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Every industry has specific professional skills that are required to successfully work in a particular occupation.Some are more general in nature and can be found in most jobs. Others are more specific or unique to a particular job. In this video you will find an introduction to Active Listening and Active Learning professional skills. To learn more, check out the full series in our Professional Skills playlist on Youtube.

Professional Skills Video Playlist

Video

Transcript

What You'll Learn

Diverse group of recent graduates in a meeting at work.

Students and Graduates

Students or new graduates can watch each of these short videos to become aware of skills they need to develop and apply when working. Each video is about 2-3 minutes long and help make clear:

  • What each professional skill is.
  • How the skills are applied.
  • Where the professional skills gaps are.
  • The importance of each skill.
  • How these skills gaps impact career goals and bottom line.
  • Success stories of the application of these skills.

Specific Skills

This video series was produced by EHRC to help introduce some of these highly desirable professional skills. You can check out the full playlist on Youtube or choose from our individual videos below:

Diverse business team watching presentation on laptop screen at meeting

Discover the Benefits

Both employers and employees alike benefit from professional soft skills.

Recent Graduates & Employees

Develop critical thinking skills.

For recent graduates and employees, developing critical thinking, problem-solving, leadership, and otherwise essential skills are critical to career evolution and growth.

EHRC’s professional skills training allows students to invest in their futures by moulding skills that will help them successfully maneuver through daily tasks as well as personal experiences.

Business colleagues working together on laptop
Group of Diversity electrical engineer in safety uniform working together at factory site control room. Industrial technician worker maintenance and checking power system at manufacturing plant room.

Employers

Attract and retain quality talent.

For employers, professional skills training fosters a supportive and evolving workplace, improves a corporate culture, demonstrates a commitment to employee improvement, builds employee retention, and increases company curb appeal.

Online Training

Students and new workers won’t always have the opportunity to learn in a classroom setting. For those interested in developing these skills on their own, EHRC has developed an online training program. With this digital tool kit, learners are empowered to take charge of their own professional development. The ten professional skills in which students and new graduates present gaps are grouped in what EHRC has termed composite skills. These composite skills are:

  • Communication
  • Problem solving
  • Leadership
  • Teamwork
  • Learning

Learners can make use of this toolkit prior to going into the workplace or as part of their onboarding. For students in a WIL experience, the lessons included in this toolkit would be useful prior to the start of their term. Each session is designed to take 1-3 hours to complete. Learn at your own pace to complete this course in as little as one week!

Woman online learning by herself in an office
Group of diverse students receiving applied training on-site

Applied Training

Through a series of sessions, students and new workers can put into practice the skills they have been developing. The Skill Savvy report shows that group practice activities were the most effective way to acquire the skills required for the electricity industry. Learning alongside others provides students an opportunity to reflect on their attitudes towards the professional skills, but also a chance to observe the various nuances surrounding the application of those skills.

For the applied training component, EHRC has developed facilitator guides, facilitator slide decks, skills learning group activities and participant guides that educators and trainers can use to train their learners. EHRC research revealed that the following five skills are the most critical, which will be the subject of this component:

  • Critical thinking and decision-making
  • Collaboration
  • Active listening
  • Time management
  • Social perceptiveness

This component is ideal prior to starting a WIL term or as part of the new graduate’s onboarding sessions. Each session is designed to take 2-3 hours to complete. Complete this course in up to five weeks!

Mentor Junction

These skills may require a lot more than just a short training session: someone developing these skills may require a more personalized follow-up. The mentoring component is intended for those learners requiring or seeking additional support.

EHRC has developed a mentoring platform, Mentor Junction, that pairs learners with industry professionals as mentors. On this platform, EHRC also provides resources to support both mentors and mentees as they advance towards the accomplishment of the mentee’s learning goals.

This mentoring component is ideally taken while the student or new graduate is in the workplace.

Visit Mentor Junction

Mentor Junction website landing page

Features

Our training focuses on developing professional soft skills – the ones that most traditional educational institutions miss.

  • Available in both English and French
  • Provide up to 15 hours of video instruction
  • Downloadable resources included

 

  • Unlimited access
  • Completion-based for LInkedIn

Acknowledgements

The Professional Skills Online Training courses have been developed with the guidance and collaboration of individuals from the following organizations:

  • Canadian Council of Technicians and Technologists
  • College of North Atlantic
  • Concordia University
  • FortisBC
  • Georgian College
  • Memorial University of Newfoundland
  • Mount Allison University
  • Nalcor
  • Nova Scotia Community College
  • Okanagan College
  • Ontario Power Generation
  • Saskatchewan Polytechnic
  • Spark Power
  • Ryerson University
  • Thompson Rivers University
  • TransAlta
  • University of Calgary
  • University of Prince Edward Island
  • University of Waterloo
  • York University
  • Yukon College

Funding

This project is funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Student Work Placement Program.