will be working with is Carrie Carroll,
Fleming Training Services, and Fleming College. Carrie is a career counselor with over ten
(10) years of experience providing confidential career management assistance in the
Peterborough and in the Durham communities.
2. Duration/Frequency – counseling sessions are one hour in duration, as arranged by the career
counselor. The estimated number of sessions is nine (9) with a maximum of thirteen (13). A
session is one hour.
3. Location – Fleming College, Brealey Campus, Peterborough, Ontario, K9J-7B1. You will have
to pay for parking, it’s not included. Est. $4.00 per hour, $6.00 flat fee. Prices are subject to
change by Fleming.
4. Making Appointments – appointments can be made by contacting your counselor directly, after
you have received permission from Danielle Hoogkamer in Human Resources. If it is
necessary to cancel an appointment – please give at least 24 hours notice. Appointments are
held on Tuesday evenings after 5:00 pm. Carrie will book a maximum of 3 appointments each
Tuesday.
Phone: (705) 313-5276
E-mail: [email protected]
5. Work assignments – in order to develop a career plan, work assignments are to be completed
between appointments. Assistance can be provided by your career counselor if required by email.
6. Emergency contact – if someone needs to contact you while are at a scheduled appointment at
Fleming College, the phone number at the McRae Building is: (705) 876-1615. A site
supervisor is on duty from 8:30 am to 10:00 pm weekdays.
7. During the process, if there are problems or concerns please contact Danielle Hoogkamer in
Human Resources at ext. 7283.
8. When you have a completed plan, please make an appointment with Danielle Hoogkamer,
Human Resources to discuss your plan and to place it on file.
Welcome to Fleming Training Services, Career Management Planning Program. We look forward
to working with you.
OPSEU CA - ARTICLE 19 - CAREER DEVELOPMENT
19.1
Trent University is committed to assisting staff in career planning and in seeking opportunities for career
growth.
Any regular or recurring employee who wishes to establish a formal career plan may apply through Human
Resources. The University will provide the services of an experienced career counsellor who will meet with
the employee and in a confidential capacity assist the employee through testing and interviews to prepare a
future plan.
Development of a formal plan, which shall include further education or skill development through a
counsellor is limited to fifteen (15) staff per year. If, at any time through the year, there are more applicants
than spaces remaining in the program, space will be allocated on the basis of seniority, and unsuccessful
applicants will be advised to apply the following year.
Once a formal plan has been developed, the employee shall meet with Human Resources to provide a
written copy of their formal career plan. The employee together with Human Resources will seek
opportunities which are appropriate for development and which fit within the individual’s agreed-upon
career plan. Such opportunities may be found for example in anticipated or vacant contracted positions,
limited term appointments, an opportunity identified in the performance assessment process, a secondment
outside of the bargaining unit or external to Trent University. While the staff member is on secondment
outside of the bargaining unit, he/she will continue to accrue seniority up to a maximum of twelve (12)
months. The Parties may agree to extend the timelines. If the employee does not return to their position
within twelve (12) months, or any extended period, he/she will be deemed to be terminated from the
bargaining unit and their home position will be posted. Should more than one qualified employee indicated
an interest in the same contracted opportunity, selection will be by seniority.
During the time that an employee is in a developmental assignment, their home position may be filled by
another employee on a contract, subject to the provisions of Article 10.1(c) and 13.14.
Participants in Career Development opportunities may be considered for a position for which he/she does
not meet all of the qualifications, but who has been identified as being appropriate for such role. An
applicant under this program will have priority consideration for temporary positions in the OPSEU
bargaining unit at Trent, providing there are no qualified employees on layoff. Such employee must
compete for any regular or recurring positions.
Compensation will be at the rate of pay assigned to the Career Development opportunity, not the
incumbent’s home position.
Should the employee elect to enter the program but does not complete the program or does not submit a
formal plan within a twenty four month time period, the University will have no further obligation to the
employee, nor is the employee entitled to priority consideration for developmental positions.
A maximum of two priority consideration career development opportunities will be allowed for each
employee in the Career Development Program.
An employee will remain in the program until the earlier of either receiving two (2) priority consideration
career development opportunities, or five (5) years following the completion of their career development
plan.
Employees shall be eligible for re-entry to the career development subject to available space above, after a
period of 5 years has passed since they were last enrolled.
New employees shall have a waiting period of three years before they can enrol in the career development
program.
The University shall supply to the Union on a biannual basis information listing the names of individuals
enrolled in the plan and their status and progression through the plan.
The University should be entitled to recoup any training costs should an employee depart from the
University within 120 days of completing training.