A recent poll conducted by a recruitment firm found that more than half of Canadian workers anticipate looking for a new job in 2023.  

With that in mind, how will that translate here in Cochrane?  

Scott Evans, Career Advisor at Cochrane Prospect Human Services (Rocky View and Wheatland Employment Services) says they are busy helping Cochranites look for new jobs or careers saying, “The first month of the year, people want to begin things new.” Evans says that about 60 to 70 per cent of his clients are looking for a change or something new.  A local circumstance that Prospect is seeing is people who were working in Banff and Canmore have found that with the price of gas, it wasn’t worth driving and have decided to look for work closer to home. Or, for those who were living and working in the mountain towns, the cost of living was too high, and have relocated.  

The average person will have between three and four different careers in their lifetime. So, career change is not unusual however, like with so many things, the pandemic influenced how people viewed their jobs. Evans says, “I think the last couple of years where there has been the time for people to sit at home, they weren’t working, and kind of reflect on what it is that they were doing and saying you know what, I really don’t want to go to that. Or they go back, and a job is gone. So, yes, we have seen that here in town.”  

The different generations are playing a role in the job market in the 2020s. The baby boomers (56 to 75 years of age) and Generation X (42 to 57) were of the mindset that they needed to stay at a job until retirement or follow the ancestral career path. The millennials and younger are not as afraid to change jobs frequently. If it is not working, they change quickly.  

In order to help their clients, career advisors at Prospect must change gears with the age range of the clients that are looking for work. In the case of the baby boomer that leaves a job after 30 years, Evans says, “They get out and they are totally lost. I don’t understand I have to apply online. I don’t know how to do that, why can’t I just walk in and say hi I’m here. So, that is something that is new to them.” 

On the other end of the spectrum, the youth applying for jobs Evans says, “They have to be careful about things like social media. Probably 90 per cent of all employers will be checking your social media before you are hired. So, you have to keep that in mind. So, we teach them to use it as a way to sell themselves.”  

The advisors at Prospect Human Services are available to help everyone with their job search or career change, providing resume and interview advice free of charge. They can help every generation maneuver the job market landscape. They offer in-person counselling or online workshops, and they can also provide a client with computer access if they do not have it at home.  

For more information call 1-877-483-2562 or email info@prospectnow.ca or you can drop into the office in the Safeway mall at #2, 312 5 Ave W, Cochrane.