George Brown College offers online tool to help students with educational decisions
Screenshot of the Career Coach website of George Brown College.
George Brown College (GBC) has launched a new online “Career Coach” to help prospective and current students make wiser and more informed decisions about their post-secondary education.
“We’re launching this because we think students are making very critical decisions about their post-secondary education, and it also requires a full range of information to make it wisely,” said Robert Luke, vice president of applied research and innovation at GBC. “This is a big expense, of time and money.”
Career Coach is a website designed to “show students what to expect when they enter the job market, and it provides the latest data on industry trends including salaries and job openings,” said Luke.
Career Coach will help potential students prepare for the workforce, and will give them the ability to search more thoroughly about their chosen program and field of study.
Provided by Economic Modeling Specialists International (EMSI) the data found on Career Coach is based on Statistics Canada sources and updated twice a year. Job postings are also provided by EMSI, pulled from Indeed.com and updated every 24 hours.
While the data reflects the demand side of the labour market it will not look at the number of people qualified to work in each occupation.
“There is a lot of information or discussion about the lack of labour market information and the kind of information that students need in order to make good planning decisions around education and careers,” said Luke. “This was a product that we saw really fit the need, that would help us in our vision to understand employment and really help students find the optimal education and career path.”
Accompanied by a video tutorial, it will take students through a step-by-step search of the Greater Toronto Area’s labour market and provide information on jobs including salaries, employment growth projections and job opportunities.
To make informed and educated career decisions, potential and current students should take a look at Career Coach at http://cc.georgebrown.ca or visit career services at the St. James, Casa Loma or Waterfront campus.
With files from Tina Todaro
