Career Savvy - Our thoughts on finding, landing and succeeding in a career you'll love.

Week In Review:

Toronto - Financial Analyst/Accountant (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Marketing Coordinator- Events and Promotions (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Product Manager (Computer Games) Details / Apply
Toronto - Project Analyst (Market Research) Details / Apply
Toronto - Support Rockstar (Internet) Details / Apply
Montreal - Bilingual Communications Coordinator (Research) Details / Apply
Montreal - Retail Marketing Coordinator (Computer Games) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Events Administrator (Research) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Lead Digital Marketing Strategist (Marketing and Advertising) Details / Apply
Victoria - Account Executive, Mobile (Marketing and Advertising) Details / Apply

For the full rundown, log-in to Vestiigo.com

Some weekend reading
Career Savvy: 3 Productivity Tips To Make Ideas Happen
Career Savvy: Don’t Overvalue Risk and Undervalue Opportunity
TED Talk: Nigel Marsh: How to make work-life balance work

Continue Reading

Let’s face it – we’re obsessed with risk. It permeates everyday life in any number of ways; we employ “Risk Managers”, we look to minimize risks in our investments, apply risk management techniques to the projects we run, and even try and avoid making seemingly risky career moves. The “riskier” the choice, the greater we’re supposed to discount it.

When we’re evaluating a choice, risk has a very well-established place in this process. We use it to avoid making mistakes others have made, to heed the warnings of friends, family and colleagues, and to make ourselves feel better about the choice we ultimately end up making.

However, somewhere along the line risk has taken on a far more prominent place in our everyday decision making than it deserves. That isn’t to say you should ignore risk, but when we’re so focused on mitigating them, we can lose sight of and undervalue the importance of opportunity. This has a lot of implications for your career and the decisions you make.

Continue Reading

Looking for a new career?  Want to launch a new business?  Trying to put your crazy ideas into action?  Whatever the project, most productive innovators will tell you it’s not about the ideas; it’s about making them happen.  One of the most famous American inventors of all time, Thomas Edison famously said, “Genius is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration.”  In the book “Making Ideas Happen” Scott Belsky goes on a mission to show us how to stay productive and organized in order to drive creative projects to completion.

Today more than ever, we have opportunities to accomplish almost anything we want thanks to the information economy.  The only problem is, that most often we face certain common obstacles that hold us back such as disorganization and perfectionism.  But don’t sweat, here are 3 productivity tips that can help you execute on that next project, big or small!

Continue Reading

Week In Review:

Toronto - Sales and Efficiency Field Representative (Telecom) Details / Apply
Toronto - Business Development Associate (Market Research) Details / Apply
Toronto - Product Education Specialist (Computer Software) Details / Apply
Toronto - Junior Copywriter (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Market Research Analyst (Market Research) Details / Apply
Montreal - Senior Product Manager and Integration Manager (Computer Software) Details / Apply
Montreal - Account Manager (Marketing and Advertising) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Research Manager (Market Research) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Senior Product Manager (Market Research) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Senior Financial Analyst (Marketing and Advertising) Details / Apply

For the full rundown, log-in to Vestiigo.com

Some weekend reading
Career Savvy: Don’t Give A Speech. Put On A Show.
Career Savvy: 5 Job-Search Tactics That Should Be Gone Like the ‘80s
TED Talk: Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success

Continue Reading

The nature of work and the job market are always shifting, but the same can’t always be said for the nature of job-seekers.  A lot of people with great qualifications are scuffing their chances at landing a job or an interview by using tactics that should have been left in the ‘80s along with spandex and jazzercise. 

Liz Ryan, of Bloomberg, has a short list of job search strategies that you should avoid like a sparkly, rhinestone-studded plague.

1) Using Dedicated Resume Paper/Envelopes – Unless you’re applying for a creative position like Graphic Design, overly fancy or colorful stationary is only going to make you amateurish and out of touch.  Most resumes are read electronically, and simplicity and readability is the key when it comes to proper digital formatting.

Continue Reading

When we attend a talk, we generally go to see the speaker not to hear what they have to say.

We know that they have to say. That’s why we go to see them.

How many speeches have you heard? How many of them can you remember?

Words, words, words.

In a song, we remember firstly the melody and then we learn the words.

Continue Reading

Week In Review:

Toronto - CRM Analyst (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Project Manager (Marketing & Advertising) Details / Apply
Toronto - Consulting Analyst (Market Research) Details / Apply
Toronto - Marketing Manager (E-Learning) Details / Apply
Toronto - New Business Intern (Internet) Details / Apply
Halifax - Digital Marketing Specialist (Information Technology & Services) Details / Apply
Montreal - Digital Manager (Computer Games) Details / Apply
Montreal - Recruiter (Computer Software) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Social TV Web Developer (Internet) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Junior Writer (Marketing and Advertising) Details / Apply

For the full rundown, log-in to Vestiigo.com

Some weekend reading
Career Savvy: 6 Job Interview Tips from Politicians
Career Savvy: Joshua Foer: Step Outside Your Comfort Zone and Study Yourself Failing
TED Talk: Clay Shirky: Why SOPA is a bad idea

Continue Reading

There are few professions that rival politicians when it comes to the frequency and extensiveness of interviews. Given all the coverage of the Republican Party presidential primaries at the moment, we thought it seemed like a good time to draw out some lessons we can learn from politicians when it comes to interviewing well. 

The following is a list inspired by Shawn Graham’s article in Fast Company and our own experiences from watching politicians try and work their magic in front of the country. Here are some key tips to keep in mind next time you’re in an interview:

Don’t dodge and deflect
When you’re faced with a tough question, don’t take the easy route. It’s just that, easy. The chances are you’re going to sound like everyone else and won’t distinguish yourself in any meaningful way.

Take Pause
A canned answer doesn’t sound authentic and will win very few people over.  Try waiting a few seconds before you answer a question - it gives the impression that you actually gave it some thought.

Continue Reading

Joshua Foer: Step Outside Your Comfort Zone and Study Yourself Failing from 99% on Vimeo.

Continue Reading

The Access MBA Tour in Montreal and Toronto matches MBA candidates with the best business schools

The prestigious business education event will take place in Montreal on February 6th and Toronto on February 8th offering an opportunity to evaluate the current situation of the MBA degree. An elite selection of international business schools will meet One-to-One with highly qualified candidates in Canada.

The Access MBA Tour will take place in Montreal and Toronto with international business schools that wish to recruit local MBA candidates. The event’s One-to-One format is a unique and effective way to match candidates who meet schools’ admissions criteria. When registering online, candidates provide information about their personal and professional profile. Before the event, Access MBA matches the candidates with the MBA programmes that meet their needs and criteria, and at the event the candidates meet with MBA Admission Directors in 20-minute intervals. Event participants can also benefit from free orientation sessions with Access MBA’s professional consultants and GMAT test preparation advisors.

Continue Reading

Two jobs on the table and one you’d rather not take. It sounds like an unlikely scenario given the recent recession and the difficult state of the job market, but it’s one that Jodi Glickman of the Harvard Business Review insists is becoming more common again as the economy starts to pull itself out of the gutter. Turning down an employer is never an easy thing to do, especially if you’re not the type who enjoys confrontation.

For a lot of us, it can be like that terrible grade school moment when you discover a friend’s unreciprocated crush and realize that you’re going to have to tell them “sorry, but no.” And just like you would with a friend, you want to let the employer down easy. Glickman wants to help you do this by making sure you include three specific elements in any “thanks, but no thanks” discussion that you have with a potential employer.

The first is, appropriately enough, a simple thank you to the employer. Common courtesy dictates that you’d give thanks to anyone who offered you something of value in your personal life, regardless of whether you decide to take it. It’s a simple gesture that lets them know their goodwill is appreciated and that you respect them as a person, or in our case, as an organization. 

Continue Reading

Week In Review:

Toronto - Product Manager (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Software Test Lead (Computer Software) Details / Apply
Toronto - Sales Consultant, Inside Sales (Internet) Details / Apply
Toronto - Account Manager (Information Technology & Services) Details / Apply
Toronto - Ruby on Rails Developer (Computer Software) Details / Apply
Ottawa - Strategic Alliances Manager (Computer Software) Details / Apply
Montreal - PR & Social Media Manager (Computer Software) Details / Apply
Montreal - Controller (Computer Software) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Intermediate Writer (Marketing & Advertising) Details / Apply
Vancouver - Product Manager (Internet) Details / Apply

For the full rundown, log-in to Vestiigo.com

Some weekend reading
Career Savvy: 5 Resolutions You Should Be Making
Career Savvy: To study abroad or not to study abroad – That is the question
TED Talk: Itay Talgam: Lead like the great conductors

Continue Reading

New Year’s day has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to make resolutions for the coming year. Some of us will want to become better people or take on more of a leadership role in our careers, but we might not necessarily be equipped to get there yet. Allow me, if you will, to suggest a particular set of resolutions (courtesy of HBR) that can help you in both endeavors.

Find a trustworthy mentor
A good mentor should do more than just tutor you professionally; they should be someone who you jive with intellectually/emotionally and is genuinely committed to your development. If you want to become a great leader and not just a great businessman, then find mentors who you admire for their character as much as their success.

Continue Reading

This is a difficult question with so many following questions, so let’s break it down. If I decide to study abroad, where would I want to go? How much will it cost me? What program do I want to study? Can I adapt to another country’s culture, system and people? Am I ready to leave my comfort zone? Is it the right time to leave? And the list goes on and on.


The truth is, the thought of moving to a different country to study sounds cool but to actually do it is where many people stop – stopping your life in one place and starting it over in another. For many years I had been seriously considering the idea to study abroad by exhausting all the necessary questions one can ask. However, this process became a bit of a double edged sword because when considering all the questions. Not only did it make it clear for me that I did want to study abroad but it simultaneously raised many reasons not to travel. But when there are so many uncertainties and risks when deciding to study abroad, sometimes it’s best to ignore these uncertainties, use your intuition and just take that leap of faith. 

Continue Reading

Salary negotiation is one part dance, one part game, and all parts stressful. Remember, you are trying to maximize your return on your “perceived” value in the marketplace, and your potential employer is trying to maximize productivity for the least cost. The worst part of salary negotiation is feeling that your potential employer holds all the cards. Here are some quick tips that will tip the balance in your favour and give you some sense of control over your future:


1. Never bring up money first—virtually all employers have done their homework and have a pretty good idea of how competitive their salaries are in the marketplace. They also Twitter and use Facebook to find out how much your friends are getting, so typically you should not be surprised by the number. If they press YOU for a number, you need to ask yourself if they are bargaining in good faith.  Say:  “I am sure you have a range in mind that is commensurate with the role and responsibilities.” If they persist, you need to ask yourself if they are bargaining in good faith (or what else are they hiding.)

Continue Reading